J. Ryan West

Community/Economic Developer, CEO Paro Strategies - and Founder of The Paro Group -

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

Our company, Paro Strategies, recently surpassed the $500MM threshold for resources secured for our partners. Our role is overseeing public-private partnerships and finding the funds to help communities address local needs.

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

BREAKING: New startup "RentAHuman" allows AI agents to rent humans to perform tasks they cannot physically perform themselves.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

A factually accurate post by @AutismCapital but I guess that doesn’t matter. :)

[Autism Capital 🧩 @AutismCapital]

If there’s one learning lesson you need to take away in 2026 it’s that the truth doesn’t matter anymore and reality isn’t real.

People will invent narratives and facts to suit desired objectives and if enough people agree, that’s the new reality. People who point out that the emperor has no clothes will be crushed. Katherine Maher of Wikimedia said it best herself. “Our reverence for the truth is a hindrance to getting things done.” (Paraphrasing)

We’re living in a world where lies don’t matter anymore. There are only words and how effective they are to reaching desired outcomes. People don’t care about the truth. They care about achieving their goals.

We’re living in Demon times.

[Senator Bill Hagerty @SenatorHagerty]

One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is calling Tennessee students to let them know they’ve been nominated to a U.S. service academy. Their commitment to serve is inspiring, and I’m proud to support the next generation of American leaders.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

That’s why we did @DOGE

[Kevin Bass @kevinnbass]

I keep telling people they cannot comprehend how bad things are.

People don't want to believe me.

It's not just welfare fraud.

It's everything. Everywhere.

Something terrible has happened to this country.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

This is why the Paro system we’ve designed provides a path for locally determined social impact and ownership of one’s own outcomes. Anytime outsiders think they can solve others’ issues, this is the result. You’re just a cash cow for others’ agendas. Of, course you feel good about yourself though.

[Camus @newstart_2024]

This is the most jaw-dropping 4 minutes and 21 seconds you will watch this year.

Nicole Shanahan — ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, former running mate of RFK Jr., and someone who personally signed nine-figure philanthropy checks — just went full whistleblower on the entire Silicon Valley “tech wife mafia” and how they were used.

Her exact words (full clip attached):
“I don’t think many of the tech mafia wives realize… they were used to set the groundwork for what Klaus Schwab calls The Great Reset.
Their money especially was being conscripted through a network of NGO advisors, Hollywood, Davos, and their own companies.
A really small group of people… completely blind to how their groundwork is being used to enable these Great Reset policies.”

Then she turns the knife inward:
“These women find their meaning through philanthropic work. I really believed I was helping Black communities and indigenous communities rise up.
But now the problems have gotten worse. Crime worse. Mental health worse. The whole model is broken.
At the end of the day they always go: ‘But climate change.’
Social justice + climate change — it gets progressive women 100% of the time.”

She even says many now believe the biggest “climate change issues” are actually geoengineering issues.

This isn’t some random podcast bro.

This is a woman who lived in the mansions, sat on the boards, flew private to Davos parties… and is now saying:
“We were the useful idiots.”

Watch the full unedited 4:21 below. Sound on.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

This post by @SMB_Attorney is so true, especially for a professional services company like ours that doesn’t require on-site customer interaction. Completely unlocks the talent pool if you’re not geographically dependent.

[SMB Attorney @SMB_Attorney]

After several years, this is the absolute truth about remote work:

If you run an organization with highly educated and/or skilled workers who know how to take initiative and/or who receive results based compensation, you should be diving head first into remote work right now.

You will out recruit global powerhouse organizations that are pushing “return to office” because of over investment in commercial real estate.

You will also be able to steal talent from them on a level you never will again because of the incredible desire for remote work.

Most people want to live in Coastal Carolina, on a golf course in Florida or near Big Sur in California. They don’t want to be forced to live within 285 in Atlanta, sit in ridiculous traffic, and have supersized cost of living for it.

Even if you have incredible workspaces, provide lunches and have “napping pods,” people don’t care. And they’ll quit and find another job on a moment’s notice to be able to work from home and pick their kids up from school.

This is an opportunity to take your run-of-the-mill business from a talent stand point and supercharge it with future leaders who will help your business grow for decades.

These are also the same people who will thrive in a remote environment because they never needed much oversight to begin with.

The concerns about training, mentoring and “hallway conversations” are silly given the digital world we live in, the nature of most modern workplaces, and the results driven over the last few years in remote formats.

Even if, for sake of argument, there is some loss of learning and training among entry level folks, that is such a minor issue relative to the opportunity cost of not tackling the opportunity outlined above.

Remote work isn’t for everyone, though. If your work truly needs to be done in person or you have personnel who truly can’t handle it, fine.

But, if not, you should be bucking the trend and investing heavily in a remote workforce right now.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

@JedMay_ Shapen 4-4, also 4-4 on 3rd down conversions. Embarrassing

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

Perseverance is the great differentiator.

[Yasmine Khosrowshahi @yasminekho]

Ben Horowitz literally explains how he differentiates between mediocre CEOs & great CEOs.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

Great truths in this post. Probably should start with #15. Not only is failure a given when building, it should be desired, although painful. It reveals gaps, creates opportunities for growth, and exponentially accelerates the point of freedom.

