Sunday Reads and Listens - Two Words On My Mind...Endurance and Modern.

Good morning from Hurricane Alley here in Coronado.

It is 7:51 AM PST here and Ellen, Lindzee and I are hunkered down in our home. The rain and wind are just starting. My friends here on the island tell me this winter had storms that were much worse than they expect for Coronado today… so we are hoping they have done their homework and are correct.

I have two words on my mind a lot these days… ‘Endurance’ and ‘Modern’.

I may be a ‘degenerate’ but I am a ‘modern degenerate’.

I believe there is a difference between old luxury and modern luxury.

I really like the words as they relate to my career as an entrepreneur and investor and to how I think about family, fitness and now ageing.

I hear the word suffering a lot in the fitness and investing world and it is not for me. It is too narrow a category and I do not really relate to the word…luckily. Same with the word contemporary.

In the spirit of endurance and modern living, I am settling in to some new workflows and habits after a few years of flux and uncertainty in the investing world - COVID, valuation compression, higher interest rates and trend changes.

Max and Rachel are out of the house and doing great on their own…but welcome home anytime.

We have two ‘modern’ homes now (Phoenix and Coronado) with comfortable home work spaces and a simple Social Leverage office in Scottsdale.

Ellen has been working again and travels back and forth between Coronado and Phoenix more than I need/have to.

I am saying ‘I don’t know’ a lot more than ever right now.

Is living in email the right way to work when I work?

How much travel and face to face is the right amount?

Is changing how I think about seed investing and my areas of focus the right thing to do?

What are the best ways to immerse yourself in new passions and trends?

I am trusting my instincts as always and focused on my passions which I am so lucky and grateful to have both the spirit and time and luxury to pursue.

I have made a lot of changes in my Twitter and Stocktwits follows, YouTube subscriptions and my reading lists. I am going to be tracking all this on a ‘Notion’ web page Ethan and I created and you can find at the top of my blog 

I don’t know the rules for the life I am living these days. I assume there are none and am trying not to just set my own pace and not put too much pressure on myself.

Onward…to a few reads and listens in the spirit of today’s post…

My pal Jim O’Shaughnessy has a daily ‘Two Thoughts’ newsletter that goes with his awesome and brainy ‘Infinite Loops’ podcast. These two from this week really hit home in a great way:

Lenny has a very modern and popular newsletter and podcast for entrepreneurs. I am going to listen to this one with Camille Hearst at Spotify on ‘monetizing passions’ and ‘scaling marketplaces’.

I asked my friend Jordan for his favorite cycling follows on Twitter and he shared this list:

For the ‘modern degenerate’, a reader of my blog Jim shared this weekly newsletter on ‘sports betting and emerging verticals’ with me this morning from gambling industry insiders Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

Finally, this really excellent short essay titled ‘Becoming A Magician’ that hit home …

_{So, in short, a helpful strategy for becoming a magician: Surround yourself with people who look like magicians to you. Then imagine yourself as one, older and wiser, in great detail.}

_{Have a great Sunday!}