# People Stuff Building companies is mostly a people problem, as I've learned the hard way. I write about the relationships, emotional drivers, and leadership challenges that determine whether startups win, and how those things are being rewritten in the age of AI. Page: Feed: --- ## [What I’ve Learned](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/what-ive-learned) _2026-08-18 · Mike Troiano_ Ten important ideas I keep having to relearn, sixty years in. ## [Everybody Codes. Nobody Reads.](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/everybody-codes-nobody-reads) _2026-08-11 · Mike Troiano_ We spent twenty years worried only a small fraction of people wrote software. We’re about to find out what happens when only a small fraction of people read. ## [You Can’t Measure What Really Matters](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/you-cant-measure-what-really-matters) _2026-08-04 · Mike Troiano_ The instrumented self, AI at work, and the difference between living longer and living better. ## [I Turned My Positioning Workshop Into a Skill You Can Steal](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/i-turned-my-positioning-workshop) _2026-07-28 · Mike Troiano_ Five years ago I wrote the framework down because I was sick of running the workshop. Now Claude runs it for you — free, at 2am, and it won’t let you skip the hard part. ## [Where Ambition Goes to Die](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/where-ambition-goes-to-die) _2026-07-21 · Mike Troiano_ A week in Galway, and a preview of what’s left when the machines take the rest. ## [You’re Still Talking to a Person](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/youre-still-talking-to-a-person) _2026-07-14 · Mike Troiano_ Companies don’t buy things, and for now neither does AI. People do, and what moves them is a story. ## [Meet My Editor](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/meet-my-editor) _2026-07-07 · Mike Troiano_ Smart people don't use AI as a crutch to replace their writing; they use it as a partner to help make it better. ## [Why Would They Buy You?](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/why-would-they-buy-you) _2026-06-30 · Mike Troiano_ AI is making “build” a lot cheaper than “buy.” That’s a problem for every startup, and the business model that funds them. ## [We Talk About AI Like It’s the Weather](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/we-talk-about-ai-like-its-the-weather) _2026-06-23 · Mike Troiano_ We’re not watching the storm. We’re seeding it. ## [Trade Smarter With IBKR (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/F9APpcPWG5JR) _2026-06-23 · **Sponsored**_ Join Interactive Brokers through a referral and access low-cost global trading. ## [My Son Thinks AI Is for Cheaters. He’s Half Right.](https://miketrap.substack.com/p/my-son-thinks-ai-is-for-cheaters) _2026-06-16 · Mike Troiano_ A generation booed AI off the commencement stage this spring. They’re right to be afraid, but wrong about what to do about it.