Frank

Co-founder & Managing Partner, Net Conversion, Conversionomics, & NetCo

[Tom Bilyeu @TomBilyeu]

Speaking of things that wouldn't get a passing grade @RoKhanna... I don't know if you're intentionally conflating things, but let's go point by point.

The reason we're back in gilded age territory is because unbalanced budgets force the Fed to print. This makes it impossible to get ahead by saving money.

Money printing pushes smart money into the markets to avoid the hidden taxation of inflation. This, and the weaking dollar from money printing, on top of legitimate innovation, drives up asset values. Which puts the rich in an unrealized gains upward spiral.

You're absolutely correct that we should get money out of politics. That goes for billionaires, NGOs, foreign governments, and unions. But this reality is not why the American dream is dead.

The American dream is dead because: People can't save (inflation), can't bargain hard enough to outpace inflation (globalism), we teach people they're victims, and we make housing unaffordable because we regulate everything to death.

Let builders build and take the risk that they build too much. Fuck NIMBYism and people's need for an ever-increasing home price. Don't try to freeze rents - we both know that only makes housing more expensive. Instead, build, build, build.

Bring manufacturing back to the US. Globalism was fun while it lasted, but you can't dick ride comparative advantage until all of Middle America is one big rust belt. We all need to compete for our positions and our pay. But the playing field needs to be fair.

If businesses compete against each other, and are allowed to fail and go out of business, then talented workers have options and bargaining power. Employees have weak bargaining power right now because of globalization - not evil bosses.

If you want teachers and nurses to make more money, let the free market work its magic. We have thrown more and more money at the teachers (and their union) for decades and it hasn't produced better results. You need competition if you want better results. Let parents decide where to send their kids and let them take the tax dollars with them. You'll find out real fast which schools deliver results and which don't.

And you're right, we need guardrails against selfish men, but we passed those guardrails a long time ago, and now we're deep into regulatory capture, which selfish men use to weaponize the government. Shrink the government. Dramatically.

If you want to revitalize the American dream, balance the budget by cutting. Right now, for every new dollar in tax we bring it, we spend an extra $1.58. No matter how much you tax, you'll always have a spending problem.

What we need is a balanced budget, to stop money printing, more incentives to make things in America, H1-B visa reform so we attract talent but at a premium, and not at a discount, don't let people borrow against assets and never pay off the debt, keep money out of politics, and for the love of god, simplify the tax code.

[Frank @fvertolli]

@DavidTyers9 +a new follower. In for the draw

[Josh Wolfe @wolfejosh]

THIS by @friedberg

Not a single word is untrue

It is a clear-sighted DIAGNOSIS + WARNING of political hucksters who lie for power so they can control, cheat, steal

Highly-functioning, moral societies are built around freedom, liberty, risk and reward.

[Yasmine Khosrowshahi @yasminekho]

Seth Godin gave a masterclass on how to build an unforgettable brand in the age of AI:

1. Marketing is not about spend. It is about creating the conditions for other people to eagerly spread your idea.

2. Authenticity is overrated. What customers actually want is consistency. Show up the same way every single time and that is worth more than any Super Bowl ad.

3. Everything your company does is a marketing decision. How you answer the phone. What you charge. How you design things. Marketing is not a department. It is everything.

4. Trust is simple. Make a promise. Keep it. Especially when it is hard.

5. Successful brands are built with your customers talking about you. Not you talking about you.

6. A brand is not a logo. A brand is a promise. Nike has a brand. Hyatt has a logo. One of them you know exactly what to expect. The other you do not.

7. You are measuring the wrong things. Follower counts. Stock price. Open rates. False proxies will take your business in the wrong direction faster than anything else.

8. Social media followers mean nothing. Godin has 400,000 Instagram followers and says if he posts about a new book maybe 12 people buy it. The number is a distraction.

9. Stop trying to be famous. The goal is not to get more famous. The goal is to get less famous and more trusted.

10. Average marketing reaches average people. Average people will not buy your product. You need the people who will talk about you, challenge you, and eagerly pay more for better.

11. When you pick your customers you pick your future. Stop trying to reach everyone. Start trying to deeply serve someone specific.

12. Better beats louder every time. One guy running a wine email list with 130,000 subscribers does $30 million a year in revenue. No ads. No social media hustle. Just consistently better.

