Episode 2 Season 2

CERN for Sale: When Sales Teams Collide with Particle Physics

January 14, 2025 About 21 minutes

Journey with us into the collision point between corporate ambition and fundamental physics, where Brad from Sales attempts to corner the market on quarks through aggressive market penetration strategies. Watch in horror as PowerPoint meets particle acceleration, and discover why some forces of nature can’t be disrupted, no matter how many buzzwords you throw at them.

Warning: Any attempt to monetize fundamental forces without proper licensing from the laws of physics will result in immediate quantum decoherence.

The Great Collision

In the fluorescent-lit reality of Quantum Dynamics Inc., Brad from Sales has discovered an untapped market opportunity: particle physics without a proper marketing strategy. Armed with nothing but a quantum-enabled pitch deck and teeth that gleam with the luminosity of a small supernova, Brad sets out to disrupt CERN’s monopoly on reality itself.

Unfortunately, he’s about to learn that some things can’t be optimized for better quarterly projections - like the speed of light, or the probability of getting everyone to respond to a meeting invite.

Signs Your Sales Team Has Gone Quantum

When your office’s pursuit of synergy crosses into quantum territories, watch for these warning signs: The break room microwave creating miniature black holes (still better than leftover fish), the vending machine accepting CERN grant money, and the IT department referring to printer issues as “anomalies in the Standard Model.” If your sales team starts promising “quantum-enabled growth hacking” or tries to make quarks more business-casual, it may be time for an intervention.

Meeting Notice: The next sales pitch will occur at 40 million collisions per second. Please ensure your slideshow can handle relativistic speeds.

A Brief Guide to Particle Sales

For those brave enough to attempt disrupting fundamental forces, remember these essential tips:

  1. The Strong Nuclear Force is still weaker than office politics
  2. Even the Higgs boson can’t give mass to empty buzzwords
  3. Some things are immutable - like physical constants and printer problems

Breaking News from CERN

While Brad was busy trying to make quarks more business-casual, CERN announced a breakthrough discovery: antihyperhelium-4, a complex form of antimatter consisting of two antiprotons and two antineutrons. In true corporate fashion, our automated response system has already suggested rebranding it as “Diet Helium-4” for better market appeal.

This discovery isn’t just another particle for Brad to try to trademark - it’s a crucial piece in understanding why our universe has a distinct preference for matter over antimatter (much like how the office printer has a distinct preference for jamming during deadlines). By studying these complex antimatter particles, scientists can better understand the fundamental asymmetry that allowed our cosmos to exist in its current form, rather than annihilating itself in the universe’s first few moments.

Note: Any attempts to use antihyperhelium-4 to resolve the office’s matter-antimatter budget discrepancies will be met with both HR intervention and violation of fundamental physics.

Further Reading

  • “Quantum Chromodynamics for Marketers: Why You Can’t Actually Patent the Weak Nuclear Force”
  • “The Standard Model of Business Development: A Cautionary Tale”
  • “CERN’s Guide to Rejecting Corporate Takeover Attempts”

Remember: In the grand collider of corporate life, not every collision produces valuable results - but at least the graphs look impressive in next quarter’s presentation.

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