Joy, Funnels, and the Algorithm

Hey —

I have to say, my favorite part of the week is newsletter time.

Also, yesterday was my birthday so if you want to go on LinkedIn or X and rave about how awesome Signal // Noise, then by all means, be my guest! 😉 

Let’s get this baby rolling.

// The Signal

When Joy is Content, and Content is Everything

YouTube. Twitch. Instagram. Substack. OnlyFans. Patreon. TikTok. - the march of monetization ripples through every feed & fiber of our beings.

In fact, seven in 10 U.S. adults have some sort of side-hustle, although two-thirds of that group make less than $500/month for all that extra grind grind grind. We’re all creators — chasing scraps of a monster $250 billion economy that frequently rewards moving algorithms or the most bat-shit crazy of voices.

Optimization culture tells you to live your best life, and monetize it, too - but more than likely, it’s delivering burnout, FOMO, and the gnawing sense that nothing is ever enough.

Even if you’re lucky enough to find a hobby you love — how long before you feel lacking ambition when someone asks why you haven’t opened an Etsy store yet? And maybe you feel it too: that subtle guilt when you're doing something purely because it brings you joy — not because it moves your funnel, builds your brand, or compounds your reach.

I think - sometimes - we forget to do things just because they simply light us the f*ck up.

I’m wrestling with this myself, a la this newsletter.

Writing was my first love — the zig-zag hunt for an idea, a kernel, losing it, clawing it back, and hammering it into sentences - nothing else drops me into that same focused hum.

But then the optimization ghosts start to arrive: “A/B test every subject line”. “Dial down the cursing if you want advertisers down the road”.

Even my (lovely) wife piles on: You do curse too much, she says.

So then I spiral. YouTube demonetizes serial f-bombers. Google throttles “inappropriate” content. And most brands shy away from profanity. Am i kneecapping future revenue every time I let an f-word fly? As you can tell, I’m feeling the pressure of my own monetization-instincts, the internal pressure to optimize and constantly be my best self.

But - the realest version of ‘my best self’ - is the one that curses, and always has.

Whether I nuke a future ad placement for a crowd-sourced bourbon brand or not, a well-placed F*CK makes me smile, and that’s gotta count for something.

🔖 The Blog Round

Too many marketers out there run "tests" with no control group and declare monster wins. In this example, we actually did the work - real A/B test. Proper holdout cell. Big W.

So what happened when we rolled out the red carpet for pre-qualified leads?

• ✅ 34% lift in conversions

• 💰 $497,000 in incremental revenue

• 🚪 Zero new leads — just treating the warm ones better

If you're sitting on a pile of “almost-buyers,” you're likely sitting on hidden revenue too.

Read more here:

🥨 A few Jawns to Check Out

ARR is Dead. OnlyCFO makes a strong case that in the AI era, annual recurring revenue is no longer the metric. Why? Because usage-based pricing is becoming more relevant — and with it, traditional SaaS benchmarks start to wobble. If you’re a founder building in or adjacent to AI, it’s worth questioning whether your revenue model and metrics are keeping up. 📖 Check it out here.

Product Purgatory = No Urgency. Jason Cohen nails a trap lots of startups fall into: you’ve got a good product, high intent leads, strong engagement — but they ain’t buying. Why? Because there’s no urgency. You’re solving something useful, but it’s not a top priority right now. The fix is to make it a top priority - help users feel the cost of not acting. If conversion is lagging despite solid signals, you’d be wise to give this a quick read. 📖 Check it out here.

On AI, Hype, and Caution. This essay from Untangling Snarls takes shares a skeptical look at the tradeoffs we’re steamrolling past in our rush to embed AI into everything. While I don’t always share such a pessimistic view, I do think it’s smart—and healthy—to occasionally tap the brakes and ask: what are we giving up, and who’s paying the price? We need both optimists and critics in the room. 📖 Check it out here.

Alright playas, that’s all we got this week!

Please feel free to forward this along to someone who’d dig it - or just hit reply and tell me what you liked (or didn’t).

Love yous.

Jordan