Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[thechosen1]

Oh boy...

Coinbase Stock Jumps After Announcing Bitcoin Partnership With BlackRock

BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, announced a partnership with Coinbase Global on Thursday—some good news for an industry where layoffs and turmoil have become commonplace. Coinbase

www.wsj.com

Decentralized...? How about... SUPER DUPER CENTRALIZED! (Gru voice)

 

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[AceVentures]

Anyone else experience insomnia after getting covid? That is the only thing I can think of. I have never really experienced this in my life before, and this is twice now in two weeks that I have not slept. The first time I at least fell asleep at about 7am and got a bit of rest. Today again I did not sleep, but I am heading to the mountains for a bike ride in about an hour. This will be interesting.

Yes - I felt it as well. The physical sensation was similar to intense anxiety - heart palpitations, throbbing, headaches, fear.

I genuinely believe my reaction was a consequence of fear, rather than a distinctly physiological/biochemical fault of cov.

Once I started seeing improvements, the fear abated, and the anxiety went away. The day after my initial set of improvements, I took a shit and saw some red in there. Went for a drive and all awhile the pattern of anxiety was back, the fear, the heart palpitations, all of it. I kept thinking oh god this cov thing is no joke, here I am shitting blood, what am I gonna do!

Until I realized the red was because I had drank a bunch of beet juice in the morning. And immediately, the anxiety was gone, headache disappeared, in an instant.

You might find solace knowing: almost everyone on the planet has contracted this damn thing, and here we all are still. Eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, spend time loving your family, go play in the sun, and it will all be alright. See if you can tackle the anxiety by way of strengthening your conviction and confidence.

If you feel down and need a good laugh, just remember what Ravioli used to say: it's a F*cking nothing burger!

 

[GPM]

Well just got back from my ride, we had originally planned on doing a more difficult trail but I requested the easy trail as per my getting 0 sleep (and like 4 hours the night prior).

21.5km distance with 685m vertical. Not too bad. My Garmin say I burned ~1000 calories. Now time to try to get that nap! Let's see if my kids leave me alone for a few hours.

 

[MitchC]

I just realized that VC-funding is bullshit! Why?

VCs success is most probably due to luck. At my job a colleague recently showed me a booklet by a VC showing their "success" metrics: Out of all their investments 50 % of startups lose money (= make no return on the VCs investment), 45 % brake even (= return equals investment) and only mere 5 % return 10x or more on the initial VCs investment. Overall a VC 4x's the total fund sum. Ok, so this means their hit rate is 5 % and miss rate is 95 %. These are average market numbers. The VCs booklet stated that they were "proud of their success metrics". Laughable!

My colleague keeps pushing me to go work for a VC, so I'm like "okay let's chat". Had a quick chat with a partner and asked him "What role does LUCK play in your success". He gave me some bullshit answer about their investment experience. Yeah, okay, so they invest today and only know 4-7 years LATER if their investment pays out or not. Imagine shooting darts and only getting feedback every 4-7 YEARS, if you missed or hit. How the hell do you want to build an experience like this? Please stop talking about "experience" when it comes to VCs success.

On top of that, most VCs do not do any pre-seed or seed rounds. So this means the business has been pre-validated by at least a couple of Business Angels (= rich people who invest in startups) who believe in this idea. So the VC just jumps on board probably thinking "oh well, if they think it's good, it's good enough for me".

So, finally, what do I take away from this? Do NOT think, if a VC thinks you're cool, that this has any kind of real-world validation. A VC is NOT the market! If a VC invests, you most probably will fail! Stop whanking over your VC millions. They mean shit! Stop trying to be a millionaire on paper (VC money)!

This video sums up pretty nicely what I mean:

View: https://youtu.be/5eW6Eagr9XA

Man I don’t understand the point of your post.

This is exactly how VCs are supposed to work, it’s not a secret.

Regular investors are aiming for like safe 5% returns across safe diversified companies.

VCs are aiming to hit like 100x say 2% of the time and fail every other time.

The VC in your post 4Xed the fund? That’s an insane ROI.

They aren’t going to hit 10x or 100x on every bet they make that would be ridiculous.

Also depending on what type of business you want to start VC money is a necessity not a nice to have. They also offer a lot of advice and connections that can be a huge help.

VCs and startups are just entirely different businesses to traditional businesses.

They need money to grow fast and become market leaders rather than growing the traditional slow and steady way. Often times they are losing a lot of money until they get big enough to be profitable.

I have heard one story where a guy sold his VC funded company for 600k and the fund let him keep all the money because they didn’t care about it, they wanted home runs not small amounts of money. I would never say no to money or an outcome like that.

