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Mark Mansons 2016 book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck delivered some hard truths and prescient advice to millions of readers seeking answers. Now hes building an AI-based application to do the same. At that time, Manson says the self-help field was unrealistic, not very evidence basedjust designed to make you feel good, inspiring him to write a book that offered a more skeptical, realistic, and zero bull shit approach to personal growth and self-help. Nearly a decade later, Manson says hes seeing the same pattern in the digital world, with millions turning to generic AI platforms for guidance, only to receive unrealistic, potentially harmful advice. Thats what inspired him to team up with serial tech entrepreneur Raj Singhwho most recently sold his AI hotel concierge service GoMomentto create on-demand life coaching app Purpose, which launches this week. The AI tool offers users life guidance and actionable steps to solve problems, from career to relationships and beyond. It also seeks to challenge, rather than validate users (something many experts have argued many AI platforms do), albeit in a polite, supportive tone. It pairs existing research into cognitive behavioral therapy with data gathered from users upon sign up, and retains conversation history to track patterns over time. According to an internal survey, 41% of early users said the app has been life-changing. We’ve actually had a number of people tell us that they’ve cried while using it, Manson says. We really tried to build this AI to go deep quickly, to not beat around the bush or do any fake pleasantries. Fast Company caught up with the author-turned-tech-founder from Los Angeles to talk about the legacy of The Subtle Art, whether were ready to share our deepest thoughts with an app, and why AI is the perfect tool to deliver personalized coaching at scale. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Were you surprised by the success of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck? The scope of the success caught me off guard. My pie-in-the-sky dream at the time was a million copies, so the fact that its exceeded that so drastically has been a pleasant surprise. Why do you think it was such a hit? When I got started in this industry in the early 2010s, self-help was very touchy-feely, very woo-woo. It was, in my opinion, unrealistic, not very evidence basedjust designed to make you feel good. It felt like there was a deep hunger, especially among millennials, for a skeptical, realistic, zero-bullshit approach to personal growth and self-help. That was the inspiration. Coincidentally a lot of the cultural observations at the timelike about social media and distraction and chronically comparing ourselves to othershave aged really well. I think I identified early on the world we were heading toward. How has your life changed since? Financial security is probably the single biggest change, and thats great, but being a very successful author is weird in that the book is the celebrity, not me. Im not getting recognized on the street or anything. Its just a bunch of numbers on emails that youre like wow, thats a large number. Then you go back to your same apartment and hang out with your same friends. Why transition from author to tech cofounder? When my career started to blow up, there were opportunities to do seminars and start a coaching business, but I didnt really want to charge somebody $5,000 to spend a weekend in a hotel ballroom with me. Ive been obsessed with this question of, how can we help more people? Like, what does a better version of this industry look like? One of the problems I identified well before ChatGPT came out is that the stuff that actually works doesnt scale, and the stuff that scales doesnt work. My book was read by millions of people, but a book has to talk in broad principles, and the reader needs to connect the dots for themselves. It might move the needle for some people, but not much. What really works is working with an excellent coach or therapist, which is extremely personalized and requires a major investment of time and energy, so it doesnt scale. Then ChatGPT came out, and I heard people were asking it big life questions. I tried it myself, and it does okay in terms of some questions, but not others. It felt like there was an opportunity for a properly trained AI to scale that personalization. How did you meet your cofounder? At a poker game. After ChatGPT came out, I was meeting with AI companies, but they didnt really get it. And then I sat down next to Raj Singh at a poker game just as he was finishing a sabbatical in 2023, and was independently thinking about doing something with AI and mental health. We started chatting, and it turns out we were thinking about the same question. What is Purpose all about? What makes it different from generic AI platforms? Purpose is a personalized AI mentor designed to help you find clarity and direction in your life as soon as possible. One of the biggest issues I see with using ChatGPT for life questions is that its default approach is to validate you. If you complain about your ex-girlfriends, ChatGPT will tell you theyre terrible, and youre a great guy, so just pick yourself up and itll be okay when what you might actually need to hear is like, hey dude, you might be the problem. The goal with Purpose is to build an AI that will challenge your assumptions, poke holes in some of your beliefs, point out blind spots, and help you reconsider how you see your own