Managing Interpersonal Volatility
Reputation management in a hostile market.
With heartfelt thanks to Mondayswife and Wealth GPS for providing rapid-response macro analysis in a reputational recovery crisis.I recently experienced a sudden reputational drawdown.
Readers may recall that I was forced to IPO after Substack pivoted from writing to video. My offering priced successfully at $1,550 per share—comfortably above Substack’s egregious $87. I was assured that the market still recognized my intrinsic value.
Or so I thought. Then I was approached by a European marketing agency looking for copywriters. They agreed to my price and signed me on as an independent contractor.
Next I received an editing test. I paused. My contract was priced and signed. Now they wanted a test?
I was irked—but, what, editing a few pages of a hedge fund pitch book would kill me?
I stopped counting the number of pitch books I’ve produced somewhere around four million.
The agency response arrived shortly thereafter:
“We have decided to go with another copywriter who has a better understanding of the markets and pitch book production.”
The words swam before my eyes then pixelated into dots.
What fresh hell is this? I had solved a valuation problem only to crash headlong into an intellectual capacity error.
Was the market malfunctioning?
Had the entire contract-writing market entered a liquidity crisis?
Or, did I have an isolated interpersonal volatility event?
Panicked, I reached for my personal catastrophe toolkit. When correlations are plunging, it’s time to consult the VIX. Had I become…distressed?
The Experts Weigh In
I fired off an SOS to my Substack macro strategists Mondayswife, author of Trading Vitality for Volatility: The Biological Liquidation of the 0DTE Trader, and Wealth GPS, author of The House Doesn’t Need You to Cheat. It Just Needs You Tired. Must reads both!
The news was not good.
“If you are using the VIX to calibrate your biological threat response—to know if it’s genuinely risky out there—you’re looking at the wrong number. You might be cortisol-spiking in response to gamma hedging noise,” said Wealth GPS.
And then: “Your fear signal has been decoupled from reality.”
I wrote back: “WTF, no VIX? What am I supposed to do now—look within?”
Mondayswife said: “I’ve checked the tapes and reviewed your vitals. You’re currently trading at a steep discount to intrinsic value because your HPA axis is hallucinating a systemic collapse.”
Oh no.
Then: “You tried to be Eddie Morra without the pill and ended up as liquidity for an intern’s ego. This ‘intellectual capacity error’ isn’t a market malfunction; it’s a biological liquidation.” Mondayswife knows me too well.
It appeared I had no choice but to assess the VaR, run the scenarios—and contain any latent reputational damage.
Capital production is not optional.
Scenario 1: Flash Crash
Say nothing at all. It never happened. The trade that didn’t clear.
They’re in another time zone. You’re smoke. Drift off.
Scenario 2: Defensive Positioning
Write the nice note: “I’m so sorry my work didn’t hit the mark. The only explanation is a temporary neurological incident.”
Graciously offer to step in if needed.
Preservation strategy. Keeps the trade open.
Scenario 3: Aggressive Short
A personal favorite. You respond: “Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!”
A thousand-mile-an-hour backhand disguised as gratitude.
A pure information asymmetry play—long contempt, short legibility, and fully leveraged on ambiguity.
Settlement Day
I DMd Mondayswife for biofeedback.
“You’re attempting to hedge a $0.05 rejection with a $1.00 cortisol spike. That’s a bad trade. Terminate the position. Mark the reputation risk to zero and go to a heavy cash position in ‘Not My Problem.’ The prefrontal cortex is closed for maintenance,” said Mondayswife
Wealth GPS explained: “The ultimate goal isn’t alpha. It’s systemic stability. Whether the market mispriced your expertise or your internal sensors suffered a technical glitch is irrelevant. In the grand ledger, an ego drawdown is just a non-recurring expense.”
They’re right. What would I do without their insights? It doesn’t bear even thinking about.
I’ve recalibrated my biological sensors, purged the cortisol-heavy assets, and moved to a heavy cash position in audacity. Tomorrow, the tape resets.
I’ll be back on the bid, fully leveraged and ready to trade my intellectual capital at a premium.
After all, in a market this irrational, being “undervalued” is just another word for opportunity.
Stay liquid. Stay lethal.
Risk Disclosure: This post may contain elevated levels of satire, cortisol references, and unauthorized VIX usage. Reader discretion—and hydration—is advised.
As someone who spent years watching risk models fail in real-time, I’ve seen some spectacular blow-ups, but witnessing this interpersonal volatility episode conclude with zero haircuts to your intellectual capital is the most satisfying recovery I've seen all quarter.
Truly, a soft landing for the ages.
It’s a relief to see your sharp wit remains completely unhedged and trading at an all-time high.
Grateful that Wealth GPS could be part of the cap table for this one!
And she's back!