[BowTiedBull.eth - Read Pinned or NGMI @BowTiedBull]

Rules for making it in 2025 and beyond.

1) You don’t “make it” by begging for raises. You make it by becoming your own boss: own time, equity and optionality

2) W-2 is fixed income with obligations. Owner = variable income *and* unlimited upside. Risk = Reward

3) A flex isn’t materials it's no alarm clock. This is how leverage is made

4) Ownership mentality: sales, code and marketing. Distribution you control and Products with recurring revenue. Making money in your sleep. Reinvest profits

5) Start simple: Solve *one* problem for *one niche group. Deliver faster than expected. Repeat

6) Ideas are worth nothing, execution is everything

7) Your first $1K/month, idea is proven. First $10K/month, you're free. Scale to infinity

8) Three Nos: No meetings without purpose. No projects without timeline. No revenue generation? Pass.

9) Learn to sell or AI eats your lunch. Sales is proof of revenue. Everything else is an L.

10) KPI Tracking: monthly metrics kill bad days/weeks.
Quarterly review vs. last year

11) Ads are a license to print money: Target market x Offer x Conversion x Profit = Freedom

12) Risk management: W-2 is a single point of failure. Owner risk is under your control. Diversify through skills

13) Lifestyle in check: Inflate assets yearly vs expenses. Expanding profit line always

14/ Freedom stack: time for money -> performance based -> earning when you're not working - ads run in background

15) You will have many losses. It's the only way to learn and get better.

Good luck.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

Entrepreneurship is cutting the safety net of supposed “job security” and chasing your idea that will make the world better. Once you can monetize that idea, freedom follows. Embrace the chaos and uncertainty, knowing that you will never be completely prepared for what’s required to be successful.

[Nick Huber @sweatystartup]

Entrepreneurship culture has created an entire group of people who are virtually unemployable. They don’t want a job. They will not be happy working for somebody else.

But most of them don’t have what it takes to build their own businesses.

The truth is that business ownership is brutal, stressful, and requires a unique skill set that most people simply do not have and can’t cultivate.

Here is the cold hard truth: most people are better off getting a job than becoming an entrepreneur.

IMO, for most folks, the best quality of life can be achieved by going to work for a good boss at a good company and earning good money with minimal stress.

That's because most people don’t thrive in chaotic environments.

Most people hate sales. Most people are risk averse when it comes to finance. Most people can’t handle life’s uncertainty let alone an organization with 50+ individuals where every problem ends with YOU.

That said, if you are an entrepreneur, and you have a proven ability to make money, hire, delegate, and manage a team, there is absolutely nothing better that you can do.

The upside potential is enormous if you can get it right.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

@clintveinot Math

[Brian Halligan @bhalligan]

“B players don’t just hire C players. They hire tons of them”

- Brian Chesky

https://t.co/GjOKFOPSH8

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

I completely support these inquiries to clean up the mess caused by back door dealings and get these programs restarted so good companies can keep advancing, creating new jobs, grow our economy, etc.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

I've been in the public-private partnership space for a long time. Maybe I don't "know the right people" to get my clients' projects "fast tracked"....apparently a lot of theft has occurred, but I'm not sure how. The amount of due diligence required for any of our projects is tremendous.

[Mila Joy @Milajoy]

$93 billion out the door AFTER Trump was elected but before he took office (78 days) at the Department of Energy to non-qualified entities.

And that's just one Department.

People need to be locked up.

And no one proves a point like Senator Kennedy.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

What @SecretaryWright says to @SenJohnKennedy is absolutely true: "The one complication is mixed in there. There are good companies doing good things honestly with credible plans." Any client Paro has helped apply for @usdaRD or @ENERGY funding is the type of business those funds are meant to help.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

This post by @dklineii is great. 2 things I’ve found to be true: 1) The best don’t hide. Hiding is a sign that something is wrong. 2) The best have to incentivized for transparency (of thought and practice) financially and in advancement…otherwise they hide or realize they aren’t good employees and leave to start their own initiative.

[Dave Kline @dklineii]

Want to hire better people, read this:

[SEC Numbers Guy @secnumbersguy]

Since 2017, Georgia is an INSANE 47-1 at home. The best home record in the country.

The only loss during the stretch was in Double OT.

You simply don’t beat the Dawgs in Athens.

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

An interesting development for sure when considering grants, fraud, waste, abuse, etc. @BurnhamDC provides details of the implications.

[James Burnham @BurnhamDC]

The D.C. Circuit released a significant opinion today in one of the earliest major @DOGE cases--the litigation over the reduction of USAID. It's another big legal win for @realDonaldTrump and @DOGE. It also has broader implications, as I'll explain. 1/

[J. Ryan West @jryanwest]

So basically either way, you can quit saving for retirement.

[Curiosity @CuriosityonX]

NEWS🚨: Harvard scientist says interstellar object that enetered our Solar Sytem recently could be alien probe here to ‘save us or destroy us’