// Good morning.
Fed meeting in 6 days — hide the women & children, adjust the models!
For any new readers, welcome to Signal // Noise — the newsletter read by CEOs, execs, and scrappy builders every Thursday. Each week, what I’m listening to, a note from the field, one deep dive, three links worth your time. Zero bullshit.
While I Was Writing Today’s Signal // Noise:
From sound to signal — let’s get this baby rolling with what’s on my mind…
The Signal
One big idea, insight, or take — grounded in the real work, not theory.
Powell’s Next Move: Hold, Cut, or Full Choppy-Chop?
In case you’re somehow oblivious to the latest macro news or the Powell vs. Trump saga, you should know The Fed meets September 16–17, and Wall Street is currently split on whether they’ll cut rates — or not — up to 50bps.
The backdrop: August jobs report came in soft (just 22,000 added), unemployment ticked up overall, and Gen Z unemployment is spiking — it hit 10.3% for 16–24 year olds. Gold’s ripping and investors are crowding into safe havens — all signs that markets expect “Too Late” Powell & Co. to loosen up the ole’ monetary policy soon.
Who cares? Because when the Fed moves, it can trickle straight into biz owner reality.
A cut — especially a 50bps cut — often loosens VC and PE funding, makes debt cheaper, and boosts customer confidence (America loves leverage!) — but it also heats up the talent market. If rates hold, it’s just more of what you’ve been dealing with: capital scarce, customers cautious, hiring at a bit of a standstill.
I’d use this moment to scenario plan a bit — here are four areas worth thinking about:
Fundraising readiness. Even if you’re not planning to raise, get a ready-in-the-drawer deck together, because if you’re staring down a bridge loan, or even considering a Series A/B in the next 6–12 months, this stuff can flip fast. When capital gets cheaper, investors move quicker, valuations tick up, and suddenly that raise you’re unsure about, is actually happening right now.
The founders who win are sometimes the ones who are first in line when the doors open. If you’re not prepared, you’ll be watching your competitors close while you’re still tinkering with the font styles on slide #10.Debt strategy. Call your banker. Know if your line of credit or equipment loan will get cheaper, or if refinancing or expanding it makes sense. Lower cost of capital is only an advantage if you’re using it!
Customer budgets. Think about where your buyers might spend if their CFOs loosen the purse strings. Have campaigns, offers, or upsells prepped to absorb any helpful optimism.
Talent dynamics. If capital loosens, competitors will start hiring again, and your best people will get more calls. And if you’re in the middle of hiring, this is the moment to stop nickel-and-diming.
If you’ve got an all-star you’re trying to keep, or a top performer you’re circling but squabbling over $5–10k, stop being a cheap ass. If you hesitate today, you could be regretting tomorrow, cause when rates go choppy-chop, the talent market gonna go poppy-pop.
Field Notes
Dispatches from the field — lessons, stories, interviews, experiments.
11 Chef Bios That Belong on Every Founder’s Shelf
Swap Berkshire and Bezos for Bourdain and Chang, and you’ll get lessons on resilience, culture, and survival that taste a hell of a lot more like real startup life.
A few Jawns to Check Out
Smart reads, sharp tools, or internet gems.
📰 Fresh POV | Nick Clegg vs. U.S. Tech Hubris
The former Meta exec just dropped a book arguing America can’t “win” the internet alone. His spiciest takes: the U.S. risks driving allies toward China with protectionism, AI companies are about to lose their Section 230 shield (meaning liability lands squarely on Zuck, Altman, Nadella, etc.), and Meta’s once-mighty “social graph” moat is toast.
🔥 Hot Take | Pick the Right Dinosaur
Harvey.ai hit $100M ARR in under 3 years by unleashing AI on one of the slowest, most bloated industries on Earth: BigLaw. It’s proof the fastest way to build an AI rocket ship isn’t chasing shiny consumer apps — it’s dropping efficiency bombs on professions still billing by the hour.
🧠 Smart Hack | Tell AI Not to Write Like AI
Prompt your AI this: "Please don’t sound like every other AI." Ask it to drop clichés like “In conclusion,” vague jargon, overused em-dashes, circular “Rule of Three” lists, faux-poetic language (“majestic,” “fascinating”), and fake citations — because Wikipedia editors literally trained us on that checklist.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
And until next time, thanks for reading.
Jordan
p.s. Looking for the fastest way to snag an exit package in corporate America? Nestlé just fired its U.S. CEO for sleeping with a subordinate. Boardroom romance = career suicide. Be warned!
p.p.s. Wanna work on something? Got a pod or content idea? → Email me | Need 30–60 min of advice? → Book here | Want a coach in your corner? → More info