approach. The app does take a positive tone, though. Theres a fine line between flattery and positivity, and its something were trying to calibrate all the time. It changes based on the user, the context, the issue. Part of our onboarding experience is designed to get an early read of the users personality traits. The AI speaks to people differently based on how agreeable they are. Some people want very direct advice, others want it to be a bit more encouraging and positive, and its something were working on fine tuning all the time. The entire field of psychology is already in all these LLMs. The value is finding that calibration. ChatGPT is poorly calibrated for it, partly because of the sycophancy, partly because of the lack of personalization, partly because of the poor memory. Were trying to fix those things. Are people open to receiving that advice from a bot? When you’re talking to a humaneven a trusted person, like a therapistit’s almost impossible to not worry what that person thinks about you. With AI, I dont care. I dont feel shame: I just say what I feel. And what Ive also found is that when it gives me harsh feedback, I dont feel that social anxiety thats attached to criticism or negative feedback from a person. What about privacy and security concerns? Trust is by far the most important thing in this space. We are building Purpose with all the highest security and privacy regulations, like HIAA and GDPR. Conversations are anonymized on each device, so even if somebody puts a gun to my head or Rajs, we cant share your conversations, because we dont have any way to identify individual users. Its also entirely self-fundedwhich is something Raj and I feel very strongly aboutto keep the proper incentives in place and not jeopardize the goal and mission of the product. Whats next for you personally? I am going to be strongly involved in Purposes product design, but I do feel like its probably time to write another book. Its been about five years, and I need to get back on that horse. Did Purpose suggest that? Not specifically. But it probably would have if I asked.
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OpenAI appeared to be closer to pulling the trigger on advertising in ChatGPT in recent days, but a growing threat from Google has forced the company to pause those plans as it gears up for a quickly escalating chatbot fight. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent a memo to staff on December 1 declaring a “code red” and ordering the company’s primary focus to be on improving ChatGPT. As part of that directive, Altman reportedly said the company would be pushing back work on other projects, including the introduction of advertising to its chatbot. The about-face came just days after Tibor Blaho, an engineer working on a Chrome extension that offers pre-written prompts for ChatGPT, posted on social media that he had discovered lines of code which heavily referenced ads in a beta version of ChatGPT’s Android app, including mentions of “ads feature,” “search ad,” and “bazaar content.” (That beta has not yet been released to the public.) Altman has hedged when the topic of ads in ChatGPT has come up previously. While saying he “hates ads” personally, he added at a 2024 Harvard University fireside chat that he was “not totally against them” and stressed, “I’m not saying OpenAI would never consider ads.” He cushioned those comments, though, by saying “ads plus AI is uniquely unsettling to me. When I think of GPT writing me a response, if I had to go figure out exactly how much was [a sponsor] paying . . . to influence what I’m being shown, I don’t think I would like that very much.” The discovery of ad code is not conclusive proof that ChatGPT will incorporate advertisements into its chatbot. It’s possible OpenAI is planning to work with other companies to let them personalize ad content on other sites based on ChatGPT usage. OpenAI did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the ad code. ChatGPT has become a Goliath in the AI space. In October, Altman disclosed that the chatbot sees 800 million weekly active users, a big jump from the 500 million WAUs it reported at the end of March. It has amassed that sizable user base in just three years. But as it has grown, so too have competitors. Googles Gemini AI has emerged recently as perhaps the most serious threat to OpenAI’s dominance, outpacing ChatGPT in industry benchmarks. Gemini 3, released last month, also has a huge built-in user base, as the technology was inserted into Google Search as well as a full suite of developer tools. Altman’s memo indicates the company is feeling the pressure from Gemini and other AI firms, which (like OpenAI) are spending heavily in the race for leadership in the AI space. Altman told his team that work needed to be done on improving personalization for users, increasing speed and reliability, and widening the range of questions that ChatGPT can answer. Right now, OpenAI generates much of its revenue from partnerships with businesses that use its API model and via paid subscriptions to its most advanced technology. (A free version that is less advanced is available to users who prefer not to pay.) The company is on track to hit $20 billion in revenue this year. Altman has said he expects that figure to grow to hundreds of billions by 2030. Even so, the company says it cannot guarantee it will turn a profit within the next five years, given the high cost of computing. In the meantime, it expects to post massive losses, including a projected $74 billion shortfall in 2028.
