Morning y'all! True story: I broke my nose playing hoops 2 weeks ago. I went in *THREE* times to get it reset and chickened out each time. Now I'm past the time threshold for the in-office procedure and have two options: (a) $6,700 surgery or (b) live with it. Heavy lean on option b...

The links

1. Making collectibles out of sports highlights

2. The breakout startup of 2020

3. Tiny tweaks to make your life better (tweet)

4. Putting time in perspective 

5. A great example of borrowing innovation

Thread of the week: deep respect to Ryan for writing this. 

Idea of the week: a "digital tj maxx." I posted this on my IG yesterday but the sparknotes: amazing clothes at amazing prices. Sell brand's overproduced inventory. Benefit: dropship directly from brand's warehouse so you never have to deal with physical inventory. Challenge: unlike amazon where you search for a specific item, what would an online experience look like that recreates the same feeling of surprise+delight you get while browsing at tj's? 

Morning y'all! We just dropped a killer ep w/ the founder of Aether, a startup that takes CO2 from the air and turns it into diamonds. Ryan's story goes from running product @David Yurman -> getting paid off to not jump ship to a competitor -> starting his first co after a bad motorcycle accident -> parlaying his exit into Aether. Worth a listen :) 

The links:

1. AMA with a top onlyfans creator

2. The future of filmmaking 

3. What a rocket launch looks like from space

4. The economics of vending machines

5. What selling your company to Steve Jobs feels like (amazing story)

New ideas: the greatest source of new ideas for me lately has been tiktok. Seeing a behavior or some makeshift hobby and thinking about ways to productize it. Take this kid's "spotify wall" - instead of printing out 85 sheets of paper, could easily be turned into a shopify site -> let someone "customize their poster" w/ favorite artists or albums and have it printed on demand. Or this guy picking out his outfit - it would be cool if all product categories were reviewed in a gamified, NBA 2K way. Could go on for days - so so much inspiration here! 

The links

1. Rules that backfired in a massive way (list)

2. Use Amazon's traffic to drive DTC sales

3. This is how igloos are made

4. Reinventing high school (more bg here)

5. Turning medical debt into masterpieces

From the readers: Melissa's friend just launched Voicebar, a new dating app that hand picks a match + sets you up for a phone call. Her pitch: more intimate and creates a better connection than tinder. Check it out!

Idea: FB marketplace for high-value items. Right now, there's a # of places to sell your things: FB marketplace, craigslist, poshmark, offerup, etc. But where do you go to sell a possession of yours that's (a) $1000+ and (b) to people who live nearby? Eureka moment: a friend of ours (late 50s) is moving to CA after living in NYC for 25 years. Has a bunch of expensive stuff (ie art) he "just wants to get rid of." Platform would connect buyers <> sellers, verify users by connecting a bank account and prob one other source of authentication, handle payment, and take a % of the sale. 

The links

1. The 2020 State of Gen z report

2. BK with the genius marketing

3. Industry secrets in different fields (amazing reddit thread) 

4. Dana White bought, then sold the UFC for $4B+ w/o investing any of his own money

5. From a wealth accumulation POV, investing in the stock market is typically a better choice than buying a house

Big news: CA gov just announced every new car sold in the state will be an emission free vehicle by 2035. To put the scale of this in context: electric vehicle share of new car sales in CA was ~6% in the first half of this year. Big moves, Gov Newsom.  

Easy money: the new iOS update just created a big opportunity for people to design and sell custom icons for people's homescreens. Even bigger opp for brands to make themed packs and get a bunch of free advertising.

The links

1. Origin story of the Oxford English dictionary

2. Free money for startups

3. Clever product design to incentivize re-orders

4. Top 10 unusual pro athlete contract clauses

5. Remarkable article about how Chuck Feeney gave away $8B, leaving him + his wife w/ ~$2M

The hell ya framework: saw this the other day.  If you don’t 110% wanna do something (HELL YA!), then it’s a no. 

