Open Loops #126

👋 Welcome to the 126th issue of Open Loops, a newsletter to help you think, grow, and build momentum.

My name is Reza, and every week, I sift through over 100 pieces of content —newsletters, articles, podcasts, books, and (way too many) tweets—to pull out the most interesting, actionable ideas.

Hey hey 👋

Excited to be back in your inbox after a little time away!

Since we last spoke, I’ve joined the team at Contra and have been heads down building what I genuinely believe to be the future of work.

The pace has been energizing. We just crossed 1 million users on our way to building the most transparent network for independents, companies, and tools creating the future.

I’ll be back here weekly to share what’s been on my mind.

It feels good to be writing again.

Now let’s jump into this week’s ideas.

The attention economy is crumbling. We’re stepping into the belonging economy.

We’ve maxed out attention. Scrolls are cheap. Subscriptions are slipping. What we crave now isn’t content. It’s communion.

Success isn’t metrics. It’s how alive we feel.

AI is abundant. Humanity is scarce. That flips the economics of value.

Create work that can’t be auto-generated.
Build teams where people bring their weirdness, not just their skills.

Be slow to judge people; remember you’ve never spent a day in their shoes.

worrying about the future is really you saying i don’t trust future me will be able to handle it.

your brain only understands one language, action.

every moment of growth feels like a loss at first.

add less. subtract more. but we’re wired to only think in terms of addition (add ozempic rather than subtract junk food).

Your racing heart and sweaty palms don’t know the difference between anxiety and excitement—they’re the same physical signal. Instead of trying to calm down, tell yourself you’re excited, and that buzz can carry you to a quicker answer on a hard math question or a stronger push in the last stretch of a race.