Entrepreneurship
The Art Of Standing Out: Building A Profitable Business In AI-Saturated World
By Jan Okonji
Let’ s be honest. There was a time when just showing up with something remotely interesting, helpful, or well-made was enough. You had an idea, you crafted it, you shared it- and people noticed. But that world is fast slipping away.
Now, the machines are here. They can mimic your voice, rewrite your content, generate your logo, and suggest five better headlines- all in under a minute. They ' re tireless. They ' re fast. And worst of all? They ' re good enough to fool an audience that’ s already half-scrolling.
So where does that leave you- the human entrepreneur? The creator? The thinker who still believes business isn’ t just a numbers game but an act of meaningmaking? That’ s the tension, isn’ t it?
You want to stand out. But you don’ t want to become a parody of yourself. You want to grow. But not at the cost of authenticity. You want to make money. But not by hawking digital snake oil. If you feel that pull- between relevance and realness- this piece is for you.
This isn’ t a thread. This isn’ t content. This is a quiet manifesto for the entrepreneur who wants to matter. Let’ s begin.
Embrace Your Strange: The Only Moat Left Is You
If you’ re still trying to fit in, you’ re already invisible. AI is brilliant at replicating what’ s been done. What it can’ t do- yet- is invent you. It can’ t recreate the strange flavour of your upbringing, the awkward years you spent obsessing over broken business models, the way your brain loops back to patterns no one else sees. That’ s not just personality. That’ s strategy.
We’ ve entered an era where originality isn’ t a bonus- it’ s a prerequisite. And originality doesn’ t come from thin air. It comes from embracing the odd, fragmented, uncomfortable corners of who you are. The weird childhood obsessions. The failed side hustles. The cultural contradictions you carry. That’ s your lens. Use it.
Consider Rick Rubin- the music producer who launched everyone from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z. Rubin doesn’ t play an instrument. He doesn’ t read music. What he does is bring taste. He listens. He sees what others miss. He strips away the excess until what’ s left is raw and unmistakably true. He’ s not selling beats. He’ s selling vision. That’ s what makes him rare.
Create Like Nobody’ s Watching- Because Soon They Won’ t Be
Every piece of content you make has a five-second window to either matter or vanish. So here’ s a secret: don’ t make it for them. Make it for it. The idea. The impulse. The moment of clarity that pulled you out of bed. The quiet note you scribbled after a client session that felt realer than anything you’ ve said in months.
When you create like no one’ s watching, you stop performing and start revealing. And revelation is magnetic. People can sense when something was made under pressure to please. They can also sense when it came from a place of necessity- when the creator had to get it out or they’ d burst. That’ s the stuff people forward. That’ s the stuff they tattoo on their mental walls.
We’ ve entered an era where originality isn’ t a bonus- it’ s a prerequisite. And originality doesn’ t come from thin air. It comes from embracing the odd, fragmented, uncomfortable corners of who you are. The weird childhood obsessions. The failed side hustles. The cultural contradictions you carry. That’ s your lens. Use it.
Look at Amanda Palmer. Musician. Writer. Unapologetic. She built a career not by trying to go viral- but by saying things that felt too honest to ignore. Her fans didn’ t just listen. They gave. They backed her on Kickstarter to the tune of a million dollars- not because she sold them a product, but because she gave them a piece of her soul.
You Don’ t Need To Be The First. You Just Need To Be The Only
People get paralysed by novelty. They think success belongs to the ones who
86 MAL67 / 25 ISSUE