Ilias Ennajmi

Why People Act & Who Profits

and other observations that won't make you any money

Written by a behavior obsessive/a marketing strategist
“Guy realizes free will isn’t real, immediately monetizes the observation.”
— a Hacker News commenter, not wrong
01The person behind it

Who's speaking?

I'm Ilias — I work in marketing strategy and write, on the side, about why people choose what they choose.

By day that means figuring out how to make people want things. By night it means trying to understand the same machinery from the inside: the psychology, the defaults, the small nudges nobody votes on. This site is where the two habits argue with each other in public.

StrategyBehavioral psychWriting
More about me →

02 — The Fork

Two ways down the same hole

The writing splits in two. One side asks why people act. The other asks who profits when they do. Pick a door.

I — Ulysses→
Why people act.

Psychology, behavior, philosophy. The long way home, basically.

LatestThe tyranny of the open tab
II — Ilias→
Who profits when they do.

Marketing and strategy, before the click. Follow the money.

LatestThe most expensive number is the first one
New here? Start Here — 4 essays, ~4 min →

03 — Loose Threads

A public notebook — some become essays
Pricing isn't math. It's a story about what you think you deserve.ON VALUE◆Every free trial bets you’ll forget to cancel. They usually win.ON FRICTION◆Nobody picks the middle option, so they add one for you to skip.ON CHOICE◆Willpower is a budget. Most ads wait for you to overdraw it.ON ATTENTION◆You didn’t choose the playlist. It chose the version of you that buys.ON DEFAULTS◆Pricing isn't math. It's a story about what you think you deserve.ON VALUE◆Every free trial bets you’ll forget to cancel. They usually win.ON FRICTION◆Nobody picks the middle option, so they add one for you to skip.ON CHOICE◆Willpower is a budget. Most ads wait for you to overdraw it.ON ATTENTION◆You didn’t choose the playlist. It chose the version of you that buys.ON DEFAULTS◆
“
The most expensive choices are the ones you never noticed you were making.
A working thesis

04 — The Shelf

Whatever's shaping the work right now.

My latest reads
InfluenceCialdini
Thinking, Fast and SlowKahneman
The Paradox of ChoiceSchwartz
Music I spin
In RainbowsRadiohead
BlondeFrank Ocean
At the VanguardBill Evans
Books I loved
UlyssesJoyce
MeditationsAurelius
Ways of SeeingBerger
See the full Shelf →
05Say hello

Get in touch.

For work, arguments, or book recommendations.

Email ↗LinkedIn ↗Instagram ↗Threads ↗Substack ↗
The occasional letter
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