Social Leverage Letter | Issue #37

Big Tech Lessons, The Luck Factor, Managing Risk, Global Macro and the Current Panic

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 "Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get."

~ Ray Kroc

READING

CNBC Make It

“Culturally, we’ve built a company that’s sort of a hybrid of all the companies I’ve worked at,” Masud tells CNBC Make It. “We’re able to take the best pieces out of the places I’ve had experiences and apply those.”

TechCrunch

According to Crunchbase, venture capital dollar volume peaked in November 2021. The pullback should not be a surprise, startup valuations have begun to fall at most stages. 

From our blog

Building a risk immune system is critical for individuals and organizations; especially startups. Risk control factors like communication, narrative, action, and bias, to name a few, are all part of how well you can detect, assess, and mitigate risks.

LISTENING:

Tim Ferriss

Richard Wiseman is a Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on the psychology of magic and illusion, the paranormal, luck, and self-help. His books on psychology include The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind and 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot.  His psychology-based YouTube videos have over 500 million views.

#593: Richard Wiseman on Lessons from Dale Carnegie, How to Keep a Luck Diary, Mentalism, The Psychology of the Paranormal, Mass Participation Experiments, NLP, Remote Viewing, and Attempting the Impossible

Listen to this episode from The Tim Ferriss Show on Spotify. Richard Wiseman on Lessons from Dale Carnegie, How to Keep a Luck Diary, Mentalism, The Psychology of the Paranormal, Mass Participation Experiments, NLP, Remote Viewing, and Attempting the Impossible | Brought to you by UCAN endurance products, Headspace easy-to-use app with guided meditations, and Helix Sleep premium mattresses. More on all three below.Richard Wiseman (@richardwiseman) holds Britain’s only professorship in the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles examining the psychology of magic and illusion, the paranormal, luck, and self-help. His books on psychology, which include The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind and 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot, have sold more than three million copies worldwide, and his psychology-based YouTube videos have garnered more than 500 million views.Elizabeth Loftus, former president of The Association for Psychological Science, described Richard as “one of the world’s most creative psychologists,” and The Independent On Sunday chose him as one of the top 100 people who make Britain a better place to live. In addition to his work in the field of psychology, Richard served as director of The Edinburgh Fringe Festival for eight years.He recently co-authored David Copperfield’s History of Magic, and his next book, Psychology: Why It Matters, will be published later this year.Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by UCAN. I was introduced to UCAN and its unique carbohydrate LIVSTEADY by my good friend—and listener favorite—Dr. Peter Attia, who said there is no carb in the world like it. I have since included it in my routine, using UCAN’s powders to power my workouts, and the bars make great snacks. Extensive scientific research and clinical trials have shown that LIVSTEADY provides a sustained release of energy to the body without spiking blood sugar. UCAN is the ideal way to source energy from a carbohydrate without the negatives associated with fast carbs, especially sugar. You avoid fatigue, hunger cravings, and loss of focus.Whether you’re an athlete working on managing your fitness or you need healthy, efficient calories to get you through your day, UCAN is an elegant energy solution. My listeners can save 30% on their first UCAN order by going to UCAN.co/Tim.*This episode is also brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.*This episode is brought to you by Headspace! Headspace is your daily dose of mindfulness in the form of guided meditations in an easy-to-use app. Whatever the situation, Headspace can help you feel better. Overwhelmed? Headspace has a 3-minute SOS meditation for you. Need some help falling asleep? Headspace has wind-down sessions their members swear by. And for parents, Headspace even has morning meditations you can do with your kids. Headspace’s approach to mindfulness can reduce stress, improve sleep, boost focus, and increase your overall sense of well-being.Go to Headspace.com/Tim for a FREE one-month trial with access to Headspace’s full library of meditations for every situation.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Panic with Friends

David Woo is a former Wall Street Investment Strategist and now he’s the CEO of David Woo Unbound, where he’s leveling the playing field for Main Street. His blog, podcast, and YouTube are a global forum promoting fact-based debates about markets, politics, and economics. David is known for his many correct contrarian calls and he’s got some really strong opinions, ideas, and forecasts.

David Woo, former Wall Street Investment Strategist and CEO of David Woo Unbound on Global Macro and the Current Panic (EP.201)

Listen to this episode from Panic with Friends - Howard Lindzon on Spotify. Today’s guest is David Woo, a former Wall Street Investment Strategist and now the CEO of David Woo Unbound, where he’s leveling the playing field for Main Street. His blog, podcast, and YouTube are a global forum promoting fact-based debates about markets, politics, and economics. David was previously the Head of Global Rates, Foreign Exchange, and Emerging Market Fixed Income and Economics Research at Bank of America. He holds a Ph.D in Economics from Columbia. We’re just over two years from the last market panic, and I thought it was important to bring him on to talk global macro since we find ourselves smack in the middle of another panic – inflation, rising interest rates, markets melting, and the possibility of total war. He’s got some really strong opinions, ideas, and forecasts I thought I should share. Enjoy!  Guest - David Woo, CEO of David Woo Unbound  howardlindzon.com, davidwoounbound.com  Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @davidwoounbound, @knutjensen  linkedin.com/in/david-woo-1479a492  #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance  Show Notes: (00:43) – Intro (05:49) – Welcome David Woo (06:07) – The pivot in global macro (09:41) – Tech won’t solve this (11:42) – Global momentum is slowing (19:04) – Waking the dragon (21:07) – Energy is key (25:57) – Pressure on the system (36:50) – Profit margins under pressure (37:42) – Looking at a recession? (42:14) – Wall Street v. Main Street (44:49) – Wrapping up (48:27) – Closing thoughts 

WATCHING

LVMH owns a total of 75 different brands ranging from Christian Dior and Celine to Louis Vuitton and Bulgari. This video explains how Bernard Arnault built LVMH and went on to become one of the richest people in the world.

WHAT WE'RE READING

Here's what caught our eye over the past week.

JOB BOARD

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Affiliate Disclosure: Social Leverage Group, LLC ("SLG"), Social Leverage Capital Fund I, LP ("SLC"), Social Leverage Capital Fund II, LP ("SLCII"), Social Leverage Capital Fund III, LP ("SLCIII") and Social Leverage Capital Fund IV, LP ("SLCIV") are all distinct entities from Social Leverage, LLC ("SL"). Social Leverage is not a registered investment advisor. SLC, SLCII, SLCIII, SLCIV, SLG and SL have used the logo and branding of Social Leverage with the permission of Social Leverage Group, LLC.