George Mastorakis's Linkedin Analytics

In 2003, Revlon was the most iconic beauty brand in the world. By 2022, they were completely bankrupt. All because they broke the cardinal rule of business. The Golden Era: 80s and 90s Revlon dominated beauty Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer on billboards Their ads defined glamour for a generation Every drugstore shelf featured their products They didn't follow trends—they created them The Peak Before the Fall: 2003: $3.1B in revenue Global presence in every major market Leaders in lipstick, nail color, fragrance The iconic American beauty brand But warning signs were already flashing The World Shifted: Beauty moved from stores to social media Instagram creators became the new influencers TikTok trends drove sales overnight Kylie Jenner sold $420M of lipstick in 18 months While Revlon was still buying magazine ads The Fatal Mistakes: Refused to adapt to creator-led marketing Ignored direct-to-consumer revolution Kept the same distribution model Made safe, predictable products And worst of all—took on massive debt The Breaking Point: 2016: Bought Elizabeth Arden for $870M Hoped legacy brands could save each other Instead, it drained their remaining resources Margins dropped, growth stalled $3.7B in debt with no way out The Final Blow: COVID shut down retail stores Supply chains collapsed Products couldn't reach shelves Bills kept mounting 90 years of history couldn't save them The Hard Truth: They built a legacy—then refused to evolve Thought their name would protect them But in beauty, relevance is everything And relevance isn't about history It's about owning the present moment Remember This: Don't cling to what worked yesterday Obsess over what's coming tomorrow Revlon shaped the beauty industry once But they forgot to reinvent themselves The pioneers who stop pioneering eventually vanish Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me at George Mastorakis & drop a comment if you liked it

In 2018, PUBG sued Fortnite for stealing their game. Fortnite didn't just win—it crushed them. All because PUBG broke the cardinal rule of business. PUBG's Breakthrough: They pioneered the modern battle royale Drop in. Scavenge. Survive. A global sensation overnight Millions playing, streaming, obsessing Success came fast—maybe too fast Then Came the Challenger: Epic Games watched the phenomenon And launched Fortnite: Battle Royale Same concept, same core mechanics But with building—one crucial difference That would change everything The Explosion: Fortnite went viral immediately 20 million players in two months $2.4 billion in one year—a gaming record PUBG wasn't just threatened They were watching their crown being stolen The Fatal Decision: PUBG went to war in the courtroom Sued Epic for copying their formula The irony? PUBG ran on Epic's Unreal Engine They were suing the company powering their own game A dangerous and desperate move While PUBG Fought, Fortnite Built: Concerts with Travis Scott Crossovers with Marvel and Star Wars Virtual movie screenings No longer just a game—a cultural platform A world where players wanted to live The Quiet Surrender: 2019: PUBG dropped the lawsuit No victory, no payout, just silence The genre they pioneered Now belonged to someone else The moment had passed them by Today's Reality: Fortnite: 500 million players Worth $31.5 billion Epic Games: A gaming powerhouse PUBG: Still exists, still profitable But the momentum is gone forever The Lesson: Don't just create something great Then try to defend it from change While PUBG fought to protect what was Fortnite kept building what could be Innovation beats litigation every time The pioneers rarely own the future Unless they keep pioneering Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me at George Mastorakis & drop a comment if you liked it

In 2020, Quibi raised more money than any startup in history before launch. Six months later, it was completely dead. Not because of Netflix or TikTok—but because of one insane mistake. The Dream: Short, premium shows made only for phones Netflix quality meets TikTok format 10-minute episodes for busy people $1.75B in funding before a single viewer Hollywood's biggest bet in decades The Dream Team: Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks fame Meg Whitman from eBay and HP Kevin Hart, Sophie Turner, LeBron James More celebrity power than any new platform Unlimited cash to make it happen Then Came the Rules: You couldn't screenshot anything You couldn't share what you watched You couldn't cast to your TV And most bizarrely— You couldn't even turn your phone sideways The Timing Nightmare: April 2020: Quibi launches as COVID hits Their entire pitch? "Watch while commuting" But nobody was going anywhere Still, that's not what killed them Netflix and TikTok thrived during lockdown The Fatal Flaw: They charged $8/month for content nobody could talk about Built a platform where nothing could go viral Created a walled garden in a sharing economy Made decisions based on boardroom theories Instead of how people actually use their phones The Collapse: Within months, subscriber numbers tanked $1.75B evaporated into digital dust By October 2020, they announced shutdown They returned the remaining money Even the name disappeared overnight The Brutal Truth: They didn't fail because of competition They didn't fail because of COVID They failed because they built for themselves Not for their users A platform designed by executives who never used TikTok Remember This: The biggest funding round in history The most powerful names in entertainment All the resources anyone could want None of it matters if you don't understand your users Don't build what you think people should want Build for how they already behave Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me & drop a comment if you liked it

