We Went Viral
And we’re not even live yet
Zombies…safe to say it has been the craziest seven days since launching Sleep or Die.
From viral LinkedIn posts, to multiple dream VC’s sliding into my DMs requesting a call, retailer intros, to a ton of founder warm intros from investors wanting to chat and invest…wow.
In truth, this is all buzz. What matters most trusting your gut and making the cool shit you really want to make. It is the absolute hardest muscle to build, but man this week has just been sharing what I am creating and it led to an insane amount of momentum.
What matters is what you say to yourself when the lights dim and its just you and your thoughts.
OK here we go…
Today in LA is my first artist date. I am leaving the laptop at home which kills me a bit BUT I am so committed to this damn artists way thing (thank you Dianna Cohen for the inspiration), that I have to pre-book my artists dates because I KNOW I will find a way to blow them off.
Opted for watercolours today. Wish me luck. Will post the results on my notes if you commit to BE NICE.
Momentum, Creative Discipline, and Building What Comes Next
If you are reading this and thinking, wait, did I just see something about a strip club and sleep supplements last week, yes. That absolutely happened.
Last Sunday I finally shared what Launch 002 is. Sleep Strips. An oral dissolving sleep supplement in a format most people have never seen before, wrapped inside a concept we are calling The Strip Club. It became our best performing post to date and kicked off a week that felt like a genuine inflection point.
If you have not read that substack post on it yet, I would start there. This one picks up right after the idea left my Notes app and entered the wild.
We're Starting a Strip Club.
Hiii from whatever day of the week your body clock is telling you it is. The magic of the time between Christmas and New Years means: it doesn’t actually matter. Every day is Saturday if you want it to be.
Because once something is named out loud, momentum has a funny way of finding you.
The Unexpected Power of Showing Up Somewhere New
One of the biggest surprises this week had nothing to do with product and everything to do with where we shared it.
I almost did not post the Strip Club reveal on LinkedIn. It took someone nudging me to share it beyond Instagram and TikTok. I hesitated because the tone felt risky for a platform that still skews polished and conservative.
I am very glad I listened.
That single post reached well over 150k people organically, drove thousands of profile visits, and pulled in hundreds of new followers in less than twenty four hours. I have never seen numbers like that on LinkedIn before, and more importantly, I have never seen that level of conversation there.
It reminded me that most platforms are not boring, they are just waiting for someone to break the pattern.
It went so well that we launched a LinkedIn giveaway the next day.
LinkedIn, oddly enough, reminds me a lot of the sleep industry today. Clean. Safe. Predictable. And quietly craving something bolder. That feels like an opening, and we are absolutely stepping into it. Moving forward, LinkedIn is a real channel for Sleep or Die. Behind the scenes. Creative risk. Thought provoking edges. No watered down versions.
Putting Down Roots and Creating Space to Think
Another big shift is that after two months of living out of packing cubes and storage lockers, we finally found a home in Venice. I feel like I am moving from a nomad to an adult and let’s just say it is long overdue. For the new subs here, this is the reality;
Finding a home in LA may sound small, but it has changed everything. After the accident, the move, and the constant feeling of being in between, having a place where life feels settled again has recalibrated my energy. Routines are coming back. Morning walks feel intentional. Work feels less frantic and more focused.
Los Angeles still feels unfamiliar, but in the right way. New environments force new thinking. I find that when I stay in the same place too long, my creativity can sharpen. Right now, everything feels like it is in colour again, and Sleep or Die only benefits from that.
Building the Waitlist With Intention
We are also very intentionally building our waitlist for Sleep Strips. My goal is to add two thousand more people before launch, and we are 1422 emails from that. I think we can do it, with your help.
Not because numbers look good on a slide, but because this product is meant to be experienced collectively. Talked about. Shared. Passed along to the friend who cannot sleep and is tired of pills, powders, or gummies that do not actually fit their life.
If you are already on the waitlist, thank you. If you are not, and this resonates, I would love to have you there. This community is shaping how Launch 002 comes into the world, and first access matters.
Moonshot of the Week
I want to start doing something new here.
In every Substack post, I’m going to share one slightly unhinged, probably impractical, but deeply exciting moonshot idea that I want to bring into the world. Not because it’s guaranteed to happen, but because I believe creativity is a muscle. And if I don’t keep using it, I lose it.
This week’s idea has been living rent-free in my brain.
I want to recreate I’m In Love With a Stripper by T-Pain.
But flipped entirely.
Same cultural reference. Same unapologetic energy. Totally different meaning.
Instead of desire being something external, the obsession is rest. Choosing sleep. Choosing yourself. Buying sleep strips as an act of defiance. Self-indulgence without apology. Falling in love with a stripper, and with the version of yourself that finally prioritizes rest in a world that tells you to keep grinding.
And I want to do it with T-Pain.
It feels especially made for 90s babies. The ones who grew up with that song, are now deeply sleep deprived, and are finally questioning why exhaustion ever became a flex.
I don’t know if this becomes a full campaign, a one-off piece of content, or just a beautiful idea that sharpens how we think creatively.
But when something sparks this much reaction in me, I’ve learned that it’s worth paying attention to.
Curious what you think.
Let me know in the comments.
Why This Still Feels Like the Beginning
I want to close on something that feels important.
I genuinely believe we are early in a cultural shift around rest. I think in ten years we will look back at how we used to treat sleep the same way previous generations look back at glorifying burnout or dressing up to fly. Necessary at the time, but wildly out of step in hindsight.
Sleep is not passive. It is not indulgent. It is not something you earn after productivity. It is the foundation everything else sits on.
Sleep or Die exists to question the defaults and build something better in their place. Different formats. Different language. Different energy. Sometimes uncomfortable. Always intentional.
If you are reading this and feeling pulled toward something bigger than a product launch, something that actually shifts how we think about rest, you are exactly where you should be.
More very soon. And as always, thank you for being here.
Get to bed.
This is SICK. I am completely in love with your branding and the sleep or die world and your entire ethos
Loved the LinkedIn anecdote, and always appreciate the way you bring everyone along for the ride! 2026 is gonna be big!