The moment

There was a time when a Super Bowl ad could reach half of America.

When one SNL sketch became water cooler talk everywhere, coast to coast, instantly.

That's dead now.

As I've said a number of times before, we're not in the monoculture anymore.

We're in the age of microcultures - thousands of tiny tribes with different, smaller interests that rarely overlap.

And I think that's what makes this whole thing so fascinating, and so difficult at the same time.

Breaking through is exponentially harder

You can't just show up and get noticed like you used to.

The days of buying your way into cultural relevance with a big enough media budget are basically over. You can spend millions on ads and still barely register as a blip in most people's consciousness.

Because everyone's attention is fragmented across their own specific corners of the internet, their own communities, their own feeds algorithmically curated to show them exactly what they already care about.

So what do you need instead?

You need something bigger. You need to focus on creating what Reggie James calls "the moment."

And honestly, it's so well put that I've been thinking about it constantly since I first heard him describe it.

What is the moment?

The moment is when you command undeniable attention at the centre of the most important conversation within your field.

Think Sam Altman and ChatGPT. Charli XCX and Brat Summer. Emilia Pérez's Hollywood breakout. Or Timothée Chalamet's A24 Marty Supreme rollout that we talked about a few weeks ago.

These are cultural inflection points where someone or something becomes impossible to ignore, even if you're not directly in that world.

But…

…you can't fake the moment.

You cannot manufacture it with marketing alone.

You can try. Goodness knows enough brands and creators try every single day. They throw money at it, they engineer virality, they buy attention.

But it doesn't work. Not really. Not in a way that lasts.

Because the moment requires real performance. It requires narrative.

And ultimately, it requires timing.

Being early is the same as being wrong. Launch too soon and you're shouting into a void that isn't ready to listen yet. Launch too late and you're just adding to the noise of everyone else who got there first.

The hero's journey

And most importantly - this is the bit I think about the most - it demands suffering first.

We need to see the hero's journey.

We need to know that you put in the work. That you struggled. That you earned it.

This is why overnight success stories never happen overnight. When you dig into them, there's always years of grinding that nobody saw. Failed attempts. Lessons learned the hard way. The building blocks that make the eventual breakthrough feel earned rather than manufactured.

Sam Altman didn't just appear with ChatGPT. He'd been building in AI and startup infrastructure for years. Charli XCX didn't materialise with Brat Summer - she'd been releasing music and building her sound since 2013. The moment only works because of everything that came before it.

Why breakthrough feels impossible now

Because it's not about having one big idea that catches fire.

You need to be layering towards the moment.

And you do this through consistency, strategy, and being ready for when your category explodes.

You build the foundation when nobody's watching. You show up when it feels like nobody cares. You refine your craft, you develop your voice, you create the body of work that proves you're not just riding a trend.

So that when the moment arrives - and it will arrive if you stick around long enough and position yourself correctly - you're ready for it.

I think is the key differentiator going into 2026 (the key to culture, marketing, and relevance) is narrative towards the moment.

That's your job.

Build the story. Layer in the proof. Show the journey. Position yourself at the intersection of where you are and where your industry is heading.

Because without that groundwork, you'll get lost in the abyss. Just another voice in the microculture noise, shouting into a void that's already moved on to the next thing.

But with it? When your moment arrives, you'll be ready.

And everyone else will wonder how you made it look so easy.

Speaking of moments…

Next week, I'm launching something I've been working on for a while now, something that I think will help you build exactly this kind of narrative foundation. No paywalls, completely free. Keep your eyes on this newsletter. I promise it'll be worth it.

More details in the newsletter I sent last Monday.

If you missed it, click here to read →

Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱

Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to get the next one straight to your inbox.

If this email landed in your spam or promotions folder, move it to your primary inbox so you never miss an update from me.