Recipe: A Strategy That Actually Rises
Yields: One sustainable future. Prep time: 12 months. Contains 0g of "Best Of" fluff.
Your inbox is probably full of “Best of 2025” lists right now. It is the standard end-of-year move. We look back. We pat ourselves on the back. We archive the year.
But nostalgia is not a strategy.
I wanted to do something useful with the Backstory & Strategy archive instead. I looked at the data to see what you actually read this year. The results were clear. You didn’t click on the easy wins. You wanted the hard stuff. You read about structural reform, customer definition, and the difference between surviving and building.
So I stripped those posts down into a single recipe for the coming year.
Recipe: The 2026 Builder’s Strategy
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Based on 185 archived posts)
Prep Time: 12 months of data
Cook Time: All of 2026
Yields: One sustainable future
Nutrition Facts: 0g Fluff • 100% Reality • High in Structural Reform
The Ingredients
2 Cups of “So What?” (The Relevance Test) Sourced from: So What? The Two Words That Saved Our Emmy-Winning Documentary. Why it works: Just as baking powder creates lift, this question prevents your content from falling flat. If you can’t answer “So What?” then the batter is heavy. It is inedible. Throw it out.
1 Specific Customer Profile (No Buffets) Sourced from: Journalism’s Customer Problem. Why it works: You can’t cook for everyone. If you try to feed the whole neighborhood, you end up with a lukewarm buffet. Pick one diner. Cook specifically for them.
1 Heaping Scoop of Structural Reform Sourced from: Unbundling the Pledge Drive. Why it works: This is your flour. It is the base ingredient. Stop trying to sweeten a broken business model like the pledge drive with more “asks.” Sugar doesn’t bind the dough. You need a new base.
Equal Parts: Business Sense & Editorial Mission Sourced from: We Can Explain Your Money, But Not Our Own. Why it works: The “Chinese Wall” separates your liquids from your solids. If you don’t mix the business side with the content side, you don’t get a batter. You get a mess.
The Secret Sauce: A “Builder’s” Mindset Sourced from: The Difference Between Surviving and Building Something Real. Why it works: Most nonprofits use preservatives. They operate in survival mode just to keep things from dying. Swap that out for yeast. Use a builder’s mindset to make things rise.
Directions
Step 1: Preheat the Culture. Clear the counter first. Most organizations skip this. They start launching products before they have defined who they are for. Go back to Journalism’s Customer Problem. Pick your specific audience. Ignore the rest.
Step 2: Mix the Teams. Whisk your editorial team and your revenue team together until smooth. If they are clumping because they can’t explain each other’s jobs, keep stirring. Use We Can Explain Your Money as the whisk.
Step 3: Taste Test Constantly. Apply the “So What?” test before you serve anything to the public. If the flavor is vague, it needs more work. Do not serve undercooked content.
Step 4: Bake (Don’t Microwave). A “survivor” mindset tries to microwave success with quick hacks. A “builder” mindset knows this takes time in the oven. Trust the process.
💡 Chef’s Note: If you find the mixture is getting too thick or serious, read The Loyalty Collapse. Remember that your audience is stressed. Keep the final product accessible.
Enjoy the cooking. See you in the kitchen in 2026.
- Yoni
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