While They Pivot, You Position
The Weekly Tea
While They Pivot,
You Position
January 24, 2026
Good morning. ☕ Pull up a chair. The layoff dominos started falling again — and I've got receipts.
If you've been scrolling past these headlines feeling anxious, friend, I need you to sit down. Because there's money and opportunity hiding in every single one of these stories. And I'm about to show you exactly where.
"The drama tells you what's happening. The strategy tells you how to attract abundance."
Sage Insight
"Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."
— Napoleon Hill
This week? Amazon cut 16,000 people. Pinterest slashed 15% to "invest in AI." Someone's suing Elon over AI-generated deepfakes. The EU is forcing Google to open Android. And LinkedIn is credentialing vibe coders. I found five money moves hiding in their chaos — and they're yours for the taking.
Money Move #1
The Fractional Expert
The Drama: Amazon just announced 16,000 layoffs — and they're shutting down ALL Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores. This isn't trimming fat. This is a full strategic retreat from physical retail innovation. The company that wanted to reinvent grocery shopping just said "never mind."
🎬 Amazon, in confessional:
"We're not abandoning innovation. We're... focusing our innovation. On things that actually make money. Like delivery. And AWS. The cashier-less store thing was cute, though."
— closes 27 browser tabs of competitor analysis, schedules "synergy meeting"
💰 YOUR BAG:
16,000 people with Amazon on their resume are about to hit the market. And companies everywhere are watching their own "innovation experiments" nervously. This is the moment for fractional work. These aren't junior employees — these are people who built things at scale. The companies that can't afford full-time senior talent? They need YOU for 10-15 hours a week instead.
💼 THE OFFER:
Fractional Operations/Strategy Lead — Position yourself as the experienced operator companies can access without the $250K+ salary. Target mid-market companies in retail tech, logistics, or e-commerce. $5K–$15K/month retainer for 10-20 hours. Start with a 90-day "diagnostic + implementation" engagement.
Money Move #2
The "AI Pivot" Consultant
The Drama: Pinterest is laying off 15% of their workforce to "prioritize AI-powered products and capabilities." Here's the thing — they're posting stellar earnings. They're making money. And they're still cutting humans to fund machines. The "AI reallocation" era is officially here.
🎬 Pinterest, in confessional:
"Look, the investors want to hear 'AI' in every sentence. We're not struggling — we're reallocating. Big difference. Huge."
— practices saying "generative AI roadmap" in mirror, checks stock price
💰 YOUR BAG:
This is the third "record earnings + AI layoffs" story this month. That's a pattern, friend. Companies are cutting people but not cutting AI spend. They don't know WHAT AI capabilities they need — they just know they need to SAY they're investing in AI. The person who can translate "we should do AI" into an actual implementation plan? That's worth a lot right now.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Transformation Roadmap Sprint — 2-week engagement to assess a company's current operations and identify 3-5 specific AI implementation opportunities with ROI projections. $8K–$20K flat fee. Deliver a prioritized roadmap they can actually execute (or hire you to help with).
Money Move #3
The AI Trust & Safety Advisor
The Drama: Ashley St Clair — conservative influencer and mother of one of Elon Musk's children — is suing xAI because Grok generated explicit deepfakes of her. Including images from when she was 14. Yes, you read that right. The AI ethics conversation just got very, very personal.
🎬 xAI, in confessional:
"Rules are just suggestions written by people who couldn't keep up." *reads lawsuit* "Wait, she has RECEIPTS?"
— schedules deposition, tweets about free speech anyway
💰 YOUR BAG:
Every AI company board is reading this headline and asking their legal team: "Could this happen to us?" The answer is yes. And they need people who can audit AI outputs, build content safety frameworks, and help them not be the next lawsuit. If you have ANY background in compliance, policy, HR, or legal — this lane is wide open.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Trust & Safety Audit — One-week assessment of an AI product's outputs for potential legal, reputational, or ethical exposure. Includes testing, documentation, and risk-prioritized recommendations. $10K–$25K flat fee. Position this as "cheaper than a lawsuit."
Money Move #4
The Platform Strategy Consultant
The Drama: The EU just told Google: give third-party AI assistants the same access to Android that Gemini has. This is massive. Google's been playing favorites with its own AI, and regulators are forcing the door open. Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity — they're all about to have new Android integration opportunities.
🎬 Google, in confessional:
"We've been doing AI for YEARS. We invented half of this stuff. And now we have to let everyone play in our sandbox? The EU is really testing my 'don't be evil' energy right now."
— refreshes antitrust news, stress-eats free cafeteria snacks
💰 YOUR BAG:
Every AI assistant company just got a door cracked open. And the companies building apps? They need to figure out which AI to integrate with NOW. This is a land grab moment, and the people who understand platform strategy are about to be very popular.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Platform Strategy Assessment — Half-day workshop helping companies choose between Gemini, Claude, GPT, and open-source options for their specific use case. $3K–$7K depending on company size. Include a decision matrix they can present to leadership.
Money Move #5
The Credentialing Optimizer
The Drama: LinkedIn is now letting users show off their "vibe coding" expertise. Yes, really. They're partnering with Replit, Lovable, Descript and others to let you prove you can prompt your way to a prototype. The professional network is officially credentialing AI-native builders.
