A Pause, A Thank You, and What’s Next

Author

Charbel Zeaiter
February 26, 2025

Hello friends,

Hope you’re well. This is a long update! 

TL;DR: 

  • pausing on my way to regular newsletter

  • focusing on my ventures and experiments in new fields

  • I’ll send one last newsletter when I launch a Kickstarter campaign on 10 May

  • I’m grateful for your support and readership

After months of writing, researching, and curating this regular newsletter, I’ve decided to put a hold on it. It’s been a great and somewhat self-indulgent experience - diving into AI, technology, venture building, product development, science, and design - bringing you insights daily. But as you can imagine, it’s a massive undertaking, requiring hours each day. And right now, my focus needs to shift fully into building what’s next — and there’s a lot of going on.

So, what‘s going on for me?

My agency has taken on a bigger focus; honing its role as the engine that gets big ideas to market for clients and for internally produced ventures. After years of working with incredible teams, I’ve taken something off the back burner and will soon release the “Get Ship Done” innovation system - a framework designed to help product teams cut through noise, plan quickly and deliver what’s needed.

My team at Velvet Onion and I have been working tirelessly on books, game concepts, art, video production, and we’ve been moving all our websites to Webflow. 

This has been a slow burn, but it’s now picking up momentum. I’ve brought together 10 brilliant experts across design, strategy, product management, and soon tech to become the founding leads. The goal? To build a new kind of school—one where learning happens through building real ventures, not just theory. The journey ahead is huge, but the foundation is finally in place.

Febble Flim & Family (https://www.febble.com/)

And under the new umbrella, Febble Flim & Family are two brands that I’ve been working on, obsessing over, lucid dreaming of and with: 

The book series is gearing up for a Kickstarter launch soon - 4 books ready for production, artwork and storytelling that’s been in the works for ages. The first series of 10 books, “Rewind The Apocalypse,” has been so much fun to write and produce - and there’s another series of 10 ready for final edits. 

Please note: I’ll send an email when the campaign goes live - no pressure, would love you to check out what my team and I have been working on for 9 months (I’ve been working on it for over 2 years!)

Momo & Yeti (in development: (http://momoyeti.com/)

The first sample book (one of 13 in the series) “Death, Dawn & Other Inconveniences” is in sample production - gorgeous artwork and a story that hits a personal note for me. This has been an epic foray into worlds of “otherness” as told through the lens of teenage monsters and mythical creatures living between worlds of tradition and a new, human-filled world. 

I’ve also created a  soundtrack inspired by this book - a collection of 12 tracks entitled, “Nothing True, Nothing False.” Which leads me to …

AI & Music Experiments

I’ve been exploring ways to bring my lyrics to life using AI - not to write the lyrics, but to use AI as an instrument. My role as writer and producer has come to life because of these new technologies. My parents used to have a cassette tape of my 5-year old lispy, shy musings and one question my Dad asked was “what do you want to be when you grow up?” To which I replied, “A Rock Star.” The laughter gave me space to double down on my shyness. 

After thousands of iterations, prompts, a lot of cussing and floods of self-doubt, I’ve released the above noted album: https://open.spotify.com/album/66qqY6A0zfxbYwCFAxY8NM?si=Cgwe9VE0S6SnG3sDDgKEBA 

Ciao, for now.

So it’s ciao for now. This isn’t goodbye - it’s a shift. The newsletter may return in the future, but for now, I need to channel all my energy into making these projects real.

It’s been an epic 12 months and I feel as though I’ve only just started. 

To everyone who has followed along, reached out, and supported this newsletter (and me!), a huge thank you. I appreciate it. 

And if you want to stay connected and follow what’s next, you can always find me on:

Until next time. 

With love and respect,
Charbel