▼ MARKETPLACE ~ a holding pattern ~
▼ YOUR STASH
▼ ACTIONS
Select your next venue
A vendor wants a white paper
Name your prediction
Pay Down Debt
Current debt: $5,000
Available attention: $2,000
How much to pay?
EVENT
A foolish game
Something you did in this run unlocked a foolish game.
The unlock is permanent — your browser will remember.
A new sponsor wants in
An email arrives. Polite. Effusive. They have been "loving your output." Their proposal includes a one-time activation payment and a multi-quarter commitment.
Each new sponsor also creates a future obligation event — a webinar, a quote, a logo placement.
A sponsor is calling in a favor
Launch your own conference
A rival pundit disagrees
Result
Two sponsors collided
You have intel on a rival
You have assembled a dossier. A pattern of retroactive claims, conflicting positions, a sponsorship arrangement that looks ethically uncomfortable on review. The question is not whether to use it — it is whether the discourse will reward or punish you for being the one who went there.
Costs $2,500 attention + 1 cred-debt. 4-week cooldown per deployment.
A fact-checker arrives
A larger prize emerges
You have repaid the debt. The sponsor sends a polite congratulatory note. A junior account exec follows you on LinkedIn. You are no longer a debtor — you are a brand.
But the upfront has not yet arrived. There remain weeks to fill, panels to book, charts to drop. The smartest analysts do not stop at "paid off." They press onward.
ENDING
Take Wars
| Hot Takes | $120 base · saturates at 5 · best at StreamTV, CES, SXSW |
| Cold Takes | $200 base · saturates at 4 · best at Galaxy Tour, MIPCOM |
| Prophecies | $300 base · saturates at 3 · accountability check after 6 markets |
| Charts | $250 base · saturates at 5 · best at Cannes, Upfronts |
| Industry Jargon | $1,700 base · saturates at 5 · rare, high-margin |
| Leaks | $400 base · 2 slots · saturates at 2 · fact-checks follow |
| ★ I Called This | +$250 · pumps 2 commodities +75% for 2 markets · cred +1 |
| ✎ Issue Correction | $400 (escalates +$200/use) · cred-debt −2 |
| ✦ New Look | $300 (escalates +$150/use) · charts/terms +25% next market · vis +1 |
| 🔇 Stay on Message | $500 · 5 weeks contradiction immunity |
| ✎ Publish Substack | Free · week +1 · cold +20%, proph +10% (2 markets) · cooldown 3 |
| ◈ Post to LinkedIn | Free · week +1 · vis +1 · hot +10% · cooldown 2 |
| ◈ Coin a Term | $1,200 · generates named term with traction · sell before it fades |
The Dark Arts of Media Punditry
Each action has consequences. Some are immediate. Some compound.
Pundit's Lab
week 20+Combine two dark arts. The synthesis is more powerful. The backfire costs a sponsor.
The Coined Terms Engine
$1,200 per spin. The term is yours. Its value depends on how well it lands.