# Opening feedback: "Token Math"

## The strongest idea
Every's CEO uses **more than three times as many tokens as the next-highest user**, and he doesn't think he should cut back. He thinks everyone else might be under-spending. That flips the usual rule that the biggest spender at a company reins themselves in, and it's the most surprising thing in the piece. The rest of the draft supports it: spend big on experiments, then do the token math (what it cost, what it bought, what you learned). Randy's 4.5-billion-token face is the proof. Right now the hed and dek don't use any of this.

## Headline
**Problem:** "Token Math" is a label, not a claim. It would work as a section or kicker line, but it doesn't give a reader a reason to open the email. The alt, "How Many Tokens are Too Many?", asks a question the piece never answers with a number. It also has a capitalization slip ("are" should be "Are").

**Suggested replacements** (first one recommended):
1. **Our CEO Thinks We're Not Spending Enough on AI**. Bold and specific, and "thinks" keeps his view as an opinion, not a mandate.
2. **Spend the Tokens, Then Do the Math**. States the thesis and keeps the "token math" branding.
3. **Why Our CEO Wants Us to Use More Tokens**
4. For a hook built on the anecdote: **4.5 Billion Tokens, One Janky 3D Face**. It's catchy, but it only covers one section, so it's better as a subhead or social line.

I'd avoid "burn" in the hed ("burn more tokens"). The body says clearly that "the goal isn't tokenmaxxing," and "burn" suggests exactly the waste the piece argues against.

## Dek
**Problem:** "What's the ROI on experimentation?" is a second abstract question in a row, so neither the hed nor the dek makes a claim. The alt dek is more concrete, but "rein your tokenmaxxing in" works against the body. The piece defines tokenmaxxing as "torching tokens for sport" and says that isn't the goal, so the dek shouldn't imply readers are doing it.

**Suggested replacements** (pair with hed #1 or #2):
- **Dan Shipper uses more than three times as many tokens as anyone else at Every. He wants the rest of the team to experiment bigger, and then account for what they got back.**
- **Expensive AI experiments can pay off, even when they fail. Here's how Every decides what's worth the spend, and what a 4.5-billion-token flop taught us.**

## Opening paragraph
**Problems:**
- **The first sentence is weak.** "Often if you are the highest spender at your company you might think about…" stacks hedges ("often," "might think about"), is missing a comma after "company," and starts with a generic hypothetical before the real news.
- **The best fact comes third.** The 3x gap should lead.
- **The claim is a bit loose.** The screenshot is "Every's OpenAI token leaderboard." If the 3x figure only covers OpenAI usage, say "OpenAI tokens" so the claim stays accurate. (I'm assuming it's OpenAI-only. If it covers every provider, cut "OpenAI.")

**Suggested replacement** (keeps "more than three times," "next-highest user," "consider," and the "wondering whether" hedge):

> Dan Shipper uses more than three times as many OpenAI tokens as the next-highest user at Every. Most people at the top of their company's spending leaderboard would take that as a sign to rein themselves in. Every's CEO takes it as a question for everyone else: Are we being ambitious enough with AI? He thinks the rest of us should consider ramping up.

**Tighter alternative:**

> Dan Shipper uses more than three times as many OpenAI tokens as anyone else at Every, and he's not planning to cut back. Instead, the gap has Every's CEO wondering whether the rest of us are being ambitious enough with AI.

Both versions lead into the next paragraph, "The goal isn't tokenmaxxing…", which then qualifies the bold opening the way house style intends.

## Quick summary
- **Hed:** Make the CEO's view the claim ("Our CEO Thinks We're Not Spending Enough on AI"). Keep "Token Math" as a section name or kicker.
- **Dek:** Put the 3x fact or the "experiment, then account for it" thesis here. Drop the question and the word "tokenmaxxing."
- **Lede:** Open with the 3x number, then give the reversal. Specify OpenAI tokens and keep the hedges.