Birkin Bags, TikTok Colleges & 6,000 Podcasts Later – Adam Torres Is Back for the Trainwreck

The Algorithm Doesn’t Love You. Own the Audience Anyway.

Everybody’s obsessed with “growth.”

More followers.
More views.
More reach.
More likes.

Cool.

Now tell me what happens when the platform decides you’re boring on Tuesday.

Because that’s the real issue with “growth” right now:

You’re building your business on land you don’t own.

And the landlord is a moody robot.

This is why the smartest founders aren’t chasing bigger platforms.

They’re chasing ownership.

The First Rule of Platform Business: You’re Renting

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn – they’re not evil.

They’re businesses.

Their job is to:

• keep users on the app
• sell advertising
• control distribution
• optimize for their revenue, not yours

That means your “followers” are not guaranteed access.

They’re a maybe.

You could have 50,000 followers and still get served a participation-trophy reach.

Because the algorithm decided you didn’t “perform” fast enough.

Attention Isn’t Equal. Minutes Beat Impressions.

Here’s what most people don’t understand:

A view is not a relationship.

An hour of attention is.

That’s why long-form content (podcasts, YouTube interviews, newsletters) isn’t “old school.”

It’s the closest thing we have left to sticky trust.

If someone gives you:

• 20 minutes
• 40 minutes
• 60 minutes

They’re not “scrolling.”

They’re choosing you over Netflix.

That’s not content.
That’s a conversion signal.

The Real Business Move: Build Channels You Control

Here’s the shift the next wave of founders is making:

Stop measuring success by “reach.”
Start measuring it by owned access.

Owned access looks like:

• email lists
• SMS lists
• newsletter subscribers
• communities
• memberships
• customer databases
• direct relationships

Because if a platform goes down, throttles you, or bans you?

Your audience doesn’t disappear.

Your business keeps breathing.

The Newsletter Effect: Proof That Owned-ish Channels Still Work

Newsletters are having a moment again because they do something social media won’t:

They land in an inbox.
They show up.
They don’t beg for permission from an algorithm.

Even when the platform sends it “on your behalf” (like LinkedIn newsletters), it’s still closer to ownership than hoping your post hits 10% of followers.

And here’s the key:

The founder who builds the list wins the decade.

The Next Wave Isn’t “More Content.” It’s Better Capture.

Everybody’s pumping content.

But most people are not capturing anything.

They post.
They perform.
They disappear.

The opportunity is in the handoff:

Platform → Permission

That’s the whole game.

If your content is getting attention, even a little, your ONLY job is to convert that attention into a way to reach people again tomorrow.

Bringing It Together

Platforms are exposure.
Ownership is power.

Exposure is nice.
But power is what pays your bills.

So yes:

• post the reels
• do the TikToks
• clip the podcast
• run the ads

But don’t confuse visibility with control.

Control is:

• the list
• the relationship
• the customer data
• the direct line

Build that, and the algorithm can tantrum all it wants.

You’ll still win.

Stay Connected

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And of course, don’t forget the podcast: Every Day’s a Trainwreck.

P.S. Want more tips and tricks? Don’t miss our latest blog on Relief AI is how you grow companies and humanity...