January 2025

WTF is this?

I’m starting a monthly friends newsletter. At least for the year of 2025 and you are receiving this because we are at least friendly to some level.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Today I’ll share my word of the year, content that has recently inspired me and highlight cool things other friends are doing

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What word can you live by this year?‍

Pick a word of the year. I heard Jesse Itzler talk about this before and stuck to it because I need straightforward goals for my simple mind.

Last year my word was love because I was ready to get engaged (proposed Labor Day weekend!!) and needed to work through some relationships including personal and professional.

In 2025 my word is going to be balance.

Previously I’ve questioned my motor and now it’s become obvious the motor is there, I just need to get it under control. So a balance in the work projects I have, balance of how much I am on my phone and managing my overall health.

Try picking a word that will sustain through the year and something you can reflect on to guide you along the way.

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Content

In 2024 I completed my full arc as a podcast bro. This is when a bro puts Joe Rogan and Barstool Sports behind him and starts to hand pick episodes with certain guests. 99% of podcasts are empty of any real takeaways.

But recently I have really been digging episodes where some of the best leaders in tech and business share thoughts about ecosystems they exist in.

Typical process for me is see a clip on social > find full podcast > listen to it on a walk.‍

Getting Leverage with Dharmesh Shah on My First Million Podcast‍

These guys have good rapport so they skip most of the back story BS that consumes too many podcasts and jump right into the juicy stuff. The key take away is how to create leverage so that time can work better for you.

Dharmesh’s example is he reads a lot. I don’t discredit it, but this is the most billionaire thing anyone can say. Ways I have seen leverage used well in more concrete terms:

• Host events - this has worked very well for me. It creates higher leverage ways to connect with people doing cool things and seen it pay off after doing a 4 events this year

• Start a small ecom brand - one of the folks on this list is Daniel Stone. He runs a creative agency and to highlight his team’s skills they created Roasty Buds. They have now tested several channels and can even more confidently provide those to clients

• Create content - if you have been dragging your feet, make this the year where you make things more consistently. Post on your favorite platform more, start a friends newsletter ( 👋 ). People will notice and opportunities will follow

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

My favorite book I read this year and heck I didn’t even finish it. The first half hammers in how to see life as a series of bets and the second half follows up with examples.

‍Annie Duke has an epic life of applied math. Also makes for an easy audiobook. (BTW I recently learned you get one full audiobook per month with Spotify Premium)

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket by Blink-182

Obviously not recent, but somehow this album has aged better than others. They’re back on tour as they cash out their final ounce of rock popularity and soon enter the Rock Hall of Fame. Go jam to it and get some shit done.

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Cool Things Friends are Working On

• Griffin Holcomb works with a range of brands designing custom merch, like these socks his team made for Shirttail Creek Farm‍

• Brian Sierakowski is in the early stages of Changebot, a software that makes it easier for developers to create marketing material around product updates

• Ryan and Seyoung Kulp launched Hacker House an hour outside of Atlanta, a micro hacking retreat to go focus on getting work done

• Roberto Castro and his team at Captech have been behind the scenes launching TGL which I’m bullish on in 2025. Normal golf kinda sucks now.

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If you’re working on something and want me to do a shout out next month to promote, let me know I’ll be happy to do so.

I posted a bunch of pics from my year on Instagram and still tweet.

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