Mike Mendelsohn / 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

PEOPLE DON’T FEAR FAILURE.THEY FEAR EMBARRASSMENT.

Most of us spend an absurd amount of our lives performing for people who aren’t paying nearly as much attention as we think. 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 make us feel the way we were promised it would.

GET ONE UNCOMFORTABLE IDEA A WEEK.

No inspirational quotes. No morning routines. No pretending I've figured it out. Just one idea worth arguing about.

GET ONE UNCOMFORTABLE IDEA A WEEK.

No inspirational quotes. No morning routines. No pretending I've figured it out. Just one idea worth arguing about.

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.

About Mike

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. The finish line moves. I became fascinated by the gap between the life people actually want and the one they perform for everyone else. So I wrote a book about it. Unfortunately, that required 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.

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. The finish line moves. I became fascinated by the gap between the life people actually want and the one they perform for everyone else. So I wrote a book about it. Unfortunately, that required 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.

STILL HERE? YOU MAY AS WELL JOIN.

No performance required. Just the occasional honest note.

STILL HERE? YOU MAY AS WELL JOIN.

No performance required. Just the occasional honest note.

© 2026 Mike Mendelsohn