Friday Fuel - June 5, 2020
Hi all!
Here is your weekly “Friday Fuel,” a list of what I’ve been enjoying and learning from recently.
📕What I’ve Been Reading: In Monday’s newsletter I briefly mentioned a book that I found very useful for understanding the intersection of technology and business strategy. Swipe to Unlock was written by three previous employees from Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. It covers everything from big “buzz-word” topics like big data, cloud computing, and machine learning, to the specific strategies that companies like Facebook, Spotify, and Airbnb use to stay ahead of the curve. This is a must-read regardless of what industry you work in.
🎧What I’ve Been Listening To: If you know me, you know how much I love Shark Tank. So whenever a Shark pops up on one of my favorite podcasts, I make sure to tune in. A few weeks ago Barbara Corcoran joined Morning Brew’s podcast, “Business Casual,” to share some insights on the future of real estate in a post-COVID world. The episode, which is broken up into parts one and two, covers the current landscape of both residential and commercial real estate and where she sees them heading. With apartment tours at a stand-still and landlords sitting on a surplus of empty units, what does this mean for rent prices? Will the rise of WFH help or hurt the commercial real-estate market?
📺What I’ve Been Watching: Even with live sports on hiatus, the sports card market has been BOOMING. Due in part to Gary Vee’s optimism about the future of sports cards (and their legitimacy as an investment opportunity), prices have surged with classic cards like the Lebron James 2003 Topps Chrome Rookie rising over 300% in just a couple of months. Similar to the sneaker hype that began in 2011 with Jordan Concord XIs drop, a similar trend is starting to form in the world of sports cards. Here’s a great video that breaks down the best brand cards to buy in each sport, the grading process, and some beginner tips to get your feet wet. Like myself, I’m sure many of you have old cards stashed away somewhere. Chances are they won’t be worth much, but who knows what you might be able to find in the depths of your childhood closet. Last year, a woman found an $130,000 Babe Ruth card inside of a piano that she bought at a family estate sale for $25. Safe to say, it’s worth giving that old shoebox a check.
🤯What’s Blown My Mind: In Monday’s newsletter, I covered the concepts of UX and UI. As an aspiring web developer, I often take notice of companies who creatively and thoughtfully use their websites to showcase their product. Enter United Sodas of America. I can’t comment on the taste of these organically sweetened, thirty-calorie soft-drinks, but damn their website is cool. Slap some minimalistic branding on a colorful, matte can and you could realistically get me to drink anything out of it. I don’t want to give anything else away, but it is definitely a site to see. (See what I did there?)
🧠 What I’ve Been Working On: With summer camps closed across the country, many high schoolers are looking for ways to fill their empty schedules. That’s why I’ve put together the INVENT Your Dreams bootcamp, an eight-week summer experience designed to provide high school students with the knowledge, network, and resources needed to take their business ideas from concept to reality, while giving them an advantage in the competitive college admissions process. Through weekly group calls and one on one strategy sessions students will learn about starting and scaling a business from successful entrepreneurs who have generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Know a high schooler looking for summer plans? Refer a friend or parent and if they sign up, I will send you $100 per student.
P.S. - As mentioned before, feedback is always encouraged! I’ve received a lot of great recommendations so far and plan on using them to make this as successful and enjoyable as possible. If you like what you’ve read so far please consider sharing this with friends, family, co-workers etc. It would mean the world.
P.P.S - I changed the sender name to my name (Randy Ginsburg) instead of “Crashing Up” as many people informed me that the first newsletter found it’s way to their spam or promotions folder. If you are receiving this email now and didn’t receive the one on Monday, make sure to check these folders and drag it into your inbox to avoid the same issue going forward!