V Spot News #1 — You Had Me at Substack
"The key to this business is personal relationships." – Jerry Maguire
Beginnings are hard.
Well… here we are.
I’ve finally done it.
I left the LinkedIn lobby bar, turned off the endless scroll of cold takes, and decided to send this — a mission statement disguised as a newsletter.
Call it my memo. Call it my manifesto. Call it my “fewer clients, more personal attention” moment. That’s cos no one is paying for work anymore. Tough economy they say, sheesh - try wearing my coat, because I am cloaked in failure. (Joke)
This is V Spot News — the Substack edition.
A place where ecommerce, marketplaces, and the actual state of our industry get the Jerry Maguire treatment: heartfelt, unfiltered, occasionally chaotic, and always entertaining.
WHY THIS, WHY NOW?
Because we’re in our “fish-out-of-water-with-a-goldfish-in-a-bag” era.
I’ve been shouting into LinkedIn for years — essays on retail, hot takes on B2B, rants about marketplaces. But something shifted. The noise got louder. The signal got thinner. Everyone started sounding the same. And I started feeling like the Jerry Maguire of ecommerce — watching an industry I love sell itself short, commodify connection, and obsess over short-term wins at the cost of long-term vision.
So I packed up my metaphorical goldfish and walked out.
Substack is the new office.
You're Dorothy. I'm Jerry.
And this newsletter? This is us betting on something real.
WHAT KIND OF COMMUNITY AM I BUILDING?
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a locker room speech. A late-night phone call. A faxed memo.This is a space for people who believe ecommerce can be smarter, funnier, more human.
Here’s who I’m writing for:
Ecommerce operators tired of the hype hamster wheel.
Founders who care about actual profit (what a concept).
Marketplace veterans who see the writing on the wall.
Curious contrarians who believe brand building isn’t dead — it’s just been buried under ad spend.
Anyone who believes “help me help you” is a valid business strategy.
Expect truth bombs with a wink. This is a no-bro, no-BS zone. Watch out for my StruggleBus.
WHAT TO EXPECT
📅 Posting Schedule
Once a week or so. More if there’s blood in the water. Less if I’m on a Watson Weekend field trip.
🎬 Core Themes
The V Spot -Nearly News.
Marketplaces, margin pressure, and middlemen in denial.
Brand storytelling vs. algorithm-chasing — and why most brands can’t quit their DTC addiction.
First-party data, global growth, and the real ROI behind platform promises.
Case studies, movie metaphors, and macro rants dressed as satire.
Guest riffs, Watson Weekend cameos, and deep dives on the biggest plays in ecommerce.
💸 Free vs Paid (eventually)
For now, nothing’s free. Consider it the “I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game” phase.
But soon, paid subs will unlock:
Deep industry whitepapers with storytelling flair. (Paid Work)
Behind-the-scenes Watson Weekend reports (White Papers)
Private subscriber Q&As and event invites
Merch? Maybe. Goldfish? TBD.
At this moment in the movie, Secret Garden was playing. Was it a metaphor. We don’t know, but maybe, just maybe.
This isn’t just a fresh channel. It’s a new playbook.
One where curiosity beats clout, and storytelling beats spreadsheets.
If you’re here for a dopamine hit of real talk about where ecommerce is going, you’re in the right place.
"We live in a cynical world, a cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors."
But I still believe in ecommerce. I still believe in weird, underdog brands. I still believe that a great story beats a great funnel.
And I believe this newsletter — V Spot News — can be the thing that cuts through the noise and delivers the truth with a grin.
So, if you're still reading…
You. Complete. Me.
👇👇👇
— help me help you.