Samit Gupta

Co-founder @WeAreAlio; Also founded O2 Insights. @orioles @giants and @ohiostatefb fan.

[Robert Griffin III @RGIII]

FIFA got it right by suspending Folarin Balogun’s Red Card under Article 27.

Belgium’s protesting the decision isn’t about the integrity of the game. It’s about getting an advantage over the USA.

If it was about the integrity of the game, they would be championing Balogun having his Red card suspended because it was improper use of the VAR system and not a Red card offense.

Where were the appeals when Cristiano Ronaldo got his 3 game red card ban suspended and reduced to a 1 game ban on a friendly so he could play this entire World Cup?

DR Congo and Uzbekistan didn’t protest Cristiano Ronaldo eligibility to play.

They played Portugal at full strength.

If Belgium doesn’t want to play now because FIFA made the right call and the USA has Folarin Balogun back in the lineup, then THAT’S WEAK.

They don’t deserve to win.

Put the ball down and play.

Don’t pick up your ball and go home.

[Alexis Ohanian 🗽 @alexisohanian]

Ages of the Founding Fathers on July 4, 1776

James Monroe, 18
Aaron Burr, 20
Alexander Hamilton, 21
James Madison, 25
Thomas Jefferson, 33
John Adams, 40
Paul Revere, 41
George Washington, 44

Now check the ages of our three branches of government in 2024...

[Bill Walsh @wwalsh]

Balogun was in on goal. He beat the defender and was about to score.
No red card. No penalty. No yellow card. No foul. No review.
The bizarre thing is that Fox Sports showed a replay that began just AFTER the defender let go of the arm. So weird. How could the officials miss this? And how could the TV crew miss it as well? @USMNT

[Dirk Nowitzki @swish41]

That’s not a red!!! 🤦‍♂️

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

Giants are now 0-4 this season in games in which they led by 10 or more points on the road.

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

.@RepThomasMassie and I have the votes to easily pass the full release of the Epstein files.

The Speaker is recessing Congress without giving us a vote.

RT if you believe members of Congress should have to vote yes or no on the release before their summer vacation.

[Dr. Julie Gurner @drgurner]

Maybe it's not a popular take, but I see "incels" and I see the videos of young women on Tiktok...both young men & women just seem exceptionally lonely & unable to connect.

They cope by looking for information - and end up in the worst places, following the wrong people, blaming or being toxic toward the other gender. And this toxicity is fueled by the algorithm, bad actors who want their money, loyalty, or likes, and the outcomes don't serve them...or society at large. It just fuels rage or outrage.

It makes the separation worse...and takes them in opposite directions - making them *less* likely to connect.

We all have so much more in common. People just want to be loved. Not be lonely. Find connection. Meet a partner. Maybe have a family. Be able to afford the basics and go through life's journey - the ups and downs - with another person by their side that supports them, care for them truly, and is there for them.

The dynamics that happen by diving into the worst areas of the internet, actually push them further from their own goals. It fuels their outrage, it makes them feel more alone. It connects them with ideas that make them feel powerful in the moment, but are fragile...and fragile egos are not open. It closes them off. It shuts them down.

Young men and women deserve better. I sometimes feel maybe it's the "elders" in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. have a responsibility to be candid when you see this garbage leading others astray. Not support it in the algorithm - even when it's funny or outrageous...and not exploit it for likes.

If you want to help the youth find what you have yourself - be a good actor in the world.

There are a lot of lost people in this world.
Don't be another person leading them astray...
Be the model they need.

[Eli Manning @EliManning]

I thought about attending the Roast of Tom Brady last night, but I did not want to Roast him for a 3rd time!!

[Jamie Willows @jamiekwillows]

The UK has the best hyperkalaemia guidelines in the world, and they’ve just been updated.

No one can cover all 171 pages, but here are 3 quick important bits in a thread👇

https://t.co/pZpyHhXjJX

[Samit Gupta @samit_gupta]

@Zecca_Lehn

[Samit Gupta @samit_gupta]

@0xgaut Florance…duh

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

How dare we dishonor this man's death by...

*checks notes*

...trying to make sure other people don't die in similar ways

[Billy Oppenheimer @bpoppenheimer]

1970 to 1988 is often referred to as Disney's "Dark Age."

During the "Dark Age," Disney's animated films were mostly critical and commercial failures.