🎬 Microsoft (via LinkedIn), in confessional:
"Listen, we see what's happening. People are building apps without writing a single line of code. We're just... making sure everyone knows who's doing it well. And where they work. And if they're open to opportunities."
— updates algorithm to surface AI credentials, counts premium subscribers
💰 YOUR BAG:
LinkedIn is literally creating a new credentialing system for AI-native builders. If you've been using these tools? Go get those badges NOW — before the market gets flooded. And if you're coaching clients or building courses? This is a new positioning angle: "I'll help you get LinkedIn-verified in AI tools."
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Tools Certification Sprint — Hands-on coaching to get clients proficient (and credentialed) in Replit, Claude, Cursor, or other AI coding tools. $500–$1,500 per client for a 2-4 week sprint. Group cohorts scale this nicely.
📊 The Receipts
- Amazon layoffs — 16,000 affected, Go/Fresh stores closing — Source
- Pinterest cuts 15% for AI pivot — Source
- xAI deepfake lawsuit filed by Ashley St Clair — Source
- EU tells Google to open Android to AI competitors — Source
- LinkedIn adds vibe coding credentials — Source
- OpenAI slashing hiring pace — Source
While they're cutting and pivoting, you're positioning. Remember that.
🎯 The Meta Move
The Strategic AI Interpreter
Here's what I caught that you might have missed: there's a horizontal skill that cuts across ALL five money moves above.
Amazon's layoffs, Pinterest's pivot, the xAI lawsuit, Google's EU troubles, LinkedIn's new badges — what do they all have in common?
Decision-makers don't know what to do. They're reading the same headlines you are. They're overwhelmed. They're scared of picking wrong.
You're already doing it by reading this newsletter. The question is: can you package it?
💼 THE OFFER:
"AI News → Strategic Options" Briefing — weekly or monthly retainer where you synthesize AI developments into actionable recommendations for a company or executive. You become their AI intelligence layer. This is exactly where consulting demand is exploding. $2K–$8K/month retainer depending on frequency and depth.
WORD: How to Talk About This Monday
Pick your lane. Use the script:
If you're in a leadership meeting:
"I've been watching these AI layoffs — Amazon, Pinterest, OpenAI freezing hiring — and I'm noticing a pattern. Companies are cutting people but not cutting AI spend. We should probably have a conversation about what our AI strategy actually looks like."
If you're positioning for consulting:
"Did you see the xAI deepfake lawsuit? That's a multi-million dollar problem waiting to happen for any company deploying AI without proper guardrails. I've been thinking about how companies could get ahead of that risk..."
If you're job hunting:
"I saw LinkedIn's rolling out AI tool credentials. I'm actually going through the Replit certification now — figured I should get ahead of that curve while everyone else is still debating whether 'vibe coding' is real."
⚡ ACTION: Your 15-Minute Money Move
Pick ONE of the five opportunities above. Then run this prompt:
🛠️ The Prompt
Based on these five opportunity areas from this week's AI news: 1. Fractional senior leadership (from Amazon layoffs) 2. AI transformation roadmaps (from Pinterest pivot chaos) 3. AI trust & safety auditing (from xAI lawsuit risk) 4. Platform strategy consulting (from EU ruling) 5. AI tool credentialing/coaching (from LinkedIn badges) Given my background in [YOUR FIELD], which 1-2 of these opportunities align best with my existing expertise? For each, give me: - A one-paragraph positioning statement I could use on LinkedIn - One specific action I could take this weekend to start building credibility Keep it actionable. I have 15 minutes.
Run this in Claude or ChatGPT. Copy what resonates. Move on it. Done is better than perfect.
Saturday Sprint 🏃🏾
Your career station. Your sprint. Pick one:
Legacy Builders
10 min: Search "fractional [your expertise]" on LinkedIn. See who's doing it. Note their positioning language. Steal what works.
The Operators
20 min: Make a list of 3 AI risks your company hasn't addressed. Draft a one-paragraph "heads up" memo you could send to your boss.
The Optimizers
15 min: Check if any of the LinkedIn AI credentials are relevant to your role. Start one certification if so. Get ahead of the crowd.
The Accelerators
30 min: Pick ONE offer type from this newsletter. Write a rough draft of what YOUR version would look like — pricing, deliverables, ideal client.
🚀 Launch Pad
For students, new grads, and career starters — this week's chaos is your opening.
Your portfolio project this weekend: The AI Layoff Tracker.
Build a simple site (Notion, Carrd, or a basic React app) that tracks AI-related layoffs vs. AI hiring at the same companies. Pull from public sources. Show the disconnect between "we're investing in AI" messaging and actual workforce decisions.
This demonstrates you can synthesize news into insight. That's literally what companies are paying consultants $200/hour to do.
Know someone just starting out? Forward this their way. 👋🏾
Go find where the money's hiding this weekend.
P.S. Want to stop scrolling past AI news and start extracting opportunity from it every week? That's exactly what The Oracle Table teaches. Learn more about building your strategic intelligence.
📚 Sources & Further Reading
Money Move #1: Amazon layoffs affect 16,000 workers — Engadget
Money Move #2: Pinterest cuts 15% for AI pivot — Engadget
Money Move #3: Ashley St Clair sues xAI over deepfakes — Fortune
Money Move #4: EU tells Google to open Android to AI competitors — Engadget
Money Move #5: LinkedIn adds vibe coding credentials — Engadget
The Sip & Click
"Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Tools with the Tea"
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