The Business of YOU
In a recent speech I talked about the idea of leaning into your crazy.
Leaning into your crazy means fully embracing the part of you that doesn’t fit into the system. The unconventional idea, obsession, or worldview that makes you different. It’s about recognizing that the very thing that feels “too much,” “too weird,” or “too risky” is often the source of your greatest leverage.
Most people spend their lives sanding down the edges that make them unique so they can fit in. But those edges are the advantage. Today, more than ever, they are the key to standing out.
Leaning into your crazy means trusting that instinct, nurturing it, and building around it instead of hiding it. It’s the decision to stop apologizing for what makes you different and start amplifying it.
This idea connects directly to The Tilt...your unique angle or perspective that separates you from everyone else. The Tilt is how you transform from being one of many to being the one your audience cannot replace.
But finding your Tilt is not about analysis or following trends. It’s about listening to that internal pull, the “crazy” idea that keeps you up at night or makes others raise an eyebrow. Leaning into your crazy is how you uncover and sharpen your Tilt. It’s the creative conviction that allows you to build a business, audience, or life that only you could create, not by following the playbook, but by burning it.
All of this creates the business model of you.
Call Her Crazy
Consider Alex Cooper from Call Her Daddy.
Alex has a hit podcast, a full-blown media network, a deal with Sirius, and a line of specialty drinks. This week she announced the launch of her new creative agency.
I’m no Alex Cooper expert, but I imagine her crazy...her tilt...revolves around unapologetically discussing sex, relationships, and mental health in ways many still consider taboo. Her crazy is saying what others won’t, with humor, honesty, and energy. She built a billion-dollar business around that.
The secret sauce? Alex Cooper.
While most creators and entrepreneurs are chasing the next system to copy or the next algorithm hack, we forget that leaning into what makes us “us” is the best business model in the world. And it can’t be copied. Especially when you are the product driving the model.
In Naval We Trust
One of my favorite videos comes from Naval Ravikant. In it, Naval sums up success in two words: productize yourself.
“Just figure out what you naturally do that the world might want, that you can scale up and turn into a product, and it will eventually be effortless for you.” - Naval Ravikant
Sadly, most people never realize this. They choose a job or career before they find themselves. They become a doctor or lawyer or IT specialist and five years later realize it’s not for them.
Instead of searching for the job, the career, or the role, we should be searching within ourselves. Your crazy interests, your curiosities, your passions. The ones you’re scared to tell people about. Those are the raw materials for your next chapter.
So here’s the call to action: stop editing yourself to fit the mold. Start paying attention to what pulls you, what excites you, what feels uniquely yours. Write it down. Test it. Build around it. The more you lean into your crazy, the clearer your business model becomes.
And once you find it, you’ll never compete on someone else’s terms again.
Now go build your future!
JP
P.S.: Here's a 21-Day Challenge to help you find your Tilt (it's from my book Burn the Playbook). No strings attached.
