TJ Thinakaran (he/him)

In this morning's email: 1. We unpack Bandwidth Inc. earnings 2. One Expert, One Topic — Peter S. Hyun open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…

Peter S. Hyun's story started on a one-way flight from South Korea to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. His parents arrived with more faith than certainty, chasing an American dream that—within a few years—included four sons in three-and-a-half years (including Peter and his twin). In the Hyun household, service wasn't a slogan; it was the operating system. With a father who moved from business to the ministry and a mother who served as a nurse, Peter was raised with a deep reverence for their adopted country. They viewed government work as a form of ministry—work done strictly in service of others. That belief hit home years later when Peter served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Standing in a ceremonial courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, Peter would read the names of hundreds of new citizens and move the court to administer the oath. He would then share a detail that silenced the room: “One generation ago, my parents stood where you are standing. Today, their son is an officer of the United States, ushering you into citizenship.” For Peter, that wasn't just a career milestone—it was a torch being passed. Today, that same through-line defines his work: a profound reverence for service, paired with a relentless fluency in how government actually functions to help people flourish. tjthinakaran.blog/one-expert-one…

In this morning's email, I unpack Sinch's Q4 2025: open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…

In this week’s newsletter: 1. Twilio racks yet another consecutive record-breaker 2. Why I am a cross-selling skeptic 3. The omnichannel messaging chat lnkd.in/gsp8prUg

There are plenty of five-second clips of Jensen saying he doesn’t like to fire people and would rather “torture them to greatness.” That can create the illusion of utopian job security, but as the book shows (and as Stephen Witt experiences himself), that “torture” can mean a public, two-hour dress-down at an all-hands for screwing up. The point isn’t softness; it’s that Jensen believes the greatest risk in business is the death of risk-taking. If failure gets you fired, people stop making big bets—and NVIDIA never becomes the bedrock of today’s AI ecosystem. Along the way, the book reveals Jensen as a textbook Level 5 leader: personally humble, fiercely professionally driven, ambitious for NVIDIA more than for himself, and disciplined about taking blame while giving credit. And yet, it’s equally clear there is no obvious public successor. He has built the world’s most valuable, decentralized startup, but there’s no visible number two. Maybe there can’t be. The combination of hardcore engineer, consummate CEO, and savvy statesman is too much to reasonably expect from anyone—anyone but Jensen. #The_Thinking_Machine_%E2%80%94_Stephen_Witt" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tjthinakaran.blog/2025-book-list…

Klaviyo’s earnings results kicked off the earnings season for my cohort, and my 5th year of blogging. Klaviyo has long been the industry’s Rule of 40 poster child. But look past the $1.2B revenue headline and you’ll see a company re-engineering its DNA. They aren’t just an email box anymore. They’re trying to become the decision layer of the enterprise. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…

If Melanie is the scientist in the lab, Mustafa Suleyman is the diplomat at the table. While Melanie goes deep to help us understand AI, Mustafa goes wide and tries to make sense of the ways AI could change the future. There is a lot of noise of AI, will or will not do. The only way to understand it however is to get involved and build. Play with it, be playful with all the options, but with the serious goal of understanding all the ways it can change the future. #The_Coming_Wave_%E2%80%94_Mustafa_Suleyman_with_Michael_Bhaskar" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tjthinakaran.blog/2025-book-list…

@StateFarm is this a joke? After dropping people who were 10 plus year customers to send emails like this? If it is not a joke, then it should start with: make you’re your insurance provider doesn’t drop you a year before a major wildfire. Give your actuaries raises for predicting the future. Fire your leaders for not doing the right thing.

The reader should give the writer the benefit of the long start. The writer should expect none. In 2025, Melanie Mitchell took over from Fei-Fei Li as my book teacher (her 2024 review here lnkd.in/ga3U76Q4) on all things AI. There is a lot to learn about the space and Melanie explains it patiently. So jump to the end of the book like an Amazon 6-page memo and read her FAQ section, if you must. But read it front-to-back if you can. lnkd.in/gwKUp9uU

If Brad Stone's The Everything Store was about Amazon on a warpath, then Amazon Unbound is the story of an Amazon under siege. Part because of it's own size, and part because of its founder's ambition. Through it all, Amazon displays a ruthless adherence to customer obsession, even if it comes at the cost of some very bad press. #Amazon_Unbound_%E2%80%94_Brad_Stone" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tjthinakaran.blog/2025-book-list…

If writing more in 2026 is your new year's resolution. Here's some motivation from an impacful business author. Link to review: #BE_20_%E2%80%94_Jim_Collins_and_William_Lazier" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tjthinakaran.blog/2025-book-list…

Wishing you and yours a safe and wonderful holiday season!

I read to make sense of the moment we’re in. This year, it took longer. AI moved fast. The questions got heavier. What is AI really? How much is hype? Does leadership still matter? Do we matter? That search led me to Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos, Jim Collins, Melanie Mitchell, Mustafa Suleyman, Anthony Bourdain, and Will Durant. If you’re wrestling with the same questions, this list is for you. open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…

Why I Joined ID.me open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar… #newRole #identity #trust

Hey @Delta used to love your boarding music, not saying that I don’t like the instrumentals, but are the curated playlists gone for good?

In this morning's email: 1. Klaviyo and Shopify give early signals of a strong BFCM. 2. The Wall Street Journal talks WhatsApp and, 3. Why RCS is not Whatsapp (yet) open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…

Tech Debt—Lego Version You have leftover parts after a three-hour Lego build. The end result is functional; the client is happy; you’re too exhausted to fix anything; yet you know when it breaks, it will be at the worst possible time—and just as painful to fix.

This week is the economic Super Bowl: BFCM. Most people are watching the consumer. I’m watching the SMB and what their stress signals mean for 2026 and for messaging companies. 🔗 Read the full piece: open.substack.com/pub/tjthinakar…