Eddy Badrina

Integration and M&A. “Gotta pace yourself, it's all about yo' breathing. You can have it all, it's all about your reason.” | All comments/opinions are my own.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

For my new followers, here’s the lowdown:

➡️ First act was in government. Middle East analyst for the State Department, pre and post 9/11. Ended up as POTUS 43’s Asian American policy surrogate.

➡️ Second act was an entrepreneur. Co-founded and bootstrapped @buzzshift in 2010. Sold it in 2016. Bought back in 2017 for an ungodly low sum. Sold it again.

➡️ Third act is CEO of a a growth stage agtech company @edengreentech. Vertical farming, but in a greenhouse. “Profitable unit level economics” is my mantra.

➡️ Bonus: I curate The 100 Best Rap Songs Of All Time playlist on Spotify. https://t.co/I1csS0m4rF

I tweet on all these things, and I’m right 50% of the time, 100% of the time.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

I'm recommending everyone I know to read this. Including my teenage kids. It's *that important* of a signal.

[Matt Shumer @mattshumer_]

https://t.co/ivXRKXJvQg

[Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX]

BIG NEWS for Texas today! @NYSE is launching NYSE Texas in Dallas.

This will cement Texas' position as a national and global economic powerhouse.

Texas will be the financial capital of America.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

If you are a marketing agency with a website dev service offering, you might want to jump on this one. If you haven't already.

[Justine Moore @venturetwins]

🚨 New @a16z thesis: building websites / apps with AI

There's been an explosion of products that help users "vibe code" a web app from text prompts.

We dove deep on these tools - who's using them, how they work, and where they might be headed.

Our market map + insights 👇

[Magills @magills_]

My wife asked to see the credit card statement so she can figure out why we don’t have any money and I told her very sternly that she is a danger to democracy

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

It's becoming clearer and clearer that we're looking at a seismic shift in the US's relationship with the world, between:

1) The US dismantling its foreign interference apparatuses (like USAID 👇)
2) Marco Rubio stating that we're now in a multipolar world with "multi-great powers in different parts of the planet" (https://t.co/dyHpStHPsO) and that "the postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us" (https://t.co/TPOksRgnwP)
3) The tariffs on supposed "allies" like Mexico, Canada or the EU

This is the US effectively saying "our attempt at running the world is over, to each his own, we're now just another great power, not the 'indispensable nation'."

It looks "dumb" (as the WSJ just wrote) if you are still mentally in the old paradigm but it's always a mistake to think that what the US (or any country) does is dumb.

Hegemony was going to end sooner or later, and now the U.S. is basically choosing to end it on its own terms. It is the post-American world order - brought to you by America itself.

Even the tariffs on allies, viewed under this angle, make sense, as it redefines the concept of "allies": they don't want - or maybe rather can't afford - vassals anymore, but rather relationships that evolve based on current interests.

You can either view it as decline - because it does unquestionably look like the end of the American empire - or as avoiding further decline: controlled withdrawal from imperial commitments in order to focus resources on core national interests rather than being forced into an even messier retreat at a later stage.

In any case it is the end of an era and, while the Trump administration looks like chaos to many observers, they're probably much more attuned to the changing realities of the world and their own country's predicament than their predecessors. Acknowledging the existence of a multipolar world and choosing to operate within it rather than trying to maintain an increasingly costly global hegemony couldn't be delayed much further. It looks messy but it is probably better than maintaining the fiction of American primacy until it eventually collapses under its own weight.

This is not to say that the U.S. won't continue to wreak havoc on the world, and in fact we might be seeing it become even more aggressive than before. Because when it previously was (badly, and very hypocritically) trying to maintain some semblance of self-proclaimed "rules-based order", it now doesn't even have to pretend it is under any constraint, not even the constraint of playing nice with allies. It's the end of the U.S. empire, but definitely not the end of the U.S. as a major disruptive force in world affairs.

All in all this transformation may mark one of the most significant shifts in international relations since the fall of the Soviet Union. And those most unprepared for it, as is already painfully obvious, are America's vassals caught completely flat-footed by the realization that the patron they've relied on for decades is now treating them as just another set of countries to negotiate with.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

In a ZIRP environment, there was no incentive for them (or InFarm or Aerofarm or Kalera) to focus on unit level economics. The winners are figuring that out first before going on a capex spending spree. And believe me, there will be winners in the CEA space. Macro trends (environment, supply chain bottlenecks, market demand for affordable, safe produce) are all enduring.

[Brandon Kainoa Jacoby @JacobyBrandon]

Amazon is a logistics company with ecomm capabilities

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

Election night challenge:

Every time a state is called, drop and do that number of electoral college votes in pushups (🟥) or squats (🟦). Then take a shot of your favorite liquor.
R or D, they will both do your body good. Bonus: you won’t feel it until at least late tomorrow morning.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

What Chris has endured here on X is sobering. The truth always comes out, and I’m so proud of the way my friend is handling such a stressful situation, not only for him but also his family and colleagues at Fort Capital.

Proud of you, @fortworthchris.

[Mike (not a) Rothschild @rothschildmd]

If you think the Trump shooting was staged, you're an idiot. Multiple reports have the shooter as dead, and the former president was hit an inch away from his brain. That's not a "staged false flag," it's an assassination attempt. And it's repulsive and undemocratic.

[delian @zebulgar]

In moments like this I thank god @elonmusk bought @X so that we have an unvarnished access to real-time events

Rather than this complete bullshit from MSM

[Naval @naval]

So, who’s been in charge all along?

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

Listen, I get it. Leaving? It’s a business. I get it.
To your in-state rival? Bitter, but I can take it. Smaller, elite school, deeper pockets. Okay.
Lying? Unacceptable. Par for most politicians, but sucks when it’s coaches.
Coaching your boys up in the final game, knowing you are leaving 24 hours later? Ugh.
And recruiting with your whole staff since April/May for your future team, while you all are still being paid by your old team? Yikes.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

@stephenolmon @jspujji Among my colleagues, I would recommend Arama Kukutai at Plenty. Amongst investors, the folks over at L Catterton have made some interesting investments in the future of food.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

Way to go, Dallas weather. Proud of you. #SolarEclipse2024

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

@drantbradley We decided on a local all-boys prep school here for our rising 9th grader. Couldn’t be more excited for him.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

@jcolesimpson Love to see this! Way to celebrate and mark the milestones. Probably one of the most difficult things to do when we are wired the way we are.

[Eddy Badrina @eddybadrina]

"Always more audacity." - Winston Churchill

That's it. That's the tweet.