When I grew up on the East Coast, August was still summer, but here on the West Coast the kids start school so early! Anyways, some July URLs for you.
Salty, Buttery, Astonishingly Lucrative: The $100 Million Market of Popcorn Buckets [Nicole Sperling/New York Times] – I don’t go to movies often and I rarely eat popcorn but the fanboy side of me throbbed a bit looking at these increasingly ornate (and sometimes weird) ‘collectibles.’
The Fun Shortage Is Real, and It’s Making America Miserable [Ben Steverman/Businessweek] – Oh this is a great read that has a bunch of interesting observations/questions about the decrease of affordable public recreational activities. Obviously some of this is nostalgic love for the chosen venues of past generations, but it’s also, um, not wrong? K-Shaped Recovery moment too – with upscale pricing going through the roof and funding for municipal spaces falling in urban and low income communities.
The Kool-Aid Must Flow [early days] – The authors (Camille and Brie) make the case that the importance of standing for something as a startup is greater than ever. Note, they’re not evangelizing for a particular set of values, nor are they suggesting ‘being controversial/noisy’ for its own sake. Rather they’re talking about core beliefs that are consistent, interesting, and articulated well enough to create a gravitational pull. They also include a set of tactics for ‘getting the Kool-Aid flowing.’
I make good money. Why do I still feel like this? [Hanna Horvath/Your Brain on Money] – Especially during periods of economic mania [aka current state of AI investing/startups in tech], having a good handle on your own attitudes about money/wealth is really important. Otherwise you, at the very least, walk around anxious and unsure, let alone unmoored (which can result in poor short-term decisions). Hanna here makes the case that we’re experience an unmooring; that the middle class itself was the result of a policy experiment, not a permanent aspect of American capitalism. And its shrinking (disappearance?) results in a sense of precariousness with ones position as the country sorts into Have So Much and Never Have Enough.
The Hunt for the Counterfeiter Trying to Make the Perfect Bill [Yudhijit Bhattacharjee/New York Times] – Guess where the best counterfeiter of the US $50 bill hails from…. Russia? China? North Korea? The US itself? Until recently the answer may have been Columbia.
It was clear that Rodriguez took pride in his work as an artist. “He wanted to make the perfect bill,” Prieto said. Trying to design a flawless bank note, he told investigators, was a passion that helped him relax.
How One Man Makes Millions Selling Coins Live on the Internet [Dalvin Brown/Wall Street Journal] – “I’m just here selling coins,” Bergstrom said, “but also being people’s therapist.” With platforms like Whatnot, every collectible category feels like it has exploded – if not in total volume, at least in what the whales can do. “The coin-selling category ranked third by sales volume [on Whatnot] over the past six months, according to Resellbot, an e-commerce analytics firm.”
Enjoy your weekend!
My friends have saved $13,000+ since I posted this link!
Someone told me this was jarring to see on a VC blog – what am I shilling for an Junova? Well, I’m not being paid and I’m not an investor in the product. I just think it’s brilliant and effective and I like the idea of using AI to “fight” against big business pricing models. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tip DON’T LET AIRLINES RIP YOU OFF ESPECIALLY AS OIL PRICES CLIMB: I’m using Junova to track purchased airline tickets and auto-reclaim credit if the price drops. It was started by a friend and so far has recouped $3000+ of American and United credits for me. Their business model is: service is no cost, but if they successfully get you credit, they charge 20% of the value to your credit card. If you use this referral link, your first $25 of fees (ie $125 of flight credit) is free. Let me know how it works for you!
Recent savings
My total to date
