After 85 months, I canceled Audible, drawn by the superior quality of Substack, podcasts, and YouTube. Creators now rival legacy giants, flipping media diets—Mr. Beast’s $5B empire dwarfs Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 at $1.5B. Early adopters like us see the shift, but traditional media lingers for most. Our mission? Craft captivating content, grow this ecosystem, and seize the massive runway ahead as creators redefine the future.

At 16, I left Germany for a transformative year in the U.S., captivated by its vibrant culture and bold dreams. Americans embraced me, their audacity to chase big goals—like modeling or music—contrasting Germany’s caution. Their fierce national pride, unseen in my homeland, left a mark. That year shaped me, inspiring this English newsletter. Though I’ve not returned since 2018, fearing reality might tarnish golden memories, I’m torn—should I risk revisiting to refresh my perspective?

In the 1960s, Phil Knight turned a severed deal with Onitsuka Tiger into Nike, birthing an empire from constraint. Fast forward to 2023: U.S. GPU export controls aimed to curb China’s AI rise, but DeepSeek’s debut signaled resilience. Like Nike, China’s adapting, innovating in chips and AI. Constraints may backfire, accelerating China’s self-sufficient AI ecosystem in a global race for AGI supremacy.