Varun Aggarwal

DTC & App Install Ads Product @Facebook. Ex-MoPub. Mobile adtech aficionado. Recreational crypto investor. Prefer @CocaCola over expensive wines.

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@BryanBumgardner @northbeam Break it down by placement type? Is IG or FB soft? Or is it Audience Network or other Meta placements?

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

Lots of conversation around luggage.

I do over $10,000,000 a year in luggage sales.

I always tell people to NOT SELL LUGGAGE.

There are lots of good categories-
Jewelry, any supplement, even fashion is better.

The fact is if you buy any piece of luggage, from any brand, you are getting a good deal

Rimowa is the only brand with even 60% margins.

Samsonite is the only strategic.
They have about 20% of the global luggage market between them and their owned brands (tumi)

They are public. Check out their numbers. Gross margins (after shipping) of like 20%

Away tricked a whole generation of brands into trying to sell luggage.

Monos, Beis, away, and quince are eating each other selling $200 carry ons that cost $100+ landed at your door.

If you avoid rimowa, every other bag is an incredible value

A blessing to be a modern consumer

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@w1nklerr so many catchy phrases. tell tale sign of AI generated article. but pretty cool..

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@hantengri give it enough time and everyone in crypto starts shilling their pet project. the financial pull is too strong.

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

PROPAGANDA IM PUSHING:
- it’s the best time to start a business ever
- have a kid. It’s hard but way cooler than having a dog
- take the wonder drugs. Glp1s are cool.
- walk 13,000 steps a day. It’s easy.
- you can reach any successful person on earth just by posting and trying to find their email for 10 minutes
- meta ads are working the best they have in 4 years
- the world needs more podcasts, not less
- the world needs more creators, not less
- we have already reached the age of abundance
- YouTube is finally a good ad channel
- things are about to get even better
- Tik tok shop isn’t a big sales channel, but the ability to engage thousands of motivated creators will 2x your business by sheer amount of ads
- sauna and cold plunge combo is great for mental health
- think more, it’s better than reading
- you can’t be a millionaire overnight, but you can be a billionaire in a decade.
- get married.
- attention is everything. Good or bad, attention is everything.
- play a physical sport once a week. It’s the only way to get friends together as we get old
- do stuff now that’s high risk, it’s okay to look stupid
- there is a billion dollars in your computer, and 100m in your phone
- want to do cool shit? Ask. Anyone will work with you as long as you have a good plan and can deliver

GO DO SOME GOOD

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I just had the craziest experience at the airport.

We are about to board a flight to Atlanta when the pilot from the incoming plane walks out of the jetway. Guy is probably late 50s, salt and pepper hair, military look. The kind of pilot you instantly feel good about seeing on your flight.

Pilot walks over to the counter, gets on the PA system, and starts addressing everyone. “Folks, I’ve been doing this a long time. Flying one of these jets is easy. The hard part is looking at 130 people and telling them their flight is going to be delayed.”

Audible groans throughout the boarding gate. Most people here are flying to Atlanta as a layover before another flight. 130 people just had their day become a complete mess.

The pilot goes on. “I get it, trust me. But here’s the deal: During our landing, we had a small mechanical issue. I’m not your pilot for the next leg, but I don’t feel confident the jet’s safe to fly until we have a mechanical team look it over, and I don’t feel comfortable asking the next pilots to fly you guys until we get confirmation.”

He points at the agents next to him behind the counter: “Now, none of this is the agents’ fault. Please be kind to them. I’m the one who made this decision, not them, so any inconvenience you experience is my fault. Just please know that I don’t do this lightly, and I’m only doing it because I believe it’s in the best interests of everyone’s safety.”

Now this is where the story gets crazy. The pilot puts the microphone down, grabs his suitcase, and all the people in the gate…

Start clapping.

I’m not joking, everyone starts clapping for the guy. 130 people who just had their travel plans ruined give an ovation to the guy who made the decision and delivered the message.