Idea (SOS): so tori and I live in this tiny apt. Which means, there aren't many places to put things. I also hoop 5-6x/week, so my laundry does not smell good. at all haha...  you know those deodorant balls you put in shoes? is there something like that for laundry?? 

Morning! My pals @Impact Snacks just launched a kickstarter for their new superfood snack. Delicious and innovative. I'll let them do the convincing tho :) Let's jump into this week's links:

1. Spotting $B startups before anyone else

2. Africa is huge

3. The house that folds + unfolds in 10 min

4. Quick fun story

5. Swedish House Mafia making one of the most successful songs of the last decade (2 min vid)

Interesting framework: if you turn a boring product into a fun product in a big market, you'll win big. Robinhood transformed stock trading into a video game. What industries are ready to be more fun?

Thinking: apartment vacancies hit record highs. What can we do to re-purpose and utilize 1,000s of empty units? 

Happy friday y'all! We just launched the first expansion pack for INCO. If you own and enjoyed the OG, you'll like fresh phrases :)

The links

1. How MSCHF is dominating the internet

2. Paid local newsletters for the win

3. The Recess x Poolside collab is cool

4. Airbnb getting to "ramen profitability"

5. What happened in 1971 that caused so many trends to abruptly change course?

Life hack: never type your email in again.

Observation: my sister just started working for instacart as a shopper. It's kinda like Uber Eats, except more frustrating. She has to weave through aisles, wait behind other shoppers, and pick up items one by one, while Bob @ubereats picks up the order pile and heads out in secs. Restaurants have evolved w/ the times - to-go counters and branded pick up areas tailored to Uber Eats, Grubhub etc. Grocery hasn't changed at all to accommodate. There's a # of opps here - from helping grocers rethink how they accommodate "to-go" workflows to (more ambitiously) creating a new chain of grocery designed specifically for pick up/delivery and the broader online grocery trend.

The links

1. Barbara Corcoran being a boss

2. First versions of every popular website

3. Who to ignore - 3 BS filters (skip to conclusion)

4. Interesting questions worth pondering

5. What's the most important US law that seemed really insignificant when originally passed? (thread)

Pretty neat: How U Arizona staff found a COVID outbreak on campus before it happened. Hint: 💩

Food for thought: 49 million people in the US go fishing/year. More people go fishing than biking (47.5M bikers). Fishing is more than 2x as popular as golf (24M golfers). Fishbrain has raised ~$28M and has millions of users posting catches, sharing spots, and buying gear on their "facebook for fishers" app. An interesting framework to think through is: what passionate community is underserved by the everything network (facebook) and deserves its "own facebook?" There's Strava for cyclers/hikers. What about hunting - where people can post their kills // buy gear? New moms? What other communities need their own home?

Happy Fri y'all! I'm working on a new game - more info to come soon, but hint: it has to do with dares   What's the best dare or "odds" you've done with your friends?

The links

1. Myspace as a resume (clever/nostalgic)

2. David dobrik is hiring for his startup

3. A new messaging app that works like a canvas

4. Airbnb for cloud kitchens 

5. Which businesses are bouncing back

Today I learned: the USPS makes $20B/year (29% of total rev) from junk mail

Wonderball for X: some of the biggest businesses are built by giving life (human-like characteristics) to inanimate objects. Think the Cars franchise, Spongebob, even the OG Wonderball - wrapping a chocolate ball in colorful imagery with characters kids loved. What are some other objects that could use a personality lift? Could you do this for fruits or other foods to push kids to healthier eating

Hey y'all! Fun week over here - we're prepping a big app launch for Incohearent. Meanwhile the mrs. and I are moving to a new apt tomorrow AM and I've gotta start packing... 

The links

1. Oat milk is the new Coke 

2. This is how whales sleep

3. Obesity correlated with political corruption

4. New dog food brand just launched and the packaging is fantastic

5. Making sugar taste sweeter so food co's don't need to add as much in their recipes (so neat)

Creativity lies in limitation: check this thread on Noma (4x World's Best Restaurant) and the genius behind the scenes. Constraints in sourcing led Rene + team to this: "...plucking grass from rotten seaweed to find it tastes like coriander or biting into ants to find they taste just like lemons."

