Thinking With Mitch Joel

MichaelAaron Flicker, entrepreneur and behavioral-science marketer who founded a company as a teen and wrote Hacking the Human Mind. He explores the tension between performance marketing and emotional storytelling. They discuss how AI and platforms shape choices, the illusion of choice on marketplaces like Amazon, why many DTC brands plateau, and how behavioral tricks still drive consumer decisions.

Douglas Woodham, economist and former President of the Americas at Christie's, unpacks how value in art is constructed. He discusses Basquiat's posthumous branding, scarcity and managed drops, performative collecting in the social media era, why NFTs struggled in fine art, and the rise of alternative collectibles and fractional ownership challenges.

Pablos Holman, hacker, inventor, and founder of Deep Future, builds deep technologies to tackle hard physical problems. He discusses why software alone falls short. He focuses on energy as the root challenge, reshoring manufacturing with robotics, and using AI to accelerate real scientific breakthroughs. He argues for optimism as a discipline and for working on problems big enough to scare.

Natalie Nixon, creativity strategist and founder of Figure 8 Thinking, reframes productivity as Move, Think, Rest. She talks about burnout sparking a rethink of work, why busyness undermines imagination, and how AI raises the value of human creativity. Short experiments, play, culture shifts and rest are presented as tools to build creativity as a strategic capability.

B. Joseph Pine II, author and strategist who coined The Experience Economy, explains why businesses should aim to transform people, not just stage moments. He discusses the shift from commodities to transformations. Short takes cover memorable experiences vs convenience, empathy and long-term thinking, data-driven personalization with privacy, and how AI can scale coaching to support human flourishing.

Avinash Kaushik, marketing and analytics strategist and bestselling author, shares sharp perspectives on measurement, brand versus performance, and AI’s role in reshaping marketing. He discusses how AI automates routine work, elevates judgment and creativity, changes search and discovery, and forces teams to rethink what work is worth doing. Practical examples and organizational tactics are highlighted.

David Armano, a digital transformation strategist and futurist who writes 'David by Design', discusses AI as both a continuation of past tech waves and a novel cognitive force. He covers enterprise adoption, worker anxiety and potential job displacement. Conversations explore the intelligence wealth gap, creator vs passive consumer dynamics, and the need to 'adapt intelligently' across individuals, firms and governments.

Nir Eyal, bestselling author and behavioral design expert behind Hooked and Indistractable, explores belief as a practical tool for action. He discusses the motivation triangle of behavior, benefit and belief. Conversations cover why knowledge often fails to change us, the turnaround technique to reframe assumptions, belief’s role in culture and AI, and how changing your mind can be a strength.

Will Storr, author and storytelling researcher who studies narrative psychology, explores why brains prefer stories to facts. He discusses identity, status and why character-driven tales persuade. The conversation covers storytelling in business, risks of AI-made narratives, authenticity, and how stories shape belief without summarizing specific insights.

Kevin Ertell, founder of Mistere Advisory and author of The Strategy Trap, is a veteran retail and e-commerce operator. He talks about why execution—not ideas—fails. He covers incentives that shape behavior, co-creation and the 70% aligned rule, slowing down to create clarity, testing with frontline teams, and using AI to multiply time and insight.