Then, in the late 1980s, a story consultant named Chris Vogler wrote a 7-page memo that helped spur "The Disney Renaissance."

In 1978, Chris Vogler was a film student at USC. For one of his classes, Vogler was reading "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by the mythologist Joseph Campbell.

That year, the first Star Wars movie was released. Vogler saw it in the theaters, and he was almost certain Star Wars was putting Campell’s ideas to work.

Vogler distilled Campbell’s complex ideas into a term paper that identified how George Lucas was using mythic elements throughout Star Wars.

A few years later, Vogler was hired as a story consultant at Disney where "memos were a big part of the corporate identity...following the example of [CEO, Jeffrey] Katzenberg, an absolute master [of "the memo art form"].

So Vogler adapted that term paper into a 7-page memo, in which he outlined “the twelve stages of the hero’s journey.”

The hero's journey, Vogler summarizes, goes like this:

The hero is introduced in his ORDINARY WORLD where...

The hero receives the CALL TO ADVENTURE.

The hero, reluctant at first, REFUSES THE CALL.

The hero MEETS A MENTOR and is encouraged to CROSS THE THRESHOLD where...

The hero encounters TESTS, ALLIES, and ENEMIES.

The hero reaches the INNERMOST CAVE where he endures the SUPREME ORDEAL.

The hero SEIZES THE SWORD or the treasure and...

The hero starts to take THE ROAD BACK. Along the way...

The hero is RESURRECTED and transformed by their experience, and then...

The hero RETURNS to his ordinary world with a TREASURE, BOON or ELIXIR to benefit their world.

Vogler's memo was read by CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Katzenberg made it required reading for everyone in the company, and then, he sent Vogler to work with the Animation team working on "King of the Jungle"—what would become "The Lion King."

On a corkboard, the team pinned the storyboard for "The Lion King," "with the twelve stages of the Hero's Journey clearly marked as signposts."

Using this 12-step program as a roadmap, "The Lion King" was released in 1994 and became the most successful animated film ever, and for a while, the most profitable film in history.

Takeaway 1:

The comedian Hasan Minhaj likes to say that his job is to distill coffee into espresso:

"My job is to distill coffee into espresso...to take complicated things and make it simple so people can walk away after twenty minutes with a clear take and perspective.”

Vogler wasn't the first to come across Joseph Campbell's complex ideas. He was the first to distill them into a practical guide for storytellers.

Takeaway 2:

Vogler was right. George Lucas did indeed read Joseph Campbell before bending the story of Luke Skywalker to follow the twelve steps of the hero’s journey.

In fact, Lucas calls Campbell his Yoda. Not just him. Not just Star Wars. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Aladdin, Harry Potter, Mulan, Moana,...

Once you know the 12 steps, you see the hero with a thousand faces everywhere.

---

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” — Willa Cather

[Samit Gupta @samit_gupta]

@KevinMBenedicto - please tell us all again how talking about the crime issues in SF is people somehow fitting a “political agenda.” Shame on you for contributing to the ruin of a beautiful city. https://t.co/E60iQvjrU4

[Phil Galfond @PhilGalfond]

The best hands to play in multiway pots are ones with the most near-nut potential.

A4s, KTs, 88 all go up in value. "Top pair hands" like KQo and AJo go down in value.

Weaker suited hands like 75s don't do well unless you fold them - in which case they'd have flopped a boat.

[Zécca @Zecca_Lehn]

Diligence hardly ever uncovers material info, after a deep dive into an opportunity at PreSeed which would raise or lower conviction.

Caveat: This requires tens of thousands of narrow inquiries over years to build trust with Founders quickly, and digging in with a few calls. 💚

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUIT JACKET, SPORT COAT, AND BLAZER?

A friend of mine recently emailed me to ask whether he accidentally bought a suit jacket by mistake, when he wanted a sport coat. I see this sort of thing happen often, so let's break down the differences 🧵

[Jamy Bechler @jamybechler]

"If someone is working hard to change, the worst thing you can do is keep reminding them of their past wrongs."

#SundaySermon from @JasonRomano

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Regulators need to step in to do a *backstop* of depositors (not a bailout of a bank)

40,000 SVB depositor small businesses
30% will fail to make payroll in the next 30 days
Estimate 10 employees each
120,000 jobs on the line

Years of US innovation on the line