New ATF coming in hot!

The links:

1. Traffic lights and poles

2. How a family feud led to Adidas + Puma

3. Interesting sources for startup ideas

4. Tag bombing, a clever way to talk to VIPs, and more 

5. Folder of subpoenaed files from last week's congressional hearings

Opportunities: what's the worst software you use on a regular basis as part of your job? 

Idea of the week: I've been thinking a lot about meditation recently. Headspace/Calm seem to be good businesses, but I imagine they have pretty high churn (user tries it a few times then falls off). I certainly fall into this bucket. Active meditation feels like it could be the V2 in this category- an app + physical movement, like bonsai, that works based on focused activity vs focused stillness. 

Morning fam! Fun lil milestone: my podcast In Good Hands just passed the 15k subscriber mark. If you're a How I Built This fan + interested in hearing from founders taking on climate, you should give it a listen :) My fave ep is this recent convo w/ Lilium - the startup that's raised ~$400M to pioneer electric air travel. 

The links:

1. This Nike commercial.

2. The great FB acquiring IG email thread

3. Creativity is intelligence having fun.

4. Building a $6k/mo newsletter in <1 month

5. If you're gonna start something of your own, bookmark this link.

Thought: In 2005, Alex Tew (now co founder of Calm) created the Million Dollar Homepage to raise money for school. The page consisted of 1M pixels and he sold ad space for $1 per pixel. It went viral and ultimately made >$1M (backstory here).  What's the 2020 version of this? My bff and I thought of a potential take: "The $1M Mapp" - an app that's a map of the US (or maybe the world) where people could claim an area for some price. What else could work?

Happy friday everyone! 

The links:

1. The fastest, profitable $1B company ever

2. Smartest plays in sports history (7 min vid)

3. What has to happen for you to change your mind?

4. The MLB is getting creative for the 2020 season

5. In the early 1900s, only 5% of Americans brushed their teeth daily. 5 years later it was 80%. Here's why.

Idea of the week: fantasy investing. In a typical year, nothing gets me more fired up for September than fantasy football with my guys. For the next 17 weeks straight, Sundays = redzone  and the days in between = chirping, trades, and research. What would this look like in the world of investing? Everyone could start with $1M of fake money. Pick your bets. Trade stocks. Go head to head to see who can make the most by the end of quarter (season)! I think this would work because it could inherit the same dynamics that make fantasy football great - competition, friends, public data. With some added perks: could happen all year. +win more than bragging rights - build yourself a portfolio that you can show off in interviews, if trying to break into finance, raise a fund etc. 

What's your idea of the week? Would love to hear it!

1. Take a gap year and get $100k to go after an idea

2. Wow - the future coming in hot

3. The company selling luxury products at 90% off 

4. Create the next best mask, win $1M

5. Request for startup: an app to revive acquaintanceship

In case you missed it: this little man is a king.

Opportunity of the week: someone I know is putting together a bid to purchase this 155-acre college campus that's up for auction next month. His vision is to "unbundle" college such that it's priced based on what 18-22 year olds actually want/pay for today. This means: dorms, dining halls, networking, speakers, intramurals. But instead of a standard 4-yr degree that'll set you back $250k, students enroll in an online degree or certification program. For example, this Computer Science program that gets you a certificate from Harvard for $162. Other than that, residents get the best parts of the college experience for a fraction of the cost. 

If this project resonates or someone you know would like to get involved, let me know and I'll connect you! 

1. Clever 

2. How to get ideas for startups

3. Why Mr. Beast will be the first Youtube billionaire

4. Appealing to everyone appeals to no one 

5. How does your body respond to specific foods? Metabolic health will be the next step-tracker

Spotlight: this project is destined to make waves, just like the director's previous doc, What The Health. 

