JD Vance. Iran.

He came. He saw. After 21 hours...he failed.
No deal, and no surprise.
Not because the man is clearly a walking angel of woe.
Not because 21 hours with him constitutes a war crime (I'd rather have bombs.)

It's because negotiation isn’t about winning.
It’s about communication.

Bad negotiators fight over terms.
“My 15-point plan is bigger than your 10-point plan.”
Good ones solve problems.

Most of us get this wrong.
At work. With partners (“We need to talk…” 😬)
Definitely with kids ("Homework. NOW." Not a negotiation. A declaration of war.)

Aim for common ground, not battlegrounds.
Short-term 'wins' often fester into long-term losses (people remember…)

1. Drop the terms. Name the problem

2. The Exhaustion Trap

3. The Passive-Agressive Killer

4. Build a ‘Golden Bridge’

Treat them like a rogue state, expect a stalemate.
The problem is the enemy, not the person.

And if all else fails…
…send in Vance.
(Brr…did it just get cold in here?)

💬 FOLLOW-UP: "What's the hardest thing you've ever had to negotiate for?"

⛔ DON'T SAY: "Take it or leave it." (They'll leave it. Every time.)

“When you want to make a deal real bad, you’ll make a really bad deal.”
(Boone Pickens, American business magnate, 1928-2018)

👇 Answer at the end

Turn headlines into talking points

It’s 1812.
You’re a mill owner in Huddersfield, England.

You’re on your lovely white horse, thinking about how wonderful new machines are going to make you even richer.
No more workers (annoying things.)

Then one of them pops up and shoots you.

In the dick.

You die. 38 hours later.
(Yup. Pretty annoying.)

Luddites — we use the word now for Dan in accounts who can’t work the printer.
But they weren’t anti-tech idiots smashing machines for fun.
They were workers watching their livelihoods vanish… while someone else got stinking rich.

Now.

Anthropic launches Mythos – so powerful it can hack every major system and browser.
Too dangerous for the public. So it’s locked away.

For corporations only.

AGI for everyone… or just the billionaire boys’ club?

AI companies are racing ahead, assuming public trust will catch up later.

It isn't.

New machines, but the same fear: who wins, who gets left behind.
We have data centres instead of factories.
Algorithms instead of looms.
Harder to smash behind those wire fences and robo-guard dogs.

But the people who make them...?

Last week, I wrote about AI's communication problem.

Looks like it might have a bigger one.

April 15, 1955.

A 52-year-old milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald’s.
(You still have time).

He didn't invent McDonald's. He franchised it (very well).
Then bought out the brothers who did.

In the UK? ‘Maccy D's’.
In Japan? ‘Makku’.
Different names. Same regret after two burgers and large fries at midnight.

A few bits for your next conversation:

From milkshakes to a $200bn empire.
Not bad for basically salt and grease (yum!)

💡 PRO TIP: Food is universal. Ask about it — everyone has a story.
💬 FOLLOW-UP: “What’s your go-to McDonald’s order?”
⛔ DON’T SAY: “I never eat fast food.” (No one believes you.)

The defense sector is shifting capital toward three areas: AI-integrated systems, space domain infrastructure, and advanced aerospace platforms. These are the verticals seeing the largest increases in Pentagon R&D spending, and most of the companies winning those contracts are still under the radar. This report profiles five of them. Each is analyzed for competitive positioning, contract pipeline, and near-term growth catalysts. No filler, just the research you need to evaluate whether these stocks belong in your portfolio. The defense sector is being reallocated. Get the names leading that shift.

Get the names

Hard day smashing data centres and terrorising tech CEOs?
Unwind with the smooth sounds of Eddie Dalton.

11 songs in the iTunes Top 100. Millions of streams.
Just one thing.

He isn't real.

AI-generated and algorithm-approved.
He’s outselling musicians who spent years with a plectrum and pushy parents.

Great voice, though.

💬 FOLLOW UP: Do you care?

Sports agent Tom Cruise has a meltdown, loses his job, keeps one client, and falls in love — roughly in that order.

💬 YOUR TURN: Have you ever used one of these lines in real life?

A) ⚡ Pokémon — still not over it – 8%
B) ⚔️ Star Wars — choose your era wisely — 30%
C) 🧙 Harry Potter — books > films? - 0%
D) 🦸 Marvel — missing Cap? - 0%
E) 💍 Lord of the Rings — extended editions only — 23%
F) 🤷 Other — reply and defend yourself — 39%

💬 Your Two Cents

B: “Fargo? Loved the film, and the series that I've watched, and the accents!”
P: “Just plain lord of the rings.”
D: “James Bond. Although big hopes for Dune 3.”
U: “I first became obsessed with movies when I was in middle school…Indiana Jones,” “Gremlins,” “The Terminator,” “Back to the Future,” “Aliens,” “The Fly,” “Fright Night…I’ll never forget the sense of wonder I felt in that darkness.”
A: “Star Wars…The original trilogy with Rogue One is my pick of the bunch.”
S: “John Wick. Apart from The Continental, can’t forgive them for that.”

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