Sam Baig

Building and

[Jeremy Oliva Dorado @jeremy_olive_]

Central Park is truly incredible. Automatically transported out of the city

The fact it's in the middle of NYC will always blow my mind

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@jeremy_olive_ My fav place in the city!

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@jeremy_olive_ @Oliva_Dorado_ Those mini bottles look soooo sick!

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

Are pouches the next DTC wave?

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@calebsloop This is so sick caleb!!!

[Mangones @eatmangones]

Highlight of the year so far was starting Snack Tank, a group chat with other eCom founders in the space to learn from each other, share challenges, and talk shit.

So far we have:
@Oliva_Dorado_
@realpungao
@calebsloop
@breallstrong
@theonlyhaitham
@seanjagermann
@reborn_amit
@brettjweisberg
@sambaig_

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@SarahLevinger I just went through and it was pretty cool

— 2026 is about people feeling like the world is unstable, rigged, and unsafe — and wanting stories/products that give them control, protection, and certainty again

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

This is great research Sarah!

[Sarah 🦕 @SarahLevinger]

Millions of people are telling us exactly what they want right now…through the music they listen to. 🤯

The Billboard Hot 100 is the cheapest cultural focus group you’ll ever access. It’s a real-time read on the emotional world your customer wants to live in.

Here’s what’s (currently) at the top in May 2026:

🎵 “Choosin’ Texas”: Ella Langley (8 weeks at #1, country, heartbreak, specifically Texan)

🎵 “I Just Might”: Bruno Mars (surrender, retro R&B)

🎵 “Man I Need”: Olivia Dean (gratitude, soul-pop)

🎵 “Drop Dead”: Olivia Rodrigo

🎵 “Be Her”: Ella Langley

🎵 “So Easy (To Fall In Love)”: Olivia Dean

🎵 “Ordinary”: Alex Warren (reverence, worship-pop)

If you strip out a couple of outliers, what’s left is almost entirely love songs. They’re all sincere. Small-scale. Very specific. The dominant emotional tone right now is intimate and earnest…and somewhat lonely.

Compare this to what was trending in:

📍 2016: “Love Yourself,” “Sorry,” “One Dance,” “Closer.” Everything was detached, ironic, situationship centered.

📍 2006: “Promiscuous,” “SexyBack,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Temperature.” Everything was loud, kinda sweaty, club-focused. The center of gravity was the body on the dancefloor.

📍 1996: “One Sweet Day,” “Because You Loved Me,” “Macarena,” “Always Be My Baby.” Tons of big ballads, theatrical devotion, full-bodied emotion was common.

When I look at this, the first thing I notice is how much the aspirational scale has collapsed inward.

- 2006 sold you excess.
- 2016 sold you detachment.
- 2026 is selling you the feeling of home.

(Fascinating to witness, it follows the overall sentiment we’re seeing in society pretty closely 👀)

Takeaways for marketers:

1. Sincerity is outperforming irony.

That snarky, Wendy’s-Twitter-circa-2017 brand voice is becoming outdated. The breakout brand voices of the last 18 months (Poppi, Graza, Our Place) are more earnest, founder-led, and emotionally direct. If your brand voice was written in 2018, it’s time for an upgrade.

2. A desire for home, sense of self, and rootedness is growing.

“Choosin’ Texas” is the #1 song in America in part because it’s unapologetically Texan. 😅 This same logic exists behind New Balance’s “Made in USA” moment, why H-E-B and Wegmans punch above their weight in brand love, and why “founded in [specific town]” is back in full force. Specificity reads as authentic. Generic-global reads as hollow.

3. The “small life” is the new aspirational lifestyle.

The yacht isn’t the goal anymore. Neither is the penthouse. People want the white porch. The dedicated partner. The simple life. If your marketing still defaults to “more, bigger, louder,” you’re selling against the cultural current.

(A note on limitations: a Billboard chart is one data point, not a verdict. Charts are shaped by label budgets, TikTok algos, & what a few power-curators decide to push.

The overall sentiment is a pretty clear indicator though: people are craving and dying for a little peace.)

[Carnivore Aurelius ©🥩 ☀️🦙 @AlpacaAurelius]

you need to be delusionally optimistic

negative thinking poisons your brain and leads to congitive decline

whereas positive thinking, and gaslighting yourself into thinking everything is amazing, ACTUALLY makes your life amazing too.

you must be a silly goose

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@natelagos Let’s go!!!! Shooting doubles daily now 🎉

[Cherene @ChereneAubert]

It’s obviously finance, growth, brand

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@adamtaylorl angle

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@mikefutia STATICS

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@DanaPeters0321 How many ads are you testing per month?

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

This is great read

[Karlo @karlocreates]

https://t.co/zw6Gy4Ejij

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@georgesttock UGC

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@kamal_razzak would love to check it out

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@kamal_razzak @jacksmurthwaite I run a printing company. Could help if there is enough volume!

[Sam Baig @sambaig_]

@ron_ecomm This is hilarious