The Levers That End Relationships, and Who Is Pulling Them Now
Key takeaway: Relationship science has a short list of levers that predict whether couples last: perceived commitment, the pull of alternatives, your social…
Blog - Jonathan Mall
58 articles
Why AI's Top Startups Stopped Publishing Research (and What It Costs Everyone Buying AI)
Key takeaway: A new bioRxiv preprint, covered by Science on July 28, found that 166 of the world's 317 AI unicorns have never led a single scientific paper,…
Meta AI Personas vs Digital Twins Technology 2026
Key takeaway: Meta’s AI personas and Digital Twins both get called “AI personas,” but they are opposite technologies built for opposite goals. Meta optimizes…
We Tested 12 Startup Myths Against 8,352 Stripe-Verified Startups (and Our Own AI)
Key takeaway: We analyzed 8,352 startups with Stripe-verified revenue and found that much of what founders are told about copywriting and growth is backwards:…
The Anchoring Effect, Twin-Tested: A Strikethrough Price Lifts Purchases by 83%
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: A first-mentioned…
The Jam Study, Retested: 24 Flavors, 68 Percent Fewer Purchases
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: Iyengar & Lepper…
The Endowment Effect, Twin-Tested: 30 Days of Ownership Double the Keep Rate
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: Kahneman, Knetsch…
Loss Aversion, Twin-Tested: Do Not Miss Out Sells No Better Than Secure Yours
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: Kahneman &…
The Peak-End Rule, Twin-Tested: No Effect — but a Lesson About List Order
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: The peak-end rule…
Reciprocity, Twin-Tested: Give First, Sell Later — 6.4 vs 3.7 out of 10
Proof, not claims: classic persuasion triggers, re-tested live with digital twins. → See all 23 purchase triggers at a glance . The takeaway: Twins who first…