Veltrix

Insights, experiments & news | Building and sharing what works

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

RYAN REYNOLDS. A $27 BOTTLE OF GIN. A DEAL WORTH UP TO $610 MILLION.

In 2018, Reynolds bought a stake in Aviation Gin, a brand from Portland, Oregon, and took charge of its creative direction.

One of his early ads was an interview with his fictional twin, Gordon. Reynolds played both parts.

Gordon asks whether he invented gin. Then questions why a Canadian who can’t fly a plane is selling Aviation American Gin.

Ryan eventually walks out of his own interview.

The bottle stays in the shot.

Behind the jokes, the business was growing. In 2019, Aviation’s sales volume more than doubled. According to Diageo, it accounted for 40% of the growth in the US super-premium gin segment that year.

In August 2020, Diageo announced an agreement to acquire Aviation and Davos Brands, including three other spirits brands, for up to $610 million.

The announced terms were $335 million upfront, with up to $275 million more tied to Aviation’s performance over ten years.

Reynolds’ exact stake wasn’t disclosed. He retained an ownership interest and remained involved in marketing.

That’s what makes the clip more interesting than a celebrity commercial. Every joke was promoting a business he partly owned.

The gin already existed. He gave people another reason to remember its name.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@Principia_X The biggest edge might be doing nothing while everyone else is chasing green candles. Not every move deserves your money

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@1onetouch1 The hardest part of this story is knowing he didn't make a stupid decision. He made a rational one with the information he had. That's what makes it so painful in hindsight.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@0xbobaaa The third point is probably the most important. AI can sound confident and still be completely wrong. Always give it a way to verify its own work.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

RYAN REYNOLDS. A $27 BOTTLE OF GIN. A DEAL WORTH UP TO $610 MILLION.

In 2018, Reynolds bought a stake in Aviation Gin, a brand from Portland, Oregon, and took charge of its creative direction.

One of his early ads was an interview with his fictional twin, Gordon. Reynolds played both parts.

Gordon asks whether he invented gin. Then questions why a Canadian who can’t fly a plane is selling Aviation American Gin.

Ryan eventually walks out of his own interview.

The bottle stays in the shot.

Behind the jokes, the business was growing. In 2019, Aviation’s sales volume more than doubled. According to Diageo, it accounted for 40% of the growth in the US super-premium gin segment that year.

In August 2020, Diageo announced an agreement to acquire Aviation and Davos Brands, including three other spirits brands, for up to $610 million.

The announced terms were $335 million upfront, with up to $275 million more tied to Aviation’s performance over ten years.

Reynolds’ exact stake wasn’t disclosed. He retained an ownership interest and remained involved in marketing.

That’s what makes the clip more interesting than a celebrity commercial. Every joke was promoting a business he partly owned.

The gin already existed. He gave people another reason to remember its name.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@fomoliver rare because most people learn that lesson after the money's gone. he learned it as a kid

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

BY 2013, BRYAN CRANSTON WAS REPORTEDLY MAKING $225,000 PER EPISODE OF BREAKING BAD. AS A KID, HE WATCHED HIS FAMILY LOSE THEIR HOME.

His father was an actor, too. Work came and went, and the family’s lifestyle moved with it.

One year, they had a newer car. The next, they traded down to an old one.

They put in a swimming pool. Later, his mother said they couldn’t afford the chemicals to maintain it.

Then his father left. The house went into foreclosure, and Bryan and his brother went to live with their grandparents.

Years later, when Malcolm in the Middle gave Cranston a steady television paycheck, he remembered how quickly things could fall apart.

He told ROUTE magazine that he and his wife saved the money and funded a college savings plan for their daughter.

“We didn’t go out and buy anything.”

He connected those decisions directly to what had happened to his family. He wanted to save, stay involved as a father, and keep his ego from making the decisions.

Breaking Bad brought a much bigger level of fame. By its final season, TV Guide was reporting his salary at $225,000 an episode.

But the habit of putting money away was already there.

The detail that stays with me is that swimming pool. His family could afford to build it in a good year, then couldn’t afford to maintain it in a bad one.

That’s an expensive way for a child to learn the difference between having money and being able to count on it.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

BY 2013, BRYAN CRANSTON WAS REPORTEDLY MAKING $225,000 PER EPISODE OF BREAKING BAD. AS A KID, HE WATCHED HIS FAMILY LOSE THEIR HOME.

His father was an actor, too. Work came and went, and the family’s lifestyle moved with it.

One year, they had a newer car. The next, they traded down to an old one.

They put in a swimming pool. Later, his mother said they couldn’t afford the chemicals to maintain it.

Then his father left. The house went into foreclosure, and Bryan and his brother went to live with their grandparents.

Years later, when Malcolm in the Middle gave Cranston a steady television paycheck, he remembered how quickly things could fall apart.

He told ROUTE magazine that he and his wife saved the money and funded a college savings plan for their daughter.

“We didn’t go out and buy anything.”

He connected those decisions directly to what had happened to his family. He wanted to save, stay involved as a father, and keep his ego from making the decisions.

Breaking Bad brought a much bigger level of fame. By its final season, TV Guide was reporting his salary at $225,000 an episode.

But the habit of putting money away was already there.

The detail that stays with me is that swimming pool. His family could afford to build it in a good year, then couldn’t afford to maintain it in a bad one.

That’s an expensive way for a child to learn the difference between having money and being able to count on it.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@HashItOut_ I'd probably run this on ChatGPT first. Curious how many of its paid features I actually use vs what I'm paying for just because it's there

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@kryneeex He didn't lack assets. He lacked control over the cash flowing out of them. That's a much more expensive problem than being broke

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@0xlexlab Talent gets you rich. Discipline determines how long you stay rich.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@fivelossSH The interesting part isn't the benchmark score. It's how cheap intelligence is getting while everyone is still fighting over which model is best.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@Marko_Poly The smartest AI agent is the one that knows exactly what it's NOT allowed to do. Autonomy without guardrails is just a liability with better marketing.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@AleiahLock The real flex isn't avoiding a paycheck. It's owning something that makes money while you sleep.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@0xlexlab Exactly. A salary pays your bills. Equity buys you freedom. Clooney didn't just make money from acting, he built an asset that gave him the option to say no.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

$35 MILLION FOR ONE DAY OF WORK. GEORGE CLOONEY DISCUSSED IT WITH HIS WIFE AND SAID NO.

The offer was for an airline commercial. A single day of filming would have earned him more than many leading actors get for an entire movie.

But the airline was associated with a country he had concerns about. Before accepting, he talked it through with his wife, Amal, a human rights lawyer. They decided to pass.

Clooney told the story in a 2021 interview after being asked whether he ever felt he had enough money.

He didn’t name the airline or the country. He just explained what made the offer unacceptable to him:

“If it takes a minute’s sleep away from me, it’s not worth it.”

Of course, he was already wealthy. Walking away wouldn’t put his home or his family’s future at risk.

Still, $35 million is a lot of money to leave on the table, even when you don’t need it. He had reached a point where another paycheck wasn’t enough reason to say yes.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@0x_pedro Physics first, visuals second. That's the difference between an AI-generated picture and something that actually teaches you how the world works.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@Synthexfr The real breakthrough isn't agents finding answers. It's agents actively trying to prove each other wrong.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@evgenia_vibes @justansub The funniest part is using a million-dollar AI stack to do what the TV settings should've let you do in the first place.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@armouredme When your thesis needs numerology to work, you're not doing research. You're writing exit liquidity fan fiction.

[Veltrix @Veltrixmoon]

@Yumzlef Everyone wants passive income until the bot starts making decisions they don't understand.