cookinginthesheets

move the needle

[Restructuring__ @Restructuring__]

Bill Ackman just dropped one of the most comprehensive portfolio updates and new investment overview in years covering 👇

New Investments: Uber

Portfolio Update: Universal Music, Google, Brookfield, Restaurant Brands, Chipotle, Nike, Hilton, Howard Hughes, Canadian Pacific, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

1/n 🧵

[Department of Government Efficiency @DOGE]

Answering the most common question about the Deferred Resignation offer.

Can take the vacation you always wanted, or just watch movies and chill, while receiving your full government pay and benefits.

https://t.co/Dsgt81oPPh
https://t.co/LReG2GQCmz

[Michael Skadberg @mcskadberg]

The best coach, and an even better man. Love you. Take care of big Matt ❤️

[Sam King @samueltking]

Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter put walk-on, former Central Catholic standout Carson Barrett on scholarship.

[cookinginthesheets @BoyleTyler]

@MarketPalmer_ https://t.co/Kw4LV3PxPq

[Sam King @samueltking]

Probably the most talented high school football team I’ve covered - 2018 West Lafayette Red Devils. This team had, I believe, 8 Division I players, including a first-round NFL draft pick. Went 15-0.

[Brian Colunio @hiringfirm]

How to stand out as an employee:

When you finish your work, instead of pretending like you're working, look at what your boss is stressing out about and take that stress upon yourself.

Solve problems for the go-getters at your company.

[Nick Huber @sweatystartup]

Entrepreneurship culture in America is all messed up and it’s a shame.

TechCrunch. Product Hunt. Shark Tank.

It’s all about new ideas. Changing the world. Innovation. 0 to 1. Blue ocean. Venture capital and exits and scalability.

And IT’S ALL A LIE.

If you ask the average American who a real entrepreneur is they’ll say Jobs, Musk or Zuck. We read their books and idolize them and hang on to their every word.

So the brightest among us think they need a moat. A new idea. Something revolutionary. We're setting them up for FAILURE.

I took an entrepreneurship course at Cornell in 2011. 24 kids with new ideas. Big plans. Pitch decks looking for series As.

I was #25 with a regular old-fashioned business. When professors asked me what my differentiator was I didn’t have an answer.

"We're just going to pick up people's stuff and store it when they go home for the summer. I'll answer the phone, do things a little better and I think I can make some decent money."

I saw a company out there doing sweaty, non-scalable work. They weren't very good at it and yet they made really good money.

I started by trading my time for money. Bought a $1500 cargo van. Storage Squad was born. Used the things I had in my life to make some profit.
I wasn’t trying to educate a customer base.
I wasn’t following my passion.
I didn’t need funding or a network.
I wasn’t competing against brilliant folks from Stanford.
I want trying to prove a concept.
I wasn’t emotionally attached to anything except adding value.
My customers and my competitors existed. I could study them interacting with each other. I made decisions with my brain, not my heart. I was competing against folks with fax machines, clipboards and paper ledgers.

And the best part... WE WERE PROFITABLE FROM DAY ONE.

Not a single one of those 24 folks in my class succeeded. They all went and got jobs. Their new ideas didn’t catch on. They all had dreams of millions of users and an exit. Scalable models that could work anywhere from a computer. But 99% failed to make a single dollar.

We made enough money in a few years to build our first self storage facility. That grew into the 60+ property $100m+ portfolio we own and operate today. We sold the service business in January 2021 for $1.75 million. We had no debt and no silent partners. My business partner and I split the cash.

So who are the real entrepreneurs? Who are the wealthiest people you know? I’m not talking about money. I’m talking about the people who do what they want to do when they want to do it. Who are they?

Now here comes the hard truth. I know a lot of wealthy entrepreneurs. None of them had new ideas. Very few of them raised VC money. None of them were on shark tank. They all did common things uncommonly well. Regular old businesses just a little better.

BORING STUFF.

Most of them have a few things in common: They worked really hard doing something not fun for 5+ years. Many times 20+ yrs. They started out trading their time for money. They did things that weren’t scalable. Many of them offered services.

They all had to talk to people. Most of the time face to face. They had to sell themselves and their ideas. They didn’t take a lot of risk. Most of them hired coders but few of them were coders.

The main point:

Stop buying into the hype. The click bait. The sexy stories of overnight success and mega riches. Entrepreneurship isn’t that complicated. Do something with good odds, low risk and moderate rewards. Don’t master your craft, master leading other people.

Think with your head, not your heart. It’s not about you and what YOU love or what YOU want to be doing. And lastly.. Start SMALL.

Biz is about momentum. I started 10 yrs ago carrying boxes up spiral staircases. Now I’m buying millions worth of real estate.

And the best part. When you’re successful, experienced, wealthy and you have a killer network...

It’s time to change the world with something BIG.

[Brennan Schlagbaum, CPA @Budgetdog_]

Once you realize life is unfair, you will begin to win.

It’s unfair to all of us.

It’s nothing new.

Overcome it.

Stop crying.

[Bloomberg Live @BloombergLive]

On return to office, "We need to give people a reason to come into work. That's why I come to @Bloomberg early - to get the free coffee," CEO @TCWGroup Katie Koch #BloombergInvest @RomaineBostick

[Steve · Millionaire Habits @SteveOnSpeed]

An estimated 95% of day traders lose money.

Nearly 100% of index fund and ETF investors make money over the long term. And, they had way more time to spend outside or with their families.

Day trading will make you poor.
Investing will make you rich.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

The housing market is frozen, and affordability is unlikely to get better soon, per BI.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

AI 'digital workers' are cutting tasks that used to take a month down to 10 minutes in New Mexico, per BI.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Twitter feels increasingly alive

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

BREAKING: SEPTEMBER CPI SHOWS INFLATION AT 8.2%, ABOVE EXPECTATIONS.

Prepare for a Fed induced depression.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

🚨BREAKING🚨

CPI comes in at 8.3%, vs 8.1% expected.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

Events in the average bear market that have not happened yet:

1. 10 months pass before the bottom

2. $VIX hit 45+ bear every bear market has bottomed

3. Stocks fall 36% on average, the current low is just a 24% decline

4. Sentiment turns strongly bearish

We are still early.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

The population of IRA millionaires took has decreased down 17% from a year earlier to 284,900, according to figures from Fidelity.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

If stocks bottomed, it would be:

1. First bear market with 2 relief rallies since 1973

2. A 12% higher low than the average bear market

3. First bear market to bottom without $VIX at 45+

4. A low 3 months sooner than the average bear market

A bottom here would make history.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

S&P500, $SPY, has largest percent gain at 2.62% since April 2020.