The Connection Newsletter 50 - Believe

The Connection Newsletter 50 - Believe

April 08, 2019

Hello!

This is edition #50 of

The Connection

, the weekly email I send family, friends, and future friends.

We’ve made it to our 50th newsletter, which is hard for me to believe. Thanks so much for continuing to open, read and share this weekly email.

Reading your responses, hearing about your own life updates, and finding out you shared this with others really means the world to mean. I appreciate it, and if there’s ever anything I can do to help you, please  let me know.

(Want less email? No problem, you can unsub at the bottom. We'll still be friends.) 

Make sure to hit "Display Images" above to see puppy pics. 

As a childhood hobby, Fred Gavin (pseudonym) tracked down the unlisted addresses of celebrities -- and sent them mail asking for autographs. He was the FTC’s secret weapon in catching the Robocall King.

This article felt particularly relevant with the recent deluge of robocalls claiming that “your social security has been suspended” (hint:

).

"Hoping he might get lucky and receive one of the robocalls himself, Garvin began answering every suspicious call and spoofed number that lit up his cell phone. He heard dubious alerts about student loan forgiveness, unclaimed lottery windfalls, and tax debt. “I was the only person you will ever meet who was excited to receive a robocall,” he says. He was getting several a day and answering as many as he could, all the while hoping for one that would lead back to the TripAdvisor scam.”

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An excellent profile on how Kris Jenner architected her family’s fame and success on the foundation of the

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

show, which she pitched as a “modern-day

Brady Bunch.

”

“With their glammed up mix of high-low culture (i.e. driving a Bentley but eating Chipotle), it has since become a kind of infomercial for the Kardashian Industrial Complex. And, regardless of what you think of what the Kardashians are selling, their never-ending hustle is an undeniable lesson in female entrepreneurship. In the first episode of the new season, Kim and Kylie discuss the packaging for Kylie Cosmetics. Later this season, we’ll see Khloé balancing new motherhood with her work with Good American (co-founded with Emma Grede) and Kourtney putting the finishing touches on Poosh. “I could’ve created anything, but if they don’t show up, or you’ve got a couple weak links, it could’ve been a disaster,” said Kris Jenner.”

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I spend most of my time reading about the startup scene in the states (centered around San Francisco and in distant second, New York City) or Hollywood (Los Angeles).

Then you read a story like this and you’re reminded of the scale and density of countries like China and India, which makes these cities feel like a drop in the ocean.

“The math, and Meituan’s potential, can be dizzying. China’s urban areas have 2,426 people per square kilometer (6,283 per square mile), almost eight times the comparable U.S. population density. While the U.S. has 10 cities with 1 million or more people, China has 156. Deliveries in China cost about $1, compared with $5 in the U.S., iResearch says. Meituan retained about 63 percent of the country’s meal delivery market at the end of 2018, according to Bernstein Research, even as Alibaba spent billions over the previous several years to capture most of the rest.”

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Wish is the most downloaded shopping app worldwide in 2018 and is now the third-biggest e-commerce marketplace in the U.S. by sales.

The takeaway: No matter how saturated the market or how dominant a single player in that market is (e.g. Amazon in ecommerce), if you find the right niche (low-cost, low quality items) and dominate the right channel (Facebook Ads) you can find a leverage point.

“While Amazon keeps adding features like streaming video and two-hour delivery to yoke customers to its Prime membership service, (Wish CEO) Szulczewski doesn’t worry much about quick delivery or quality. Wish sweaters cost $2 plus $2 shipping, Apple Watch knockoffs go for $9 (plus $3 shipping) and Android smartphones list for $27. Products can take weeks to arrive. Shoppers scroll through an average 600 to 700 items, hypnotized by a pixelated parade of weird and wacky products that scratches the same visual itch as an Instagram feed. Around 80% of Wish’s first-time customers will return to buy a second time.”

---

I’ve added this “Zero-based budgeting” strategy to my growing list of tools and frameworks for managing my finances (along with having an

and doing a

).

Basically, at least once a year you start from scratch, look at your credit card statement, and ask yourself, “Is this worth it?”

Think of it a Konmari’ing for your money.

“So, start at zero, and then ask yourself, “Would I add DirectTV for $3,000 today?”  For many of us, the answer to the question is different if you are continuing a service, or initiating a new purchase.  In behavioral finance this is called the endowment effect, where people ascribe more value to things simply because they own them.  But if you didn’t own that Big Green Egg, would you buy it again? (Another way to do this is to cancel your credit cards so that any recurring services have to be repurchased.)”

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Way harsh, Tai.

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Awesome productivity tool. I started using this app to quickly maximize and organize windows across multiple screens. Free.

Thanks for reading!

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