#4 Weekly Roundup
This email provides you with enough content for the full upcoming week
TRENDS I’M WATCHING
This section is where I’ll share favorite podcasts and youtube content which does a good job of diving into the nuances of important trends
Startup Mistakes: I love recommending podcasts, and Odd Lots is one I can’t recommend enough. This episode however, holds a special place in my heart because it features Stewart Butterfield. Stewart and his team were creating a video game (what some might call in todays jargon, a metaverse) back a decade ago. It wasn’t working, and so they sent a message to their “employee only” messaging system telling the company they needed to meet. You see, they built their own internal messaging system as a way to communicate with their remote team of developers. That meeting resulted in Stewart having to fire essentially the entire company. Except for a core group of founders. They looked around the room wondering what to do next. After brainstorming ideas for a new video game, they all agreed “whatever it is, we’ve got to make sure we use this messaging system again that we built.” 💡AHA! Maybe that was a business in itself… fast forward a decade, and they turned that product into Slack which sold for upwards of $20 Billion to Salesforce. An incredible example of why failure isn’t always fatal, and accidents are the mother of invention.
I studied Stewart for years, trying to draw lessons for my own virtual reality startups so when I saw his name as a featured guest on one of my favorite podcatss, I knew I had to share with you all.
He grew up without electronics, in an isolated community, he thinks very different than the average human and this podcast is a wonderful example of how his brain works. I hope you enjoy if you get a chance to listen.
His story is fascinating to me because it’s an example of a failed startup turned unicorn. Similar to Twitter, who originally failed at building Odeo (a podcasting app), brought their team together for an emergency hackathon, pivoted the entire business over a weekend, and wound up stumbling onto the idea of 140 character tweets.
Censorship & Online Culture: I’ve made it though all 7 chapters and 7+ hours of the J.K. Rowling podcast. I keep asking myself, “why is this so interesting to me?” After finishing, I realized it’s because the podcast is not about JK Rowling, Trans Rights, or Social Equity. Rather, it is about online culture, and how the unfathomable size of these audiences can negatively impact and misconstrue perosnal opinions
“I believe she believes a lot of the same things I do. And I think a lot of what the issue has become is that a lot of what she said is not bigotry in the way bigotry is portrayed sometimes . In that, to my knowledge I strongly believe she has never said anything like I’m better than trans people. But, I think that there was bigotry veiled in what she was saying, or that the things she was saying were reminiscent of bigot ideas. And she expressed what are very reasonable emotions to a platform where they became interpreted as fact, or used to support opinions that are bigoted or un-true or harmful,” says a guest on the podcast who began his transition at age 17.
The story told over this podcast is well researched, featuring hours of interviews from people who are on both sides of this drama. To have 3 hours of JK interviews are special enough given her success as one of the youngest billionaires of all time (though, unlike others, she’s already given the majority of her fortune away to charity). But to also have an equal amount of interviews from people like Natalie who transitioned, it enables the listener to dive deeper into perspectives not heard on Twitter, TV, or other mainstream media.
“I guess the issue is (deep breathe), I feel she came from a reasonable place but I think she’s contributing to the idea that trans people and trans activist are irrational or they’re harming children because she’s overstating,” says Noah continuing his thought.
He explains how it’s nearly impossible to express real feelings to Twitter because the audience is so unfathomably large that it leaves no room for nuanced discussion. Rather, it leads to death threats towards JK and other death related meme’s.
A revived interest in media with ‘depth’: believe the above two stories of McGregor and JK show how important in-depth journalism can be. Without hours of content, and in-person interviews, a persons legacy can be tarnished in a matter of a few tweets. We saw so many celebrities get canceled over the last few years, where the surface level story was enough to convince people of their evils. But as citizens lose trust in mainstream media, there seems to be a trend emerging where the details matter.
Mental Health: Here’s an interesting interview where the guest touches on “Distress vs Eustress. ”
🔸 Distress: Negative or harmful stress causing anxiety, discomfort, and feeling overwhelmed.
🔸 Eustress: Positive or beneficial stress that motivates, energizes, and enhances performance.
While ‘distress’ can lead to health issues like burnout and depression. ‘Eustress’ can lead to personal growth.
The main difference being the prior are when you worry about things you can’t control, and the latter is when you worry about things within your control
Tip of the day: are you stressed right now? It’s important to recognize and manage your category of stress. Then minimize distress levels, and maximize the benefits of eustress. 😊🌟
Global Economy: The Fed skipped a rate hike today, but predicted more in the future. Stocks are largely unchanged, un-employment remains relatively low, and core inflation is stuck around 4% (2X our target).
Not only is the macro thriving, but US household net worth rose by more than $3 trillion in the first quarter.
• This was the largest increase since Q4 2021.
The rise was due largely to an increase in the value of equity holdings, which rose ~ $2.4 trillion over the period
• Those gains more than offset a ~$617 billion drop in real estate values.
• Consumer credit, meanwhile, rose at the slowest pace in 2 years, rising by an annualized 4.3%.
But not is all great, applications for unemployment benefits surged by the most in nearly 2 years last week, rising to the highest level since October 2021. And Initial jobless claims jumped to 261,000, well above the 235,000 consensus forecast.
In parallel, to a (slowly) slowing economy, Americans owe nearly $1 trillion in credit card debt.
The smarts-in-the-room predicted a solid H1 2024, but a slowing H2. The table seems to being set for this exact scenario at the moment. Although, an increased conversation of “soft landing” has muddied the waters.
IDEAS I’M BUILDING
This section is where I”ll share what ideas I’m working on, they could be anything
+ Joined the Cranbrook Institute of Science Board of Governors. This is one of the premier science institutes in the world. I’m excited to help bring a AR/VR, Tech, and online marketing perspective.
Our current exhibit dives into the history of Trilobites. This exhibit presents these fine Paleozoic creatures in a way that tells a story of the prehistoric life in the ancient seas. The collection assembled over 35 years provides a unique snapshot of life in the ancient seas from 250 to 500 million years ago.
+ Preparing to launch our Kickstarter campaign next week. I’m nervous as KS requires a lot of luck. We hope to hit our target of $25K within the first two weeks.
+I’m in talks to lead a 2 year long development project for a tech product which leverages strong global IP. This would include fundraising, hiring the dev team, overseeing product dev, and leading marketing deployment to drive first year sales. Keeping fingers crossed 🤞