These 15 documentaries will teach you more about the mind than a $100,000 degree: 🧠 2/ The Mind, Explained (Netflix) What you'll learn: • How memory & anxiety really work • What shapes your decisions • The science behind mindfulness 3/The Social Dilemma (Netflix) What you'll learn: • How tech hijacks your brain • Dopamine loops & digital addiction • Why you're glued to your phone 4/Stutz (Netflix) What you'll learn: • Tools to fight anxiety & depression • Motivation under pressure • Simple frameworks to move forward 5/How to Change Your Mind (Netflix) What you'll learn: • Psychedelics as mental health tools • Brain rewiring & trauma healing • Consciousness redefined 6/The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping (Netflix) What you'll learn: • The psychology of coercive institutions • Manipulation and control mechanisms • Resilience in overcoming trauma 7/Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (Netflix) What you'll learn: • The psychology of purpose • Social habits that extend life • Mind-body connection 8/The Secrets of the Brain (Curiosity Stream) What you'll learn: • How perception tricks you • The power of illusions • Brain science made visual 9/Hack Your Brain (PBS) What you'll learn: • How to rewire bad habits • Memory & focus hacks • How attention works in the real world 10/The Wisdom of Trauma (with Gabor Maté) What you'll learn: • How trauma shapes your behavior • Addiction, pain & emotional repression • Real healing isn’t what you think 11/Persona: The Dark Truth About Personality Tests (HBO Max) What you'll learn: • Why MBTI is flawed • Psychology behind hiring bias • How tests shape identity 12/The Mind of a Cat (Netflix) What you'll learn: • Animal cognition • Empathy & connection • What pets reveal about human brains 13/The Work (Vimeo/Prime) What you'll learn: • Group therapy in prison • Deep emotional breakthroughs • Vulnerability in raw form 14/The Principles of Pleasure (Netflix) What you'll learn: • Brain-body connection • Neuroscience of desire • Gender psychology & perception 15/Unknown: Mind of a Criminal (Netflix) What you'll learn: • Criminal profiling • Impulse vs. logic • Nature vs. nurture in crime Watch these, and you’ll: • Understand what drives people • Learn to influence behavior • Build better products, stories, & sales strategies This is psychology school, minus the $100K tuition. Bookmark this. Rewatch often. Share with your smart friends.

In the 70s, Coca-Cola and Pepsi went into the greatest marketing battle in history. Pepsi ran a taste test, and everyone chose it over Coke. Here’s the full story The Unbeatable Giant: For nearly a century, Coca-Cola dominated Outselling Pepsi 5 to 1 The drink of America Until Pepsi found their weakness The Ambush: 1975: The "Pepsi Challenge" launches Blind taste tests across America The results shocked everyone Most picked Pepsi The Momentum Shift: "The Choice of a New Generation" Michael Jackson, MTV partnerships Younger consumers switching sides Coke's market share slipping away The Fatal Decision: 1985: Coca-Cola changes their formula Creates sweeter "New Coke" to compete Largest product change in company history Expects celebration, gets outrage The Backlash: Thousands of angry calls and letters Protest groups formed nationwide Sales plummet, boycotts spread It wasn't a rebrand—it was betrayal The Surrender: 79 days later, Coke brings back original Rebrands it "Coca-Cola Classic" America celebrates the return The disaster becomes their salvation The Billion-Dollar Lesson: People don't just buy what you make They buy what it means to them Coca-Cola wasn't selling taste They were selling memories and emotion The most expensive marketing lesson ever Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me at George Mastorakis & drop a comment if you liked it

