media & online business thoughts for 2026

This newsletter is sponsored by Lumens. A huge selection of beautiful lighting, furniture & decor. Check out the video we created together about 2026 Design Trends.

I was recently blurbed in the Wall Street Journal. I found out in a group text with a bunch of friends: someone had sent it, and everyone was really excited, congratulating me as if I had finally "made it."

WSJ is certainly one of the bigger names in legacy media, and the article by Nora Knoepflmacher is great; you should read it. But this is largely symbolically cool, a badge of honor from the old guard of my youth.

In 2026, Social Media is just becoming The Media. You may like this or hate it, but it is undeniable at this point. Brands are shifting significant portions of their budgets from traditional channels to social. If you look at what savvy journalists are beginning to do, you'll see they're becoming short-form video creators and tweeting a bunch. Brand loyalty is at an all-time low, and people want the writer/creator's face and their personal story.

2026, more than ever, will be the year of one-person businesses. Tweets & Short-Form Video as top-of-funnel, and newsletters and YouTube as a longer-form trust hub from which a beautiful, organic business can be germinated.

It is the year of the builder. In an uncertain job market, if you know how to talk, create, and sell, this is rapidly becoming your best bet.

Niches seem to be expanding, and creators will fill the void.

I was just having a conversation with friends about how there is essentially no longer a "pop culture," at least in the way it existed 20 years ago.

20 years ago, there was literally a catalog of Important People Who Everyone Knew - Rolling Stone and E! - and they would gather at The Big Events Everyone Watched and Cared About - the awards shows.

Today, there are still a handful of massive movie and music stars, but otherwise, public interest is spreading wide and becoming less concentrated. There are a million different events and people to pay attention to, each with its own media channel and narrative. The consumer today is interested in their own world/their own feed, which is probably markedly different from the person they are sitting next to while scrolling at the airport.

It's a time of transition and a ripe moment to get out of your comfort zone and claim a niche.

It hasn't really taken off yet for most US consumers, but I believe live social shopping will drastically alter consumer behavior and impact the design world. I'm a relative novice on this, but you should check it out so you know what's coming.

WhatNot is the premier live shopping app in the US. The affiliate dumpster fire that is TikTok Shop continues to burn ever brightly, and there will certainly be new entrants as the market expands. You might think of this as a live, global, personality-driven Facebook Marketplace 2.0. This is already a huge thing in China & SE Asia and will likely be a $1 trillion market in 2026. Buckle up.

At the same time that social media is going niche, tons of small, high-touch communities are blossoming on the back of channels. In-person connections for those with the same interests. I've been super impressed with Sam Parr & Joe Speiser's Hampton as a model. It's a private network for successful founders, with 13 chapters and growing, and I think it's going to be replicated like crazy as the internet gives us opportunities to make new neighbors.

There's never been a more opportune time to make your own way, and I believe the reward for doing so is uncapped. Good luck out there!

3d printing

On Christmas night, I went to a party at a friend's house. One of their kids got a 3D printer for Christmas and was making a shark. We stood there enthralled as the machine calibrated and then went around and around, building up the layers of the fish. I asked them how much it was, thinking they must have really balled out on their kid.

$150! Crazy how accessible this has become. I'm really tempted to get one and try to create some lights.

I'm loving much of what I keep seeing from Dirk Vanderkooij. They model and 3D-print these beautifully ribbed lights and vessels from various plastics and glass, and then finish them post-printing in the studio.

Something about ribs is really nice; it's got a wonderful retro flair.

​Humanhome, who I've previoulsy featured uses a combination of 3D printed, metal cutting, and hand finished to create really interesting wall and ceiling sconces.

Cambridge Sconce

Again, something about ribs really gets me.

MARI Sconce

Finally, Mounmental Labs is doing this, but with stone. I've also written about them before - they used huge robot arms to carve anything you can conceive of out of stone stocks and then hand finish it. They are based in New York and are led by an amazing founder, Micah Springut.

Finishing Ionic Columns in the Studio post "printing."

It's an exciting time to be alive.