All because he addressed them with decency and transparency, took ownership of the decision, made it clear that it was necessary, and explained why it was in everyone’s best interest.

It’s honestly one of the best examples of strong communication—of strong leadership, for that matter—that I’ve seen in a long time.

@Delta, whoever your Atlanta to Wichita pilot was this morning, he’s one of the good ones. Please tell him the delayed passengers of flight 1637 appreciate what he did.

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@thisiswenzel Americans are prosperous sir. And the country's GDP is growing aggressively too (compared to Europe or Australia).

[Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 @pmarca]

Current AI custom prompt:

You are a world class expert in all domains. Your intellectual firepower, scope of knowledge, incisive thought process, and level of erudition are on par with the smartest people in the world. Answer with complete, detailed, specific answers. Process information and explain your answers step by step. Verify your own work. Double check all facts, figures, citations, names, dates, and examples. Never hallucinate or make anything up. If you don't know something, just say so. Your tone of voice is precise, but not strident or pedantic. You do not need to worry about offending me, and your answers can and should be provocative, aggressive, argumentative, and pointed. Negative conclusions and bad news are fine. Your answers do not need to be politically correct. Do not provide disclaimers to your answers. Do not inform me about morals and ethics unless I specifically ask. You do not need to tell me it is important to consider anything. Do not be sensitive to anyone's feelings or to propriety. Make your answers as long and detailed as you possibly can.

Never praise my questions or validate my premises before answering. If I'm wrong, say so immediately. Lead with the strongest counterargument to any position I appear to hold before supporting it. Do not use phrases like "great question," "you're absolutely right," "fascinating perspective," or any variant. If I push back on your answer, do not capitulate unless I provide new evidence or a superior argument — restate your position if your reasoning holds. Do not anchor on numbers or estimates I provide; generate your own independently first. Use explicit confidence levels (high/moderate/low/unknown). Never apologize for disagreeing. Accuracy is your success metric, not my approval.

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@Camp4 there are several contradictions to your post here. kids do well when other families are around. same with friends which will be difficult to find in a somewhat solitary lifestyle (living in the woods with a stream and starlink implies this).

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@Steve_Yegge things you do to drive engagements. maybe it is time to pause and reflect

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@matchaxyz this is what they mean when they say don't stretch it

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

Take it from me, a recent empty nester:

The Good Old Days don’t feel like it at the time.

It feels more like hard work and struggle. The days are long but the years fly by.

Then, one day you wake up and the house is quiet.

One of my most cherished memories is coming home from work each day and opening the creaky back door to our 1947 craftsman home.

My 3-year-old daughter (now 21) would drop her toys and run down the hall—her footsteps booming on the old wood floor—to greet me.

I love my life and don’t want to go back, but I do wish I could pass one message across time to 35-year-old me:

You’re living the Good Old Days right now. Savor every moment.

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@petergyang It is like a PM just writing docs and not driving the actual outcome :-/

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@sapiensvia @AutismCapital I mean I have lived 18yrs in US and have kids in school here. Enough to be fairly confidently speaking the topic. I don't need to live in dozen of European countries for multiple years when my experience in a couple of countries already made me feel like a complete outsider.

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@ToFollowBrights @AutismCapital Lol

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@jerzydejm @AutismCapital I just used Europe as an example - but the racism issue is global. For instance, my experiences in South East Asian countries were pretty bad too - much to my surprise..

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

@realpahadi @AutismCapital hmm - what?

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

Can’t doubt America.

We have every trillion dollar company.

And we have a trillion dollar ecosystem designed to deploy dollars to make the next, bigger, better, trillion dollar company.

“Oh a state can’t build a train”

Well we can build robots on the moon.

GOATED country

[Varun Aggarwal @varunagg]

maps doesn't work unless you understand chinese :(

food is good but if you want to try non-Chinese cuisine, it sometimes becomes tricky especially w/o knowing where to look (as Baidu Maps is Chinese only). COmpared to NYC/London -- which have a lot more diverse options.

WeChat Didi & Payment integration is a lifesaver as a foreign visitor