Just finished up at the annual Chasing Greatness conference put on by 68 Ventures. Some incredible speakers and the key takeaways are often the most simple:
- Life should be measured in relationships and experiences
- Your fondest memories are often of the hardest times. Enjoy the journey
- If serving is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you
Top 10% now make up almost 50% of consumer spending. With consumer spending being one of the main drivers of GDP growth, I'm not sure how we keep using it as a proxy for the state of the economy when a decrease in spending from 90% of the population barely moves the needle
The more you look at the data, the more it truly seems like we are living in a bifurcated economy.
Lower-end consumers are struggling and an estimated 67% say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck in the United States.
The top 10% are responsible for 50% of all the spending and have benefited deeply from rising stock prices.
What's the solution?
To me, it is a continual focus to invite more people into the ownership economy as that seems like the only non-political way to not be stuck within the bifurcated part of the economy that is deeply struggling.
Latest piece on Substack below, as always no paywall to subscribe and will be aiming to get more macro deepdives out and compile more research/data oriented posts!
Link below:
@BigJohn043 I think it’s just back to the point that VC has become so saturated with only so many deals that these firms are stepping out of their lane in order to find ways to deploy capital…
@TripleNetTyler If it’s a long cc line and I don’t want to have to retype all names then I’ll put a bunch of letters in a row (xxxx) as a new recipient, it will show an error message before accidentally sending
Just spoke with someone who recently had a PE interview. He said first question was to verbally list out the formula needed for revolver paydown / drawdown.
The finance VP bro is one of a kind
I always take headlines with a grain of salt, but this is coming from one of the most impressive M&A bankers I've ever had the chance to work with. Not sure how we get there, but I wouldn't disagree with Ingrassia.
Dealmaking could hit record volumes in 2026 if market conditions continue to improve and free up a backlog of transactions, according to Goldman Sachs’s co-chair of global mergers and acquisitions https://t.co/lv2ikP4rbx
@TripleNetInvest I think the news has convinced people that Jerome is evil and holding back the housing market. And while it’s incorrect, some people are 100% waiting to list until he “cuts rates”
1. Are you drinking black coffee and 2. Are you working out?
During my 84 hour fast I didn’t do either. I think caffeine would have made experience better and my first workout post fast was amazing, figured I should have worked out the whole time.
We had different experiences though - I wasn’t hungry after the first day. First day was absolutely miserable but after that it was just annoying that you couldn’t break bread with family or friends. No hunger
This sounds painfully obvious but worth revisiting after recent encounters with some true characters lately.
People do business with those they like AND respect.
Not just one or the other…you typically need both. And while there are plenty of smart people out there…there sure are a lot of jerks.
Re-listened to this 50X podcast on TransDigm’s early history today.
So many great lessons in this one, but the CEO’s simplification of intrinsic value creation is one I think about often:
1. Prices up
2. Cost down
3. Generate new business
https://t.co/JGTLJWvN11