I’m really struggling to understand your point and why you wouldn’t go and work for a VC, you’d get to meet heaps of founders and work with them and see which companies work and which don’t and why.

You don’t want to work with them because they don’t hit home runs every time? Most people on here fail 4-5 businesses before 1 works and that’s with a fairly safe business formula.

 

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[doster.zach]

Man I don’t understand the point of your post.

This is exactly how VCs are supposed to work, it’s not a secret.

Regular investors are aiming for like safe 5% returns across safe diversified companies.

VCs are aiming to hit like 100x say 2% of the time and fail every other time.

The VC in your post 4Xed the fund? That’s an insane ROI.

They aren’t going to hit 10x or 100x on every bet they make that would be ridiculous.

Also depending on what type of business you want to start VC money is a necessity not a nice to have. They also offer a lot of advice and connections that can be a huge help.

VCs and startups are just entirely different businesses to traditional businesses.

They need money to grow fast and become market leaders rather than growing the traditional slow and steady way. Often times they are losing a lot of money until they get big enough to be profitable.

I have heard one story where a guy sold his VC funded company for 600k and the fund let him keep all the money because they didn’t care about it, they wanted home runs not small amounts of money. I would never say no to money or an outcome like that.

I’m really struggling to understand your point and why you wouldn’t go and work for a VC, you’d get to meet heaps of founders and work with them and see which companies work and which don’t and why.

You don’t want to work with them because they don’t hit home runs every time? Most people on here fail 4-5 businesses before 1 works and that’s with a fairly safe business formula.

Yup, they are playing at a roulette table where the payout of a bet is 100X, but they gotta make 90 bets to get it, would be stupid not to play.

 

[MitchC]

Yup, they are playing at a roulette table with expected value of a bet is 100X, but they gotta make 90 bets to get it, would be stupid not to play.

The companies are totally different too. They’re on another level of providing value and changing the world.

Uber for example would not be possible without VC money.

You can sell things on Amazon or make an app or make a SAAS like people here do and make millions and provide value and build a team and create jobs and have an exit etc, but you aren’t going to make Uber without VC money, you’d get eaten alive by someone with funding before it even got off the ground.

 

[doster.zach]

The companies are totally different too. They’re on another level of providing value and changing the world.

Uber for example would not be possible without VC money.

You can sell things on Amazon or make an app or make a SAAS like people here do and make millions and provide value and build a team and create jobs and have an exit etc, but you aren’t going to make Uber without VC money, you’d get eaten alive by someone with funding before it even got off the ground.

That’s true according to Mark Cuban, he said he didn’t invest in Uber because he thought litigation from Taxi companies would destroy it.

 

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[GPM]

The VC in your post 4Xed the fund? That’s an insane ROI.

I am thinking that the smaller number in "4x" return on investment looked like junk compared to those super stable large number investments like "8%". Bring on that 8% baby! That is twice the number that 4 is!

 

[Antifragile]

This is why I love where I live, it was a picture perfect day here.

 

[Rabby]

That explains the wired mouse haha. That sounds super interesting, let us know how it goes? Have you gone before?

I've been to other security conferences, but this will be my first time at defcon. I'm sure I'll post some interesting things about it

 

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[Rabby]

I have no idea what any of this means, but I love the DeWalt compatibility.

Yeah, never go down the road of multiple battery systems. It's a nightmare. Now my drill, my flashlight, my driver, my angle grinder, and my computer all run on 20v MAX... same charger for everything

 

[Kirk84]

They aren’t going to hit 10x or 100x on every bet they make that would be ridiculous.

With every investment decision they make, they strongly believe that this is the one or two that have the potential to make that 10x or 100x return. My point is: Being a VC backed Startup is most probably worse than bootstrapping. I witness a lot of entrepreneurs chasing that VC Evaluation (= rich on paper). I just now realized it’s all bs.

They also offer a lot of advice and connections that can be a huge help.

That is true and very valuable indeed!

I’m really struggling to understand your point and why you wouldn’t go and work for a VC, you’d get to meet heaps of founders and work with them and see which companies work and which don’t and why.

I meed dozens of founders on a weekly basis and already see what works and what doesn’t much faster compared to a VC. Although I’m working with them more in the pre-incubation or pre-seed until A-Series phase.

You don’t want to work with them because they don’t hit home runs every time? Most people on here fail 4-5 businesses before 1 works and that’s with a fairly safe business formula.

I want to do the latter. My final point is: VCs are clueless. It‘s like they’re throwing darts in the dark. There’s less to learn compared to bootstrapping your own business.

