You’ve seen the shift. Every week someone new appears online promising an easier path to wealth, influence or clarity. They offer shortcuts. They sell confidence. They present themselves as experts before they’ve built anything that can hold weight.
You feel the disconnect because the story rarely matches the substance. And that tension is more than fatigue—it’s a warning.
That’s the new snake oil. And it’s everywhere.
As I’ve been writing my latest book—with an AI collaborator helping me pressure-test and sharpen my thinking—I’ve had to revisit the moments that actually shaped who I’ve become. Those moments aren’t polished. They aren’t optimized for attention. They’re lived. They carry consequences. And they’ve made it impossible for me to ignore the widening gap between real experience and the digital performance of expertise.
A Digital Economy Built on Illusion
You probably notice the same patterns:
• Systems sold by people who haven’t tested them in any meaningful context
• Big promises supported by vague backstories
• Borrowed language presented as personal insight
• Advice optimized for attention rather than accuracy
• Struggle edited out to create the illusion of ease
I’ve seen people teach “resilience” without ever navigating a true crisis. I’ve watched leadership coaches who’ve never led teams under pressure. I’ve seen creators sell “decision frameworks” that collapse the second they’re applied to real stakes.
When you’ve lived through complexity—whether in a boardroom, on a trail or in a rescue scenario—you recognize immediately when someone hasn’t.
What Authentic Work Actually Looks Like
The writing and rewriting process forced me to pull from experiences that shaped my understanding of systems, leadership and judgment:
• A broken axle in Moab with miles of trail ahead and a team relying on calm clarity rather than panic
• A global platform project that nearly derailed because invisible structures were misaligned long before the first line of code was written
• A youth robotics program built in leftover school space because the mission mattered more than the constraints
• A search-and-rescue training exercise near the U.S.–Mexico border where communication discipline determined whether the operation ran smoothly or spiraled into chaos
These were not curated moments. They weren’t staged to make a point. They were raw, unpredictable and formative. They taught lessons that stick because they were earned.
Authenticity isn’t a brand. It’s what remains after doing real work under real pressure.
The Personal Stakes Behind This
As a parent of two college-aged sons, I see how aggressively the digital world targets young adults who are eager to build something meaningful. Their feeds are full of get-rich-quick schemes and success stories stripped of context. They’re expected to navigate promises even seasoned adults struggle to evaluate.
That tension became real when helping my youngest son start his first company. We walked through every step together—forming the LLC, securing insurance, building his marketing and serving actual customers. Nothing about it was theoretical. He learned what business school concepts look like when real expectations, real money and real people are involved. He’s still learning those lessons, and he’s earning them the right way.
Moments like that sharpen my conviction. As a father, as a business builder and as a technology leader, I feel a responsibility to help people examine ambitious claims with clarity instead of being pulled in by digital charlatans selling aspiration without substance.
How You Can Spot the Difference
A few grounding questions help you separate credible insight from manufactured authority:
• Does their thinking come from lived experience or recycled scripts?
• Can they explain the failures that shaped them without spinning the story?
• Does their perspective evolve as they grow, or do they freeze their persona to protect a brand?
• Do they speak with the weight of someone who has done the work, or the shine of someone performing expertise?
• Does their story feel recognizable and grounded, or engineered for effect?
These questions protect you from illusion.
Why Authenticity Still Wins
People are hungry for grounded leadership. They want voices they can trust—voices shaped through pressure, discomfort and consequence. They want guidance from people who have actually built, led, failed, recovered and kept going.
You earn trust when your ideas align with your history.
You earn trust when you refuse to edit out the moments that tested you.
You earn trust when you acknowledge the tools that helped you think more clearly—AI included—without pretending those tools lived your life for you.
Every chapter of my work is anchored in what I’ve actually lived. Not what’s convenient. Not what’s trending. What’s real.
A Call to Grounded Leadership
Whatever you’re building next—your career, your business, your influence—you don’t need shortcuts from people selling borrowed wisdom. You need tools, stories and frameworks shaped by lived experience.
That’s the standard I choose.
And it’s the standard I hope you’ll hold for yourself.
If the digital world is full of modern snake oil, the antidote is clear:
Tell the truth.
Do the work that forms you.
Build from what you’ve actually lived.
Use every tool available—including AI—to express that truth with clarity.
Let’s build what’s real.
And help others do the same.
