Friday Fuel - August 21st, 2020
Welcome to all of the new members of the Crashing Up family who’ve joined since last Friday. If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed, make sure to do so here.
Hi friends👋,
Here’s your weekly fix of Friday Fuel, a collection of things that I’ve been learning from or enjoying recently.
📕What I’ve Been Reading - A few weeks ago, I discussed GPT-3 and its potential use cases. Upon the launch of its predecessor, GPT-2, OpenAI refused to release it to the public out of fear of misuse. Although GPT-3 has only been released to a small handful of developers through a private beta, many people have been able to gain access to the model through other avenues. This week, a student at University of California, Berkley used the language generation AI tool to create a set of viral blog posts, one of which charted as the top post on HackerNews. This experiment alone shows the dark side of this tool, as it enables the pouring of fuel onto the already raging fire that is fake news. Blog posts aren’t the only type of writing that GPT-3 has been used to create. Syracuse student Matt Shumer recently launched OthersideAI, a GPT-3 powered tool that helps save you time by writing your emails for you. Since its launch last month, over 3,500 people have signed up to test the app. Want to give it a try? Sign up for the waitlist here.
🤯What’s Blown My Mind -
We now live in a world where playing video games for a living is a realistic and shockingly lucrative career path. Top streamers like Ninja, Shroud, and Summit1g are estimated to be making hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. This is just on streaming and doesn’t take into account brand deals, merchandise sales, platform partnerships, etc. Yet, few people realize how hard it is to break into this industry and build a following on Twitch or other streaming platforms. There’s a serious debate over whether being a top e-sports player is a harder feat to attain than being a top athlete of a “real” sport. As crazy as it sounds, it’s a topic I’m definitely willing to entertain. Building and monetizing a following takes serious work and skill, as does training as a high-level athlete. Take a look at this stat:
Which do you think is a harder field to excel in e-sports or real sports? Are e-sports players considered athletes? Send me a reply or leave a comment below. I’m curious to hear what you think.
😃Something to Make You Smile - This week, Ryan Renolds’ gin company Aviation Gin was acquired in a deal said to be worth $610 million. Part of Ryan’s payout will be delivered in the form of an “earn out,” a compensation structure where the sellers earn money based on the performance of the acquired entity. If this is your first time hearing this term, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in some good company. Apparently this was also a new concept to Ryan, who addressed this in his recent auto-reply out of office email.
Yes, this is real. I can’t believe it either.
📈A Story I Enjoyed -
With flashy, overvalued venture-backed tech companies taking over media headlines, we often forget how many billion dollar businesses exist outside of Silicon Valley or NYC. Take ABC Supply, a $10 billion, family owned roofing business. It’s not the sexiest industry, but damn is it profitable. If you want to learn more about its story, check out the thread below.
My favorite part?
Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a handful of very successful entrepreneurs. The one constant piece of advice I’ve received? Treat everyone with respect, regardless of their job title. Making sure that all ideas are heard and considered equally is a large part of this effort.
That’s it for this week. I’ll be spending my weekend recovering from the heartbreak of the Knicks getting statistically screwed in yet another NBA draft lottery. I’d blame it on 2020, but at the same time this might be the only normal thing that’s happened this year. If you want to cheer me up, please consider sharing Crashing Up with a group of your smartest friends and giving this post a “like” by clicking the heart at the top of the email. This lets me and Substack know that you’re digging my content.
If you’re new here and are looking to catch up on some old editions, here are a couple of my favorites: Live from the Bubble and The Grand Reopening.
See you on Monday,
Randy