The Line Between Progress and Overreach By Mark Evans MBA Founder 360 Strategy, Aka Rogue Entrepreneur Previous article referenced: “The Truth About the AI Bubble: A Perez–Azhar Playbook for Business Leaders” — https://www.360strategy.co.uk/post/the-truth-about-the-ai-bubble-a-perez-azhar-playbook-for-business-leaders Howard Marks chose his moment carefully. On the 9th December 2025 he published a memo titled Is It a Bubble?  for Oaktree Capital’s clients and the wider inves

he business that got you to where you are now? It's built on compromises you stopped noticing years ago. These aren't the obvious problems that slap you in the face. They're structural bleeds that look fine on paper but they're quietly eating into your margin, destroying your team's trust, and making it impossible to scale properly.

Heading into 2026, any business still caught in this extended experimentation phase should treat itself as officially behind. The window to establish structural competitive advantages is closing. Future success depends less on chasing the latest model and much more on adopting a systemic, enterprise-wide approach.