13. The real opportunity with AI is not making things cheaper. It is making things better. The businesses that use AI to deepen relationships will win. The ones using it to cut costs will race to the bottom.

14. Your job is not to do your job. Your job is to solve problems for other people and make things better by making better things. Everything else is just noise.

15. When AI becomes the buyer it will always choose the cheapest option. If your entire business strategy is being the cheapest, AI will destroy you. The only protection is being worth it in ways that cannot be easily measured.

16. The next level of marketing is permission at a depth nobody has achieved before. The brand that knows your tools, your projects, your needs, and shows up to help without being asked will be impossible to replace.

17. Most businesses will use AI to spam more people faster. The businesses that win will use AI to serve fewer people better. That gap is the biggest opportunity in marketing right now.

18. You have a squadron of summer interns available for twenty dollars a month. They are not that good but they are very eager. The businesses learning to be good bosses of AI right now will have an enormous advantage over everyone waiting to figure it out later.

19. The question every business should be asking is not how do I get more attention. It is how do I become the kind of business that people would genuinely miss if it disappeared tomorrow. That answer is your entire marketing strategy.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Croatian freediver Vitomir Maričić achieved one of the most extraordinary feats in human history by holding his breath underwater for 29 minutes and 3 seconds, a new Guinness World Record.

Experts had long considered such a duration impossible. While a trained dolphin can typically hold its breath for 8–10 minutes and most humans can barely manage one or two, Maričić remained completely still underwater for nearly half an hour on a single breath.

The attempt pushed his body to extreme limits. As the minutes passed, powerful contractions wracked his diaphragm and his organs endured intense physiological stress. Yet through years of rigorous training, mental discipline, and specialized breathing techniques, he stayed calm and focused until the end.

What makes this record even more impressive is Maričić’s purpose. He didn’t do it for fame or personal glory, he used the achievement as a powerful platform to raise global awareness about ocean conservation, marine protection, and the urgent threats facing our oceans.

A stunning demonstration of human potential and a heartfelt call to protect the planet’s most vital ecosystem.

[Matt Devitt @MattDevittWX]

Awesome shot of Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and the crescent Moon all in alignment right now in the western sky. You can check them out again tonight and Thursday too!

[Frank @fvertolli]

@MattDevittWX +🦇

[Frank @fvertolli]

@washghost1 Same energy. Saw this gem one day and had to make the turn to check it out.

[david friedberg @friedberg]

they’re not jobs if they’re not valued. they’re not valued if there aren’t customers out there willing to pay them for their great work. needing the government to “create” a job is tantamount to welfare and that level of welfare resolves these individuals to a dependency on the government and lack of economic mobility. and chains our people, collectively, to a more indentured future.

you may be well intentioned but you have, and always will, fail to see the destitute folly of government as a job creation engine.

i have tried to engage you on this topic, in good faith, with empiricism and reasoning, but you have only dodged my points and pivoted to some populist refrain about the importance of taxation and the evils of productivity-driven success.

i can only assume you’re dodging these truths because you and the rest of the politburo leadership have deemed the conversation unsafe speech and put your oligopoly at risk.

let’s leave it at that then.

perhaps if your ways get their day, we can all bask in the glories of the dark ages ahead.

[Topps @Topps]

HE’S BACK.

Lewis Hamilton secures his first 1st place finish in Ferrari red 🔥

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

The most surreal thing of our trip so far. Currently driving towards Louisiana and the radio station we were listening to started talking about our trip and played Ella Langley especially for us😭😭😭

[Auto Hail @primerelic]

What if the legendary Porsche 944 made this grand return in 2026?

[Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team @MercedesAMGF1]

From Mercedes Junior to Monaco GP winner 🫶

The difference eight years makes 🤩

[Topps @Topps]

That net jewel would look amazing in a trading card…

[Salty MAGIC 🪄💫🟦⬜️⬛️ @SaltyMagic91]

🔜 it will be June 2027

[Mahir 🇹🇷🇬🇧 @ScrewderiaF1]

"Do you have any plans this month"

Me:

[JustFreshKicks @JustFreshKicks]

This pic goes hard.

[TopShagger @Plentyshit]

The Hangover 🍻🥴 Star Wars edition 🤔

[Lulu Cheng Meservey @lulumeservey]

Proud to unveil the Luce Migliore

A Ferrari electric vehicle designed by me and ChatGPT in 8 seconds at a cost of $0.10