What if real is the only advantage we have left?

We were sitting around a living room in Miami — the kind of night where nobody's checking the time — and somebody pulled out a card game.

Not a strategy game. Not a business exercise. Just a deck of questions designed to get people talking.

I drew a card.

The question was something like: How does one earn your vulnerability?

And then the room started talking. About me.

I wasn't ready for it.

One member said I was the first person in this space who actually backed up what they taught by leading with vulnerability first. That from the very first event he came to, he didn't know what to expect — but the way I showed up set the tone for everyone else to show up fully too.

Another member — the one who's always cracking jokes — got serious for a second. He said, "You feel like an actual friend that we pay to hang out with." The room laughed. But then he said, "No, really — you actually care. And I've talked to a lot of people in my life who act like they give a shit, but don't. You're not that."

Someone else talked about how I process things out loud — on my podcast, in the group, in conversations — things most people would never say publicly. And how watching me do that gave him permission to consider things he'd been afraid to say out loud in his own business.

One member said it wasn't just the business stuff. He said he watches the way I show up for my kids, my wife, my community — and that when I give advice about business, he trusts it more because of the way I live the rest of my life. "It's holistic," he said. "It's not take, take. It's all connected."

And then someone brought up the little stuff — the snowy walks from my daughter's school, the podcast slip-ups I don't edit out, the moments I say something dumb and just leave it in. He said those small, human things are what actually make someone trust you. Not the polished content. Not the perfect brand. The real stuff.

I sat there not knowing what to say.

A couple of days later, I was in Austin at SXSW, watching my friend Mike Kim give a talk with Ryan Levesque. And Ryan said something that hit me differently than it would have a week earlier:

"What if real is the only advantage we have left?"

Mike built on it with this image I can't stop thinking about. He said most people online are either building a dumpster fire — sharing everything, no filter, burning it all down — or they're launching fireworks — look at me, look how great this is, big flash and then it's gone. But the thing we should actually be building? A campfire. A place people want to gather around. Warm. Real. Something that draws people in and makes them stay.

A week earlier, those are great ideas. Smart observations about the direction of business and branding.

But sitting in that audience, a couple of days after a living room full of people I love told me — in their own words — that the thing they value most is that I'm real? It wasn't a concept anymore. It was a confirmation.

Here's what I keep coming back to.

We're living in a moment where AI can write your emails, edit your videos, build your website, and generate a year's worth of content in an afternoon. And that's not a bad thing — I use these tools every day.

But it means the polished stuff is about to become free. Everyone's going to have access to the same tools, the same templates, the same perfectly optimized everything.

The thing that can't be replicated? The thing no algorithm can manufacture?

A living room in Miami where grown adults cry, roast each other, play ping pong at midnight, workshop cold outreach strategies at 1 AM, and then hug before they leave.

That's not content. That's not a strategy. That's a room full of people who chose to be real with each other. And it's the most valuable thing I've ever built.

I'm building the next group right now.

Small. Intentional. Twelve business owners max who are done performing and ready to be in a room where real is the standard — not the exception.

This round includes a six-month option for those who aren't ready to commit for a full year. And yes, both options include an in-person meetup. (Ping pong skills not required but strongly encouraged.)

Applications close in two weeks. If this is resonating — if you're reading this and thinking I want to be in that room — here's where to go: mastermind.ryankoral.com

And if you're not ready yet, that's okay. But sit with this question for a second:

When's the last time someone told you what they actually think of you — not on a stage, not in a review, but in a living room at 10 PM with nothing to gain from saying it?

That might be the thing you didn't know you were looking for.

To being real,
Ryan

P.S. Ryan Levesque — the guy who asked "what if real is the only advantage we have left?" — is writing a book called Return to Real. It's about exactly what it sounds like: what happens when we stop optimizing for algorithms and start optimizing for trust. I'm all in on this message. If that resonates, get on the waitlist: ryanlevesque.net/return-to-real-book

P.P.S. Two weeks. Twelve seats. Don't just read about campfires — come sit at one. mastermind.ryankoral.com