Philip Johnson

0-to-1 GTM at AI Companies | 3x Founder

[Dan Britton @DanSportsLife]

There’s power in the process.
There’s growth in the grind.
There’s joy in the journey.
There’s victory in the vision.

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

28m tokens later 👀

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

time to see what gstack and gbrain are all about…

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

@bryan_johnson @alexathallow had a journey through meditation to prayer and could share some recommendations

[The Ways of A Gentleman @Gentleman_Ways]

Such a powerful video.

It’s a reminder to focus our attention on what’s most important.

We only get one life, so live it well.

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

👀

[Paul Graham @paulg]

It's an unimpressive-sounding word, but one of the most powerful motivations is the motivation of the hobbyist. That's what keeps successful founders working on their companies long past the point when they've made enough to quit. It's their beloved project.

[Paul Graham @paulg]

It's an unimpressive-sounding word, but one of the most powerful motivations is the motivation of the hobbyist. That's what keeps successful founders working on their companies long past the point when they've made enough to quit. It's their beloved project.

[TBPN @tbpn]

"A generation of management teaching taught us CEOs should trust their people and get out of the way. But I don't think 'trust' and 'getting out of the way' are the same thing."

@bchesky on how Founder Mode will become even more important with agentic AI:

"Great leadership is presence, not absence."

"Leadership is presence. You should actually be partnering with people. You should be on the field with them. If you're a calvalry general, you should be on a horse. You should be on the battlefield. You're not overseas just writing blueprints. You gotta be on the field with them, you gotta be leading by example."

"Leadership is from the front, not the back."

"I think AI is going to create the equivalent of an AI founder mode. Now you gotta be even more hands-on. I don't think in the era of AI, there should be any pure people managers. Because you're so close to the details and data. Everyone has the opportunity to be hands-on, and it's hard to imagine only managing people and not agents."

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

@Chen @speedrun 👀📨

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

@Cernovich Though the closer you get to God, it seems the more exit ramps show up to help you choose not to sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

In SF today-Wednesday (5/4-6).
If you want to meet and jam on sales+growth for seed to Series B, lmk

Also hiring a hunter AE and a head of marketing. We’re building AI regulatory intelligence for complex, multi-agency environments, on track to 5x ARR this year.

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

"Everything rises and falls on leadership." - John Maxwell

Every single person is a leader.

Leadership is influence.

If you are around people, you are leading people.

Where are you leading them to?

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

I’ve hate traffic. Don’t miss it.
Will be in the uber for the next hour.
Wondering who I know in NYC that wants to meet up.
The apps don’t make it easy, so I’m building one for myself - with Claude, on my phone 🤯

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

Back in NYC today and tomorrow (April 23-24).
If you're in the trenches on Seed to Series A growth, sales, or GTM, let's jam.

Quick context: I'm leading sales at Labrynth, we're building AI regulatory infrastructure for complex, multi-agency environments, on track to 5x ARR this year. Also hiring a hunter AE.

DMs open.

[Paul Fleuret @RealAbs1776]

Understand this: The movies and shows about the crucifixion have been tame when compared to what He actually went through.

Even The Passion Of The Christ was forced to hold back a little in order to avoid an X rating.

Crucifixion was, and still is, arguably the most excruciating death someone can experience.

The night before in Gethsemane, He was sweating blood. This is known as hematidrosis. This would have caused His skin to become extremely sensitive, thus making the beatings to come even worse.

The fear He felt was the beginning of His feeling the weight of our iniquities being laid on Him.

Yet - in this moment, He didn’t demand that the Father take it from Him. He only asked for the cup to pass Him over if it was within the Father’s will.

Up next came the Cat of Nine Tails, or a Roman Flagrum. This was a weapon with long leather “tails”, each embedded with sharp bones and metal.

He was flogged 39 times as Jewish law mandated “40 minus one”, because 40 was said to kill a man.

This flogging wasn’t like being punished by your father’s leather belt.

Every strike tore flesh, every strike exposed muscle. Every strike exposed nerve endings. Every strike tore flesh to the bone.

This would be like getting struck with razor blades over and over again, leading to hypovolemic shock from blood loss.

Oh, and the crown of thorns? These weren’t rose thorns. These were thorns which were 2-3 inches long. Beaten into his skull.

These thorns would have pierced his skull, tripping the trigeminal nerve, thus causing unimaginable pain and even more blood loss from the dozens of head wounds.

At this point, extreme nausea and dizziness would begin to set in.

What came next? Carrying the cross. Which weighed around 300lbs. This would be like carrying two full kegs on your back.

Splinters and wood grating against the open flesh on His back. And He had to carry it 650 yards, or close to a half mile.

Imagine carrying a log on your back after being skinned alive.

Up next? He was nailed to the cross with spikes 5-7in in length. Piercing His wrists - this no doubt pierced the median nerve, causing extreme burning sensations up and down His arms.

A spike was driven through his ankles - severing nerves and tendons. This would have felt like standing on broken glass every time He pushed Himself up in order to breathe.

He suffered for 6 hours.

His chest muscles collapsing, making every single breath a fight for life.

His shoulders were dislocated, His arms stretching unnaturally long.

His heart was struggling to pump blood.

He was extremely dehydrated, His lips cracking.

His heart more than likely literally ruptured from the stress.

And on top of all of that, He had to feel a separation with the Father for a period of time in order to REALLY bear the weight of our sin.

He took up this burden for ALL sin before Him, and ALL sin which came after Him.

HE DID IT ALL FOR US.

To free us. To defeat sin. To give us a pathway to the Kingdom.

Every sin we commit is exactly why He had to do it.

And the real kicker? He knew what was coming when He rode into Jerusalem … and He didn’t turn around. He kept going.

For us.

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

You won’t know, unless you try.
And if you’re going to try,
You might as well give it your best.

Or as I’ve been learning a lot lately
commit → push → deploy

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

@toddsaunders 👋🏼

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

True leadership is found in lifting others up.
Serving, helping them achieve their goals.

It's not in closing the biggest deal or in leading the biggest team.
The best leaders put others first.

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

@JJEnglert GTM Guide

[Philip Johnson @withPhilipJ]

People don't follow confused leaders.

If your team can't tell you where you're going and why, that's not their problem. That's yours.

A clear vision does three things:
It tells people where we're going.
It tells them why it matters.
It tells them what to do next.

If you can't say it simply, you don't understand it well enough to lead others through it.

Clarity isn't a nice to have. It's the job.