MIKE MENDELSOHN
MIKE MENDELSOHN
MIKE
MENDELSOHN
MIKE MENDELSOHN
Author of WINNING IS FOR LOSERS
Author of WINNING IS FOR LOSERS
PEOPLE DON’T FEAR FAILURE. THEY FEAR EMBARRASSMENT.
PEOPLE DON’T FEAR FAILURE. THEY FEAR EMBARRASSMENT.
PEOPLE DON’T FEAR FAILURE. THEY FEAR EMBARRASSMENT.
I write about ambition, status, success, embarrassment, and the strange things ambitious people convince themselves they want.
I write about ambition, status, success, embarrassment, and the strange things ambitious people convince themselves they want.
STOP PERFORMING YOUR LIFE FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT ISN’T WATCHING.
STOP PERFORMING YOUR LIFE FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT ISN’T WATCHING.
STOP PERFORMING YOUR LIFE FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT ISN’T WATCHING.
Most of us are not living fake lives.
Most of us are not living fake lives.
We’re living real lives with an unnecessary layer of performance sitting on top of them.
We’re living real lives with an unnecessary layer of performance sitting on top of them.
We chase things we don’t particularly want. Pretend to enjoy things we don’t particularly like. Learn the costumes of success. And then wonder why winning doesn’t feel the way we were promised it would.
We chase things we don’t particularly want. Pretend to enjoy things we don’t particularly like. Learn the costumes of success. And then wonder why winning doesn’t feel the way we were promised it would.
I write about that gap.
I write about that gap.
A Few Things I Believe
People don’t fear failure. They fear embarrassment.
Everyone is full of shit. Some people just wear better costumes.
Perfectionism is procrastination in a tuxedo.
Leadership is often just decisive guessing.
Sophistication can become stupidity in heels.
If you need a slide deck to explain something fundamental, you may not understand it.
The person you’re trying to impress probably isn’t thinking about you.
Winning the wrong game still means you lost.
FLAGSHIP BOOK
WINNING IS FOR LOSERS
WINNING IS FOR LOSERS
WINNING IS FOR LOSERS
Strip Out the Performance and Play the Only Game Worth Winning.
Strip Out the Performance and Play the Only Game Worth Winning.
This is a book about the gap between the life you’re performing and the life you actually want. It’s about ambition, status, authenticity, excess, embarrassment, and what happens when the costume starts becoming the identity.
This is a book about the gap between the life you’re performing and the life you actually want. It’s about ambition, status, authenticity, excess, embarrassment, and what happens when the costume starts becoming the identity.
ABOUT MIKE
ABOUT MIKE
I’ve spent most of my adult life around ambitious people—including being one.
I’ve spent most of my adult life around ambitious people—including being one.
For two decades I’ve worked around investors, executives, entrepreneurs and people who achieved enough conventional success to discover something inconvenient:
For two decades I’ve worked around investors, executives, entrepreneurs and people who achieved enough conventional success to discover something inconvenient:
The finish line moves.
The finish line moves.
The finish line moves.
I became fascinated by the gap between the life people actually want and the one they perform for everyone else.
I became fascinated by the gap between the life people actually want and the one they perform for everyone else.
So I started writing about it.
So I started writing about it.
Unfortunately, that requires publishing my opinions where strangers can judge them—which is a particularly stupid thing to do after writing a chapter called People Don’t Fear Failure. They Fear Embarrassment.
Unfortunately, that requires publishing my opinions where strangers can judge them—which is a particularly stupid thing to do after writing a chapter called People Don’t Fear Failure. They Fear Embarrassment.
Seems fair.
GET ONE UNCOMFORTABLE IDEA A WEEK.
Title
No inspirational quotes. No morning routines. No pretending I've figured out life. Just one idea worth arguing about.
© 2026 Mike Mendelsohn