Adidas and Puma were started by two brothers. Until one of them joined the Nazis—and tore the family apart. What followed was one of the fiercest rivalries in business history. The Beginning: Two brothers in a tiny German town Started making shoes in their mother's laundry room Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik was born No one could have predicted what would follow The Big Break: Jesse Owens wore their spikes at the 1936 Olympics Four gold medals later The Dassler shoes became world-famous Success seemed guaranteed for both brothers The Fatal Divide: Adi: The quiet, creative genius Rudolf: The loud, aggressive salesman Different personalities, growing tensions Then World War II changed everything The Betrayal: Rudolf was arrested for Nazi ties He believed Adi had turned him in Truth or not, trust was shattered forever A brotherhood destroyed by suspicion The Split: 1948: The factory divides in two Adi creates Adidas ("Adi" + "Das[sler]") Rudolf launches Puma One company becomes bitter rivals The Town Divided: Herzogenaurach splits down the middle "The town of bent necks" People checked your shoes before speaking Even bars and bakeries chose sides The Bitter End: The brothers died as enemies Buried at opposite ends of the cemetery As far apart as possible Their hatred outlived them both Today's Legacy: Adidas: A $30B global giant Puma: Reborn through athletics and streetwear Both headquarters still in Herzogenaurach A town frozen in a century-old family war Remember: Success means nothing if you lose what matters The brothers conquered the sneaker world But died without reconciliation The most expensive victory in business history Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me at George Mastorakis & drop a comment if you liked it

In the early 2000s, Steve Jobs made the biggest mistake of his life. He trusted Samsung to help build the iPhone. What happened next changed tech history forever. The Perfect Partnership: Apple building the revolutionary iPhone Needed critical components for production Samsung became their trusted supplier Billions poured into the relationship Jobs shared everything with them The Betrayal: While making Apple's parts Samsung studied their entire playbook Design language, UI, user experience A plan formed behind closed doors Partner was becoming predator The Moment of Truth: June 2010: Samsung launches Galaxy S Nearly identical to iPhone Same shape, gestures, and interface Apple executives immediately knew They had been stabbed in the back Jobs' Fury: "I'm going to destroy Android" "It's a stolen product" "I'm willing to go thermonuclear war" Apple launches massive lawsuits The gloves were completely off The Verdict: Samsung ordered to pay $1.05B But damage was already done Even while losing in court They gained massive market share The betrayal paid off enormously The Bitter Irony: Today both control 80% of premium phones Still compete fiercely for dominance Yet still rely on each other for parts A partnership born in trust Destroyed by ruthless ambition Remember: In business, trust must have limits Partners today become rivals tomorrow Protect your ideas at all costs Because loyalty is temporary But ambition never dies Want more breakdowns like this? ✅ Follow me at George Mastorakis & drop a comment if you liked it

Most people don’t know his name. But he’s behind two of the biggest brand turnarounds of the last decade… Terence Reilly. First, he turned Crocs from a running joke into a pop culture icon. Then, he made Stanley cups a $750M obsession. Same marketer. Same exact playbook. Here’s what he did differently: 1. He leaned into what made people laugh.       When Crocs were called ugly, he doubled down.       Post Malone. Justin Bieber. Meme marketing — all in-house.       Crocs became a badge of identity, not a product.     2. He made customization the feature.       Those silly Jibbitz charms? He made them cool.       Crocs weren’t about shoes anymore — they were about you.     3. He let fans lead the story.       At Stanley, he spotted a tiny niche: Utah moms.     Then rebuilt everything around community, affiliate power, and viral storytelling. The viral moment? A TikTok showing a Stanley cup surviving a car fire. Reilly sent the woman a new cup — and a new car. That clip hit 95M+ views. After that, he just poured fuel on the fire. The takeaway? You don’t need to invent a better product. You need to give it new meaning. In 2024: Story > product Identity > features Community > marketing