The world is racing to adopt AI. Product features can be copied in weeks. Operational efficiency is table stakes.
What becomes your true differentiator?
This was the core question I explored with Dave Hersh on On Influence & Impact.
Dave is the founding CEO of Jive Software, author of Reignition, and a coach and advisor to startup founders and CEOs. You can view Dave’s full bio at the bottom of the page.
His mission is bold: to transform capitalism into a system of human flourishing, one organization at a time.
What Dave laid out in our conversation is a powerful reframe for leaders: if AI is leveling the playing field on technology and efficiency, then the next great moat—the thing that sets your company apart—is human.
Why the Old Moats No Longer Hold
Startups used to win by building better technology, moving faster than incumbents, and raising capital to scale. But according to Dave, those moats are quickly eroding:
“AI can write code. Infrastructure is cheap. Everyone has access to the same tools. So technology, speed, and cost are no longer durable advantages.”
And if those moats are fading, we need new ones. Which brings us to Dave’s central premise: the companies that will thrive in the next era are those that can compete on Eros.
What’s Eros Got to Do with Business?
To clarify, Dave isn’t talking about romantic love. In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of desire. In the context of business, it’s about what fuels us. The human energy that drives connection, creativity, longing, and loyalty.
“Eros is the thing that fuels us forward as people. It’s the gas in the tank,” Dave explains. “If we’re no longer the means of production, we have to become the means of meaning and connection.”
What does that look like inside a company? It means infusing every aspect of your business with humanity—from product design to customer relationships to how you treat your team.
Culture as Competitive Advantage
If you’ve ever worked in a place where you felt deeply seen, supported, and challenged to grow—you already know the power of culture. Dave believes this is where the next generation of companies will shine:
Leaders doing inner work: The leaders Dave coaches invest in understanding their own emotional patterns and ego-driven tendencies. They lead from clarity and intention—not reactivity.
Emotional fluency across the org: One example Dave shared involved a startup that brought conscious connection practices to the entire team. The result? They pivoted faster, aligned more deeply, and unlocked massive growth. Because trust and truth were the norms, not the exception.
Products built for emotional resonance: Dave urges founders to go beyond product-market fit and pursue “emotional-market fit.” In other words: how do your products make people feel? Do they inspire loyalty, pride, joy, ease? These are the sticky emotions that create enduring relationships with customers.
From Inner Work to Organizational Transformation
At first glance, this might sound like “soft stuff.” But Dave is quick to point out it’s about unlocking your team’s full potential by removing what’s blocking it.
And those blocks? Often, they’re hidden in the reactive patterns leaders bring into high-stakes environments.
“Prolonged suffering comes from emotional resistance,” Dave said. “We hold back because we’re afraid to feel. But the leaders who are brave enough to do that work—they create the conditions for performance and joy.”
This doesn’t just make your culture better—it makes your company more adaptable, more resilient, and more magnetic to top talent.
“Imagine going into a business where you felt seen and loved and could do your best work,” Dave said. “Now imagine the competitive advantage of building that kind of company.”
Where to Begin: Practical Starting Points
So what can founders and CEOs do with all of this? Here are Dave’s suggestions for getting started:
Know your fuel source: Get brutally honest about what’s driving your leadership. Is it ego, validation, or fear? Or is it vision, purpose, and connection? “The leaders who do the inner work are the ones who make better decisions for the long term,” Dave said.
Do a 360: Most startup leaders skip this step, but Dave calls it a game-changer. A well-run 360 gives you unvarnished feedback on how your team experiences your leadership. It’s the mirror you need to grow.
Build emotional fluency: Whether through coaching, group training, or shared language, help your team understand and move through emotions effectively. “It’s not about letting emotions run wild—it’s about building the muscle to feel and move forward with clarity.”
Design with desire in mind: Stop checking boxes on feature requests and start listening like an anthropologist. “What are your customers really longing for? What do they want to feel? That’s the design brief of the future.”
Name and operationalize your values: If you believe that human connection is a differentiator, name it. Build it into hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and product feedback. Don’t leave your culture to chance.
AI Will Do the Math. You Must Make the Meaning.
AI disruption is now. It’s only getting faster, smarter, and more embedded into every part of how we work.
You don’t need to compete with it. You need to evolve with it.
Let AI optimize and automate. But let humans lead with creativity, empathy, connection, and desire. That’s how you future-proof your company—and create a place where people want to show up.
As Dave put it best:
“The next generation of iconic companies will be the ones that awaken something real and human. The future belongs to the companies—and the leaders—who understand that.”
If you’re ready to build that kind of company, start by looking inward. Because in this new era, your greatest influence and impact starts with how you show up.
— Amanda
Ready to rethink how you lead?
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The May cohort is designed for marketing executives and is already half full. Application deadline is April 30th.
Over 3 months, we meet for six live sessions to help you:
Identify your leadership archetype and how you operate at your best
Uncover the reactive patterns and core fears that surface under pressure
Build resilience with neuroscience-backed strategies
Apply insights in a high-trust cohort of executive peers
Learn through AI-driven disruption—tactically and culturally
It’s powerful. It’s personal. And it’s built for the reality you’re leading in right now.
Learn more by visiting Reinvention Lab or hit reply to ask for more information.
Let’s reinvent how we lead—together.
About Dave Hersh
Dave Hersh is the founding CEO of Jive Software, where he scaled the company from an open-source project to IPO. Today, he’s a startup coach, advisor, and author focused on helping founders and CEOs build human-centered companies where people and performance thrive. His first book, Reignition, offers a playbook for transforming stuck startups through deeper human understanding, and his next book explores how companies can harness human desire as their competitive edge in the age of AI. When he’s not advising or acquiring companies, you’ll likely find him running, doing some proper California-style inner work, or being pulled around Sausalito by his Bernedoodle.
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