Every YourBrief follows the same five-step methodology, thoroughly sourced before publication. The methodology is the same one we'd use to research our own next move — primary sources, falsifiable claims, no AI-generated fluff.
The 5 principles
1. Primary sources only
No AI-generated analysis. Every claim links to a primary source: a press release, a financial filing, a public statement, a verified customer interview, a regulatory filing, or a peer-reviewed paper. If a claim can't be sourced, it doesn't go in the brief.
2. Falsifiable claims
If a claim can't be falsified, it doesn't go in the brief. Every prediction includes a falsification condition: "X is true if Y happens by Z date; X is false if W happens." This is the difference between a brief and a marketing email.
3. The contrarian take
If the brief just confirms consensus, it's not worth reading. We highlight the move the consensus is missing. The whole point is to surface the signal that 90% of the market is wrong about.
4. The operator's lens
Written for founders and operators, not for analysts or journalists. Actionable, not theoretical. Each brief ends with "what this means for your next 30 days."
5. Named authorship
Each brief is named to its author and ships with a full source list. The byline is what makes YourBrief different from an anonymous Substack.
The workflow
Monday morning: Identify the week's top 3-5 market moves (funding, product launches, regulatory, talent, customer pain).
Monday-Tuesday: Source each claim to a primary document. Write the 5-minute brief.
Tuesday 5am: Final source verification + author byline added. Iterate.
Tuesday 7am: Publish. Subscriber inboxes get the brief.
What the brief is NOT
Not a 50-page report. Five minutes, no more.
Not a daily newsletter. Weekly cadence, Tuesday morning.
Not AI-generated. The synthesis is human; the data collection is automated.
Not investment advice. Operator intel, not stock tips.
Not consensus. If the brief just confirms what you already know, we failed.
What the brief IS
Five minutes. Read it with your morning coffee.
Primary-sourced. Every claim links to a document.
Falsifiable. Every prediction has a falsification condition.
Contrarian. The consensus is the noise; the brief is the signal.
Operator-grade. Written for people who make decisions, not for people who read about them.
How to read YourBrief
Read the headline, skim the 3-5 market moves, then jump to "what this means for your next 30 days" at the bottom. If a brief takes you more than 5 minutes, we failed.
Every brief has a "falsification tracker" — a section listing the predictions from past briefs and whether they came true. This is how we keep ourselves honest.
Who writes the briefs
The YourBrief is written and sourced by John Whitman, with named collaborators credited on each brief. Read the byline.