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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

Every Wednesday, I break down the blueprint for basketball culture but today’s newsletter is slightly different.

I thought it’d be worth sharing something I’ve noticed across sports culture, but specifically the marketing and creator industry.

Let’s jump right into it…

WINNING HABITS

BREAKING NEWS: Being passionate is cool again.

For a while, internet culture convinced people that caring too much was cringe.

But that trend is changing.

Just look at Victor Wembanyama fighting back happy tears after winning the Western Conference Finals or Timothée Chalamet, whose entire career has been built on an unapologetic obsession with his craft.

This next generation of creatives are increasingly drawn to people who actually care about something.

And the reality is that every creator, marketer, entrepreneur, athlete, and artist knows how much work goes into producing something great.

Nobody accidentally creates meaningful work.

Behind every viral campaign, successful startup, sold-out event, or championship moment are thousands of hours nobody sees.

That’s why the best sports marketers I’ve worked with; from global brands to tiny startups; all share one thing in common.

They care, because passion is contagious.

They’re obsessed with details, they’re constantly studying their medium, and they’re always looking for ways to improve.

And that passion becomes a competitive AND winning advantage.

Because the people who care the most are usually willing to do the work others won’t.

That’s the difference between good and great.

So share your work, talk about your work, and most importantly: obsess over your work.

Because just like the world’s greatest athletes spending 10,000 hours preparing for one defining moment on the biggest stage, your career is built the same way.

Years of effort, followed by a huge breakthrough, then start the process over again.

And when that winning moment finally comes, don’t be afraid to care enough to celebrate it…

What happens when you throw out the GTM playbook

That investor was wrong. Gamma is now worth $2B, with 50M users and more than half their growth driven by word of mouth.

They're one of 6 AI-native startups in HubSpot for Startups' free Bold Bets Playbook. Replit grew revenue 50x after half the team pushed back on the strategy. Ramp generated 100M+ views from a single stunt. Clay's co-founder wouldn't hang up a sales call until the prospect DMed him in Slack.

Each one took a GTM risk most founders would never greenlight. Each one paid off.

Get the free Bold Bets playbook

FREE THROWS

Sharing the tools and resources that I’m using this week:

📣 Instagram Plus - Meta just launched its new subscription plan, Instagram Plus, which allows users access to new tools like Story Extend (48 hours instead of 24), Custom Bio Font, more Profile Pins, and additional features.

📧 Yahoo Sports Business Hub - Yahoo created a new sports business hub by uniting their sports and finance publishers, along with top media outlets in the sports business industry.

👏 RPN x Claude - Great creative by RPN here showing that not every paid partnership video has to flop, and not every AI product informational video has to be boring

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading! Here are a few ways we can stay connected:

🤝 Partner With Me: I work with brands, athletes and creators across their brand strategy, digital media, creator programs, partnerships, and marketing growth. Interested in working together? Get in touch here.

📊 Be First: I’m building Future Blueprint Sports — the definitive discovery and intelligence platform for sports marketing and creator culture. Get early access today.

👋 Stay Connected: Enjoyed this newsletter? Share it with a friend or colleague. Also follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for more sports marketing and creator insights.

Thanks and see you later this week!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