Shiroi Kiba JutSu: If I Were Building Mindvalley Again in 2026…

If I Were Building Mindvalley Again in 2026…

By Vishen Lakhiani

It took me 20 years to build Mindvalley.

If I were starting today, in 2026, I could build the same company in 12 months, with one-twentieth the people, and with far less friction, stress, and pain.

And here's the important part:

I'm not just saying this hypothetically.

I'm actually building this way right now.

What's changed isn't ambition.
It's leveraged speed.

We are now in an era where one person with clarity, systems, and social media can outpace entire teams from ten years ago.

Not by working more hours or posting more content.

But by letting identity, systems and content compound your effort.

Let's go deeper:

The New Advantage: Leveraged Speed

In 2026, the founders who win aren't the ones working harder.

They're the ones who understand Leverage Speed.

Leverage Speed comes from two pillars:

Cloud coding — building technology lightning fast
Social media — building trust at scale

I'll talk about cloud coding in a future newsletter.

Today, I want to talk about the second pillar, because this one is wildly misunderstood.

Ten years ago, trust came after the product.

You built it quietly. You launched. Then you marketed.

Today, it's reversed.

Trust now comes first.

And when trust exists before you launch:

customers say yes faster
advertising costs drop
partnerships appear without chasing

This is why companies are being built faster than ever before.

Why Dubai Gets It

As I'm writing this, I'm in Dubai.

This weekend, from Jan 9-11, Mindvalley is curating a special stage in the 1 Billion Follower Summit in Dubai, which is possibly the largest creator summit in the world, with 30,000 people attending.

(In the special Mindvalley Stage, our biggest ever Social Media Summit is taking place, in which we'll be sharing our amazing curated speakers free LIVE on Zoom)

And I want to point out something:

The Dubai government understands this shift.

They know that dominating social media isn't about influencers or vanity metrics.

It's about strategic advantage.

For businesses. For cities. For entire countries.

Because social media created PROOF.

And in a world of AI fakery - PROOF matters more than ever.

You no longer need years to build trust.

You need clarity + consistency + content distribution.

In 2026, social media isn't a marketing channel. It's a growth multiplier.

It can recruit customers, attract partnerships, and build credibility before you even "launch."

And it can do it fast.

Don't Think of Social Media as Content. Think of it as Proof.

Here's the biggest mistake founders make: They think social media is about content.
It's not.
Social media is proof.

Proof that: you're real, you're building something, you believe in what you're creating

And this matters now more than ever.

We're entering an era of AI slop: AI-generated videos, AI avatars, people cloning themselves

Please hear me clearly:

Do not clone yourself.
Do not hide behind AI.
Do not outsource your humanity.

Humanity is developing a deep distrust of anything that feels fake.

I see this on my own social media.

Highly produced videos with perfect lighting often underperform.
It was really me, but it could just as well be a polished AI clone.

But raw, selfie-style videos, me holding my phone, speaking honestly, unscripted, take off.

A spontaneous video I shot in a Miami mall about an airport incident hit 2 million views.

No script. No teleprompter. Just the truth.

This is happening everywhere.

More rawness. More realness. More humanity.

Because anything that can be faked no longer carries trust.

How Founders Are Building Faster Than Ever

This is why building in public is no longer optional.

I recently came across two Duke University students who built a fashion app called Styl almost entirely through Instagram.

They shared the journey while building. They documented progress instead of performing.

No massive ad budgets. No years of silence. Social media became the accelerant.

This isn't rare anymore. It's becoming the default.

The IKEA Effect: Let People Build It With You

There's a principle called the IKEA Effect:

People value what they help build. A psychologist noted that people grew attached to the IKEA furniture because they helped create and assemble it.

We experienced this firsthand at Mindvalley.

When we created Silva Manifesting in 2014, I didn't hide the curriculum until launch.

I put the raw outline into a Google Doc and shared it with our community.

It was messy. Incomplete. Unpolished.

I asked:

What do you like?
What would you change?
What should we add?

When we finally launched, it became the biggest launch in Mindvalley's history.

Why? Because trust had already been built. The community felt ownership.

I recently shared this idea with a female founder launching an online clothing brand.

She was shy about showing up on social media.

I told her:

"You don't have to be polished. Wear sunglasses if it helps. Just show the warehouse. Share the frustrations. Be real."

Reluctantly, she did.

A few weeks later, she told me sales were up 50%.

Same product. Same ads. More trust.

Stop Trying to Be a Content Creator

Here's the identity shift founders need to make:

You are not a content creator. You are a founder using social media to build trust.

You're not posting to entertain strangers. You're publishing to let people see what you're building.

That's it.

Three Rules for 'Leveraged Speed' on Social Media

If you want to move faster in 2026:

Pick one platform you actually enjoy
Share the journey, not the highlights
Let people give feedback while you build

That's how trust compounds. So don't be afraid to share what you're building in secret in your garage.

Don't build in secret; build publicly, and it's okay to be sloppy, to have uncertainty

But most importantly, be real.

And if you're struggling with social media or just curious to learn the newest trends in growth hacking your way to the top for better visibility, opportunities and revenue

You don't want to miss this opportunity:

Join Us This Weekend (Jan 9–11)

At Social Media Summit 2026, I'll be teaching a session called:

Founder-Based Content: How to Build Trust at Scale

We'll cover:

How founders should show up online (without becoming influencers)
Why trust lowers advertising costs
And how to build demand before you launch

The entire summit over this weekend, will be streamed live on Zoom, free to our community.

Reserve your spot here to get access

If you're building anything in 2026, this matters.

Because the companies that win now aren't louder.

They're more trusted.

Vishen

PS: What are you building right now, and what's the one thing you're most excited (or uncertain) about sharing publicly in 2026? Leave your comment here. I read every one of these.