Welcome to all of the new Crashing Up family members who’ve joined since Monday. If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed, make sure to do so here.
Hi friends,
Hope you’re all hanging in there. Here’s a much needed distraction: your weekly boost of Friday Fuel, a collection of things that I’ve been learning from or enjoying recently.
🎙️Friday Features
This week I sat down with the founding team of OthersideAI, Matt Shumer, Jason Kuperberg and Miles Feldstein. OthersideAI is a company using high-level artificial intelligence to help you spend less time on your inbox and more time on the things that matter. If this sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve shared one of the demos in an earlier edition of Friday Fuel.
If you haven’t heard of them, take a look at this GIF. It’s magic.
In just over three months, they’ve garnered over a million views of their demos, generated a waitlist with over 8,000 people, been featured in press such as The New York Times, Fortune, and Wired, and have raised capital from a slew of top VCs and angels.
🎧 To listen to us chat about the future of communication tools, artificial intelligence, hyper-growth and and first-time fundraising, click the play button on the audio player at the top of this email. If this gives you an error, click here to listen.
Note: This is an issue that I’ve raised with Substack and is currently being resolved.
Like what you’ve heard and want to start spending less time on emails? Sign up for the OthersideAI waitlist here.
📕What I’ve Been Reading:
I strongly believe that learning from people’s failures is more beneficial than studying their successes which is why it’s a shame that so few people are comfortable sharing stories of times they’ve come up short. Although mass media uses negative news to drive clicks, we very rarely get the full story, often only hearing quotes pulled from vague press releases. However, every once in a while you come across special people who have the humility and courage to acknowledge their missteps and share them with the world in an effort to stop others from making the same mistakes they did.
This blog post from Sahil Lavingia, the founder of Gumroad, gives an inside look on the years of failure and wrong turns that he’s encountered on his road to building an ultimately successful multimillion-dollar business. With great humility and transparency, he shares the story of how he quit his job as the second employee at Pinterest (before his stock vested…) to start his billion-dollar idea. From stories of below expected growth, mass layoffs, and tough realizations, Sahil’s post offers invaluable advice for founders of all ages and experience levels.
🎧What I’ve Been Listening To:
My First Million by the Hustle is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts. In this episode, hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri share the floor with Elaine Zelby, the Principal and Director of Growth at SignalFire. Unlike some investors whose main talents lie in finance, Elaine is filled to the brim with energy, creativity, and crazy business ideas, many of which she breaks down further on the show. By the end of the episode, my creative juices and entrepreneurial spirit were in full force. If you’re someone who loves conceptualizing new businesses, I’d highly recommend giving it a listen here.
🤯What’s Blown My Mind Part One:
Part of the beauty of TikTok is that anyone can go viral in an instant. More so than other platforms, TikTok has berthed hundreds of new creators over the last year, shining light on how far you can go with a camera and some creativity.
In the video below (click into the tweet to view), one user made a Mustang commercial from his bedroom, using only a camera, Final Cut Pro and a toy car. Pretty damn impressive.
To see a full video of how this commercial came to life, click here.
🤯What’s Blown My Mind Part Two:
The tweet says it all. Baffling.
🧵A Quote I’ve Enjoyed -
“Impatience with actions, patience with results” - Naval Ravikant
That’s it for this week but before I go, I have an ask. I’m looking to create video content, but need a webcam. I’m currently 0 for 2 on ones I’ve bought and returned, and would love if you sent me any suggestions you may have on on cams, lighting equipment or any other setup ideas. Much appreciated!
Enjoyed today’s newsletter? Let me know by clicking one of the three links below. If you know an ambitious friend, family member or co-worker who you think would enjoy, I’d love it if you passed it along.
Thanks for reading and see you on Monday,
Randy
Friday Fuel - November 6th, 2020