Idea of the week: every morning, I get a notification from Starbucks asking if I want to order my venti iced coffee w/ no syrup + a splash of cream. It knows I've ordered the same thing for the past 4 weeks, and simplifies my morning re-order to 1-tap. Outside of my nyc bubble, most people get their starbs, mc d's dunkins etc via drive thru. Which means there's no app history to pull from to accelerate the process. Every order starts as if we've never been there before. Food chains could install cameras that log our license plate and associate it with our order history. This way, the second we pull thru, the menu or rep could personalize our experience: "Hi Peter, great to have you back again. Same as usual?" 

Afternoon! I'm off the grid for the next few days so getting a little head start on this week's ATF. 

1. Tinder for casual daily investments

2. How to get rid of a headache (sry about the feet)

3. The new twitter for conservatives

4. Blockbuster locations from 1986 to 2019

5. Top performing stocks last 20 years (surprising)

Kinda interesting: This app Notify is launching in a few days that will let people subscribe to their fave creators across youtube, spotify, twitch, IG etc from one app. Can see some value in this, esp since a follow in the native app doesn't guarantee you'll see the content. 

I've been loving: Trivia Royale. It's like HQ trivia meets battle royale. Prob another quick hit idea, but enjoying it at the moment. 

Quick q: what's the newest app you've downloaded you really like? 

1. This is how you tow an iceberg

2. Weighted blanket meets stuffed animals

3. Poop is big business in Senegal

4. How healthcare works in jail

5. The nation’s only retailer of lost luggage

Goldmine: list of leaked internal memos

What I'm thinking about: "streaks" as a retention tactic. Snapchat is a popular example of this with their fire emoji. The underlying thesis in Snap's case is that if they can gamify some behavior that gets you to re-open the app, the likelihood of you scrolling through Stories or Discover goes up (aka they can sell more ads against your attention). The problem with the execution is that it doesn't incentivize productive behavior. My little brother, for ex, will open the app, send a snap of nothing to keep the streak alive, then close the app. I'm interested in the application of streaks as a way to encourage productive behavior. Ie. maybe Headspace could implement their own version of streaks to encourage users to meditate more consistently, and reward the behavior accordingly. 

1. Giving $50k to pursue an idea instead of college
2. What's in a name? (thread)
3. Using electricity to treat chronic disease (6 min video)
4. How gen z is signing yearbooks this year
5. Wiring the first $ into Youtube (original memo)

Worth watching: If you want to be a clear thinker, you can't pay attention to politics. It will destroy your ability to think. (1 min video)

Top of the box office: These filmmakers shot a short horror film over Zoom, rented a theater, bought out every seat & screened it for no audience to get the #1 movie in America

1. The best investment in Canadian history

2. Interesting idea: unbundle the police

3. Where Coca-Cola makes most of its $$ (surprising)

4. Notes from 2016 interview w/ Tiktok (then Musica.ly) founder on "handpicking stars" to make famous, music as "raw material," and more  

5. Never watch the news. You'll live a more peaceful and rich life without it (thread)

Cool tool: share your availability directly in compose view

Today I learned: Snakes are unable to get traction on certain surfaces

1. The next Amazon competitor

2. Steve Jobs on consulting

3. Creating reCAPTCHA + Duolingo (1 hr pod)

4. Cigarettes + the great Aldi/Trader Joe's backstory

5. Harnessing the power of humanity's outliers to develop new therapeutics

Affecting change: 2 min clip from the latest Patriot Act episode.

Idea of the week: Snapple facts, for toilet paper. Huh? IMO, snapple facts is the most under-appreciated design hack in last 20 years of CPG- simple, dopamine triggering, cheap to execute at scale, drives repeat purchases. I think adding fun facts to every ~5th square of toilet paper could be surprisingly delightful + clever way to reduce overall paper use. 

Zoom out and try this framework: where else could you 10x the delight of an every-day, commodity product with fun facts?