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Businesses still spend billions each year on management training programs, but here we are in 2025with a growing leadership gap and executives scrambling for answers. And if I can get honest for a moment: Were still approaching the problem backward. Senior leaders keep promoting high-performing individual contributors into leadership roles and expecting them to figure it out on the fly. Many dont have the time, support, or temperament to lead people well. Then were surprised when the results are uneven or the team burns out. Before companies invest in another round of training, they need to start with a more fundamental question: Are we choosing the right people to lead? And more important, are we modeling the leadership behaviors we want them to learn? Start with what actually works: Model servant leadership Leadership boils down to people, trust, and relationships. And the simple truth is still the same today: Great leaders lead by serving. They focus on what their people need to succeedclarity, coaching, safety, and supportnot on protecting their own ego or authority. For readers familiar with my coaching work and the book I authored earlier this year, you know Ive been beating this drum for years: Servant leadership has moved from a niche, values-driven concept to the core operating philosophy of many of the worlds most admired and profitable companies. After over two decades of developing leaders, Ive seen a consistent pattern: The best leaders genuinely want their people to thrive. Theyre willing to put the teams needs first, share credit freely, and take responsibility when things go sideways. They grow people rather than simply manage tasks. And that kind of growthpersonal, professional, relationalis what builds resilient teams. Whether you lead 3 people or 3,000, these behaviors will elevate your impact and build trust faster than any leadership playbook. 1. Build trust through real, intentional caring Strong leaders show interest in peoples work, their goals, and their long-term direction. Theyre curious about what motivates each person and intentional about creating opportunities that stretch their skills. This isnt soft. Its emotional engagementand its one of the biggest drivers of performance and retention. Think about it: When leaders support their people through promotions and pay raises (first and foremost), internal moves, stretch assignments, or removing obstacles from their path, it sends a powerful messageyou matter. As the (often-attributed) John C. Maxwell quote goes, People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care. When employees feel their leaders genuinely care, confidence rises, performance follows, and career paths become healthier and more aligned with their strengths. 2. Use empathy to connect with others and drive results In 2018, Global training powerhouse Development Dimensions International (DDI) assessed 15,000-plus leaders across 20 industries and found empathy to be the strongest predictor of overall performanceespecially the ability to listen and respond with empathy. That hasnt changed. If anything, the modern workplacewith hybrid teams, rising burnout, AI, and constant changehas made empathy even more essential. But empathy isnt a strategy you perform and it doesnt come from a to-do list. It shows up in how you listen, how you check in, and how you respond to someones realityeven when their experience is different from your own. Empathic leaders dont just hear what people say; they understand the context, emotions, and challenges behind it. That perspective creates psychological safety, and safety unlocks creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. 3. Be radically transparent A transparent culture builds trust and fosters collaboration. When people feel safe voicing their thoughts, it deepens engagement and creates a more resilient, trustworthy team dynamic. Tip: Encourage employees to ask any questionyes, even the hard ones. People also dont stress around transparent leaders and teamwork isnt undermined, because information is shared openly to let everyone know whats going on at all times. Going a step further, studies prove that organizations that share privileged information with their employeestypically reserved for the ivory tower in command-and-control power structuresreduce uncertainty and alleviate stress about where they are headed and why. One example of openness, perhaps a bit extreme for most companies, is social media optimization company Buffer. It goes so far as to post its formula for salaries online for everyone to see, including the compensation of CEO Joel Gascoigne. Bringing it home No leadership framewor works without spending real time with your people. Learn who they are, what energizes them, and what blocks them. Understand their strengths, their motivations, their values, and their blind spots. So heres a question worth asking yourself today:How well do you really know the people you lead? If you want to advance your leadership impact, start by serving. Learn what matters to your team. Shape roles that offer meaning and purpose. Use their strengths wisely. And champion their growtheven if that growth eventually takes them to a new team or a new company. When you invest in people this way, you dont just build stronger teams. You build a healthier culture, a deeper bench of future leaders, and long-term success for everyone involved. Like this article? Subscribe here for more related content and exclusive insights from executive coach and speaker Marcel Schwantes. Marcel Schwantes This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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