Introducing Going Direct
Today’s economy is highly financialized and dominated by middlemen. It's time to rewire our economic system with decentralized production at the core.
It’s time to decentralize the real economy and go direct. At scale.
Backdrop
For most of human history, the act of making and buying things was personal. Direct exchange was part of daily life. These connections shaped our economies, wove our communities together, and had a profound impact on our happiness. But over the last 50 years, we’ve become deeply disconnected from the products we buy and the people who make them.
We now live in a middleman economy where many industries are controlled by de facto monopolies and oligopolies that don’t actually produce anything. Think Walmart, Amazon, real estate brokerages, pharmacy benefit managers, supermarkets—the list goes on. These companies have become deeply embedded into our economy and are some of the largest employers in America.
As these corporations have grown, the managerial class has taken over shifting the focus from innovation to financialization. What began as a drive to invent, create new markets, and grow GDP has morphed into a system of rent-seeking and anti-competitive behavior. Costs are inflated, complexity is added, and markets are controlled by those who don’t produce anything tangible.
Here’s the hard truth: our modern capitalist system is designed to keep consumers disconnected from producers.
It’s largely opaque by design. Why? Opaque is cheap, transparent is expensive. That’s why we have no real insight into what’s inside our products, who makes them, or the journey they take to reach us. And yet, very few are talking about how this disconnect is at the root of many social and economic issues today.
But, I believe we have a rare opportunity to change this. A perfect storm of technological, cultural, and geopolitical forces is coming together to reconnect production with consumption.
Technological – AI, robotics, and automation are converging to create highly efficient, decentralized production capabilities that can compete with our incumbent systems.
Cultural – The internet and rise of independent media has given the public access to more information than ever before. As a result, trust in mainstream institutions has hit an all-time low. Authority is shifting away from legacy institutions towards individuals who build trust through digital content.
Geopolitical – A rising populist movement is challenging a highly financialized economic system that has largely failed the working and middle classes. At the same time, COVID-19 disruptions and Donald Trump’s, "America First" agenda are prompting nations to reconsider their reliance on global trade, driving efforts toward re-industrialization and building sovereign supply chains.
The last industrial revolution centralized our systems of production and supply chains. The next industrial revolution will decentralize them.
It’s against this backdrop that I’m excited to introduce you all to Going Direct!
Welcome to Going Direct
Going Direct will be exploring the decentralization of the real economy and how technology can bring us closer to the products we buy and the people who make them. I’ll be sharing explainer videos and weekly podcasts with entrepreneurs, creators, engineers, and policymakers building new systems around how we produce, distribute, and sell products. I just started releasing them on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
Going Direct is a reflection of who I am and what I believe in. It represents how I see the world and encapsulates the work I’ve been dedicated to for the past 15+ years.
My goal for Going Direct - provide valuable content, insights, and connections for all of you who are rolling up your sleeves and creating a more decentralized future.
Building these alternative systems won’t be easy, but I know deep down people want to live in a world that feels more connected, more transparent, and more human. And as a techno-optimist, I believe technology can enable this future.
Technology doesn’t have to strip away our humanity—it can bring us closer
to what really matters.
Three Pillars of Going Direct
If we want to build a more decentralized real economy, we need to create new systems across three areas of the economy. This is what I refer to as the three pillars of Going Direct.
Production: Develop decentralized production systems so products are made closer to where they are consumed.
Wholesale Distribution: Create new distribution systems where the distributor’s role is to connect buyers and sellers directly vs acting as a gatekeeper and standing in between them.
Marketing: Build new marketing channels consisting of independent media outlets and creators so we can reach consumers directly, at scale, in a coordinated way.
All three pillars must be built in order to go direct at scale.
We must first build new production systems—which won’t be easy—then plug them into direct distribution and new marketing networks that cut out traditional gatekeepers and unnecessary middlemen. Production is the heart, distribution and marketing are the arteries.
This all sounds great in theory, but let’s be realistic. Convenience and price drive market behavior. No matter how much people say they value local production, transparency, or ethics, they won’t abandon the current system unless the alternative is just as convenient and affordable.
If we want to replace existing systems, we need to build new ones that can outcompete them.
The reality is that in many areas of life, going direct won’t be a viable alternative—at least not in the short or medium term. But this isn’t about overhauling everything overnight. It’s about rebuilding a society that values making things again and creating an economy that works for a much larger percentage of the population.
Topics We’ll Explore at Going Direct
Technology has reshaped many industries over the past 20+ years enabling new forms of independence and decentralization.
On the distribution side, first generation robotics and logistics software have transformed logistics, warehousing and fulfillment. These technologies gave birth to the 3PL industry where companies of all sizes can now outsource distribution in a cost-effective, highly-efficient manner.
On the marketing side, the rise of YouTube and creator economy have proven that individuals can build direct relationships with their audiences at unprecedented scale. Many creators now command authority and trust in their respective categories, leading to highly engaged, deeply committed communities.
If you combine these recent technological advancements with the public’s increased demand for transparency,
the incumbent systems and institutions that control our markets, media, and supply chains are now being challenged and questioned.
It’s a unique set up, and time, to bring decentralized systems to the physical world. Below is a shortlist of topics and technologies we’ll be exploring across the three pillars of Going Direct.
Lastly, the irony in all of this is our economy used to be inherently decentralized. Local/regional production and direct distribution were the norm before the last industrial revolution. By studying the past and applying these next-generation technologies, we can build a more decentralized future.
Initial Content Formats
I’ll be releasing weekly content on Going Direct mainly across Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. Here’s what we’re starting with from a format perspective:
Conversations → Weekly long-form video podcasts featuring in-depth discussions with entrepreneurs, creators, engineers, and policymakers building this decentralized future.
Explainer Videos → Deep dives into the key concepts behind decentralized production, direct distribution, and the creator economy.
Monthly Newsletter → A curated summary of our latest content and conversations, keeping you up to date on the ideas shaping Going Direct. This will be published on Substack.
Who is Going Direct For?
Going Direct is designed for entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and creators who are actively building these new decentralized systems. My goal is to create a home where you all can find valuable content, insights, and connections.
Going Direct is a reflection of who I am, what I believe in, and the future I want to help create. If any of this resonates with you, I’d love for you to join me on this journey to build the future that we all want.
Welcome home!
Subscribe to the Going Direct Newsletter on Substack
Subscribe to Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to the YouTube channel
Follow me on X @jrwolfe or LinkedIn
P.S. Remember to go direct.
P.P.S Build with love.
Be great,
Jordan