The Short Game – By NexYear
The playbook for winning in the age of AI. We break down legendary business strategy into 15-minute tactical briefings for modern founders and operators. Powered by NexYear.
Episodes
51 episodes
EP 050: The Ultimate Endgame: A Machine That Runs Without You (Clockwork)
You think you are the most important person in your business. You think that if you step away for a week, the entire operation will burn to the ground. You wear your exhaustion like a badge of honor, but the reality is that you are the biggest ...
EP 049: The Architecture of Scale (Scaling Up)
You are trapped in the 'startup' phase. You think chaotic, unpredictable days mean you are grinding and hustling, but the reality is that your operation just lacks discipline. A Warlord does not run a messy startup; they run a highly synchroniz...
EP 048: Stop Treating Your Business Like a Job (Built to Sell)
You are currently working eighty hours a week, putting out fires, and bragging about your hustle. But you secretly know that if you stopped working today, your income would immediately drop to zero. You tell yourself that you are building an em...
EP 047: Stop Building Bloated Bureaucracies (Systemantics)
You just spent three weeks designing a massive, 20-step morning routine, or a highly complex business strategy on a whiteboard. On day one of execution, the entire thing collapsed. You think you just need more discipline.The reality is t...
EP 046: The Theory of Constraints: Breaking Your Bottleneck (The Goal)
You are currently working harder than anyone else in your industry, putting in twelve-hour days, but your output and your income aren't changing. You think the solution is to just put in more hours and brute-force the machine. The reality is th...
EP 045: Master the Two Systems of Your Brain (Thinking, Fast and Slow)
You just made a massive, life-altering decision based entirely on your 'gut feeling.' You sent a reactive email, you blew your budget on impulse, or you quit a project because you felt stressed. You think you are being decisive.The reali...
EP 044: The Underground Rules for Loyalty and Leverage (The Mafia Manage)
You have a coworker who constantly asks for your advice, but shoots down every single solution you offer. You have a partner who messes up a simple task, and somehow manipulates the conversation to make it your fault. You think they are just di...
EP 043: How to Shut Down Passive-Aggressive Office Politics (Games People Play)
You have a coworker who constantly asks for your advice, but shoots down every single solution you offer. You have a partner who messes up a simple task, and somehow manipulates the conversation to make it your fault. You think they are just di...
EP 042: The Decoy Effect and Psychological Leverage (Predictably Irrational)
You recently made a perfectly logical, mathematically sound pitch to a boss or a client, and you got completely rejected. Now, you are sitting around complaining to your friends that the other person is just stupid.The reality is that yo...
EP 041: Stop Taking People at Face Value (The Laws of Human Nature)
You recently got completely blindsided and screwed over by a friend, a business partner, or a coworker. You told yourself that it came out of nowhere, and that you never could have seen it coming. You are lying to yourself.The signs were...
EP 040: The Flywheel: Pushing the Machine Until It Breaks the Market (Good to Great)
You are completely exhausted right now because you keep starting over. You try a new strategy for a month, you don't immediately get rich, and so you pivot. You are looking for an overnight hack.Every time you pivot, you lose all your mo...
EP 039: Stop Fighting for Market Share, Own 100% of It (Play Bigger)
You are exhausting yourself trying to be 10% better than your competition. You are cutting your prices, working longer hours, and fighting over the exact same tiny slice of the pie. If you are constantly comparing yourself to someone else, you ...
EP 038: Kick the Door In and Take the Market (Barbarians at the Gate)
You are sitting around right now waiting for someone to give you permission to be successful. You are waiting for your boss to notice how hard you work, and you are waiting for the perfect time to make your move. You are trying to politely ask ...
EP 037: Merit is a Myth: The Brutal Reality of Leverage (The Dictator's Handbook)
You are incredibly frustrated right now because you are the hardest worker in the room, but the lazy guy who plays golf with the boss just got the promotion. You are complaining to your friends that the system is broken and that office politics...
EP 036: Stop Celebrating Yesterday's Wins (Only the Paranoid Survive)
You finally hit a goal, you got the promotion, or you lost the weight, and now you are coasting. You think because you won yesterday, you are safe today. That is the exact moment you become a target.The second you get comfortable, there ...
EP 035: Stop Surrounding Yourself With Yes-Men (Principles)
You surround yourself with people who tell you exactly what you want to hear. You pitch a terrible idea, and your friends tell you it is genius just to protect your feelings. You are building a comfortable little echo chamber, and it is going t...
EP 034: Inversion and Extreme Patience (Poor Charlie's Almanack)
You feel like you constantly need to be doing something to make progress. You tinker with your investments, you change your workout routine every two weeks, and you force conversations that should not happen. You think action equals results.
EP 033: Stop Bleeding for Pennies (What It Takes)
You are completely exhausted right now, and you are exhausted over something incredibly small. You are losing sleep over a tiny promotion, a small side project, or a completely insignificant argument. You are putting Tycoon-level effort into a ...
EP 031: Stop Buying Things to Impress Clowns (The Psychology of Money)
You are stressed about money right now because the second you got a raise, you went out and financed a car you cannot afford. You are buying clothes and going to expensive dinners just to prove to people on the internet that you are doing well....
EP 030: Your Comfort Zone is Making You Fragile (Antifragile)
You completely fall apart the second your routine gets disrupted. If you get a hard assignment at work, or if your plan for the day changes, you get stressed out and complain. You have built a life that requires perfect, comfortable conditions ...
EP 029: The Ugly Reality of Building an Empire (Shoe Dog)
You want to be successful, but you want it to look pretty. You want the aesthetic morning routine, the cool title, and the cinematic montage. But the second the process actually gets ugly, you fold.You quit your diet when you stop losing...
EP 028: Supreme Fearlessness and Dealing in Reality (The 50th Law: Fearlessness Unleashed)
You are avoiding a decision right now because you are terrified of looking stupid. You are not asking for the promotion, you are not starting the project, and you are staying in a comfortable situation because you are afraid of what might happe...
EP 027: Hustle is a Symptom of a Broken Machine (Traction)
You are completely burned out right now because you think 'hustle' is a valid life strategy. You are trying to out-work your own disorganization. If your fitness routine, your work output, or your daily habits fall apart the second you have a b...
EP 026: Why You Don't Deserve a Trophy (Relentless-From Good to Great to Unstoppable)
You are waiting around for a trophy right now just because you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You think showing up on time, hitting your macros, or doing your baseline job makes you special. You want a pat on the back for simply doin...