I didn’t set out to build a community. Starting another newsletter company was the last thing on my mind.

In early 2023, I was simply documenting my own work around health, performance, and decision-making at a level that matched the standards of the people I was learning from: physicians, founders, investors, scientists, professional athletes, and operators who cared deeply about extending their competitive edge without sacrificing their long-term health.

A few conversations turned into a WhatsApp thread. The thread turned into a working group. The working group quietly became Optimization.

Today, Optimization is a private international network of ~200 members across 70+ countries, including HBS, Harvard Law, Harvard College alumni, MDs, PhDs, Olympic and professional athletes, special operators, and senior executives from companies you interact with every day. The common denominator is not credentials. It is curiosity, discipline, and a refusal to accept baseline performance.

What makes the group work is not the content. It is the people and the standard.

Discussions range from longevity science, metabolic health, and cognitive performance to geopolitics, AI, finance, leadership psychology, and the unintended consequences of modern convenience. Members frequently collaborate on research, business, investment, training protocols, and personal development projects that never appear on social media.

There is no public brand. There is no growth campaign. There is no application form.

And if you are building at the intersection of health, performance, intelligence, and long-term advantage, you are probably already closer to the room than you think.

My role is simple: protect the culture, maintain the signal-to-noise ratio, and make sure the conversations remain worthy of the people having them.