A Concept Of A Plan, Distribution Risk, and 63 Is The New 58 - Sunday Reads And Listens

I am on Coronado for a few days before a long road trip.

The cycling and vibe of Aspen of course was fantastic. One great buy for cyclists I can’t reco enough are the DMT Pogi Road shoes.

I am going to Josh Brown’s Future Proof festival Monday and Tuesday up the coast with my partners to meet a bunch of RIA’s, say hello to my friends Josh and his crew and help our fintech/wealthtech portfolio companies find customers. If you are headed there hit me up.

From there it is New York, Amsterdam and my regular week with pals on the bike in Europe (this year near Venice).

Also I turn 59 years old on Tuesday. I had a great 58th and am excited for the year ahead. Something I have been doing this year when I get asked my age is to say I am 63. I settled on this age because telling people I am 63 creates a discussion. People tell me I look great. Howard…tell me your secrets! While inside I feel like a teen and am as silly as ever, my body creaks like a 60 year old and telling people I am 58 never gets the attention I think all my hard work at fitness deserves. The late 50’s are a dead zone age. It has been a fun attention lifehack/experiment.

Onward…

I did not listen to the debate, but nearly 70 million people did (I think that is a good thing).

The best thing about the debate was I discovered Jordan Klepper on Comedy Central. I have not watched The Daily show regularly in years but Jordan is so funny and unique in his delivery. I am a fan now.

My plan or ‘concept of a plan’ was to just open my laptop (I do not use mobile notifications for apps or news) to check Stocktwits and Twitter and see how the markets were reacting as well as what the people dug in on both sides were complaining about on Twitter.

I walked into a restaurant to meet my friends and the ‘debate’ was on at the bar and the close captioning was rolling across the screen with ‘they are eating dogs’. I assumed the close captioning guy at whatever network the restaurant was tuned to was just having a good old time typing whatever the hell he wanted. That is what I would do if I had that job.

A few other things stood out re the debate now that enough time has passed…

I doubt Taylor Swift was planning to publicly announce who she was going to vote for because who in their right mind would want the mob of Trump unleashed on them and possibly her fans. Sure enough this morning from Trump:

Also…The softball ‘healthcare’ question to Trump was something he should have been prepared for. Instead he told us he has ‘concepts of a plan’:

As a founder, CEO and full-time investor I am pretty sick of the sloppiness I see on a day to day basis.

Athleisure, technology, social media, algos, Covid, ZIRP, poor leadership and bad role models of course have contributed to this sloppy, lack of preparedness but it is no excuse. There is no excuse for not being prepared for big moments and having a plan.

Some other reads and listens this week:

My friend Greg had my favorite insight, something I have been saying for a few years now here that marketing, distribution and building a business faster are the keys to startup success:

Distribution risk means that every software company is overvalued , especially those at seed and later stages (pre public). Too many software engineers from the social media boom, just like too many MBA’s before them and not enough people that can get shit done in marketing and growing a business first.

Conan and Jeff Bridges (I am looking forward to watching Jeff’s show ‘The Older Man’ on HULU).

The best AI explanation for business I have heard comes from Bret Taylor. You will enjoy it is a must listen for founders and startups.

The best of ‘Trends With Friends’ this week. It is free to subscribe.

The IDF’s hero of Khan Younis and destroyer of Hamas Tunnels.

Ok…off or a hike with Ellen.

Have a great Sunday.