 

[loop101]

Is there good open source software for writing a non-fiction book that uses some kind of markdown, so it can be stored in a version control system? The output would probably be a PDF, something that could be marketed by the usual suspects (Kindle, Gumroad, etc).

I have a ton of notes on various subjects, and I want to organize and publish them. There would be text and diagrams/charts. I really don't like commercial software and proprietary formats.

 

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[MTF]

Is there good open source software for writing a non-fiction book that uses some kind of markdown, so it can be stored in a version control system? The output would probably be a PDF, something that could be marketed by the usual suspects (Kindle, Gumroad, etc).

I have a ton of notes on various subjects, and I want to organize and publish them. There would be text and diagrams/charts. I really don't like commercial software and proprietary formats.

https://alternativeto.net/software/scrivener/?license=opensource

Never used any of them as I like Word.

 

[mdot]

Is there good open source software for writing a non-fiction book that uses some kind of markdown, so it can be stored in a version control system? The output would probably be a PDF, something that could be marketed by the usual suspects (Kindle, Gumroad, etc).

I have a ton of notes on various subjects, and I want to organize and publish them. There would be text and diagrams/charts. I really don't like commercial software and proprietary formats.

LaTeX is extremely popular with universities for scientific papers
LaTeX - A document preparation system

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I haven't heard a lot about the Joe Rogan podcast as of late (news, vid posts, etc.). We used to get someone commenting about it (or posting a vid) here weekly, usually about some topic. Is he on hiatus? (I just saw someone posted a vid in my HBOT thread, the first I've seen around here in months).

 

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[AceVentures]

I haven't heard a lot about the Joe Rogan podcast as of late (news, vid posts, etc.). We used to get someone commenting about it (or posting a vid) here weekly, usually about some topic. Is he on hiatus? (I just saw someone posted a vid in my HBOT thread, the first I've seen around here in months).

No he's still kicking - His talk with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, hosts of the Triggernometry podcast, is an insightful one that came out last week if you're looking to filter for a more interesting conversation.

I've got to admit though, after the left tried to cancel him he changed. He gave in a little bit, and now tries to take a more neutral position, often getting his guests to say the thing he wants to. It's a more tactical approach but as a longtime fan I sometimes feel disappointed and wish he would speak his truth.

Do you want the wide reach that the corporate platform offers you? Do you want the money, the comfort, the cigars and talking shit with the other comics? Or do you want to bring attention to controversial topics that need to be publicly scrutinized? Must be a tough balance to keep. Kudos to him and his team for meandering these tough situations.

 

[Antifragile]

Went out for 100Km+ bike ride this morning, amazing weather and stunning views…

Enjoy and have a nice weekend.

 

[S.Y.]

A gem. Couple of insightful and unconventional findings.

View: https://youtu.be/t1F7EEGPQwo

 

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[biophase]

View: https://youtu.be/CK_BCMA9yoY

Pretty much captures everything. LOL

 

[BigRomeDawg]

View attachment 44625Went out for 100Km+ bike ride this morning, amazing weather and stunning views…

Enjoy and have a nice weekend.

Where is that?

 

[MTF]

View: https://youtu.be/CK_BCMA9yoY

Pretty much captures everything. LOL

He missed taking a cold shower so he has no chances of ever making $1M a year.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

View: https://youtu.be/CK_BCMA9yoY

Pretty much captures everything. LOL

Dude... I just scrolled through this post (I didn't click on the video) and I go on YouTube today, this video is on my homepage... (I've never seen this video before nor was it ever recommended to me). Since when did my eyes have cookies?

 

[loop101]

I saw a Russian WW2 movie called "T-34", that was entertaining. It's like a cross between The Great Escape and The Matrix, made as a tank movie.

Someone reduced the entire movie down to a 5m action sequence (*spoilers*):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BlybdjhVg

 

[MattR82]

I'm shocked that anyone would buy a brand new luxury car these days. Especially a model that is in its first iteration, so to speak.

BMW's are catching fire and they've just done a recall on some of their new electric range and told people to stop driving them immediately (don't park them near buildings, they say, lol). Similar story with Mercedes. And both have pretty horrific service centre issues.

Yet people gots to have a BRAND NEW one.

I can understand it the money means nothing and you're not relying on the car for work or something, but otherwise... seems bonkers.

Until then... I'll just buy Japanese cars.

 

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[Rabby]

I saw a Russian WW2 movie called "T-34", that was entertaining. It's like a cross between The Great Escape and The Matrix, made as a tank movie.

Someone reduced the entire movie down to a 5m action sequence (*spoilers*):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BlybdjhVg

So much of the discomfort could be avoided if people would just wear ear protection while engaging in tank battles.

 

[Antifragile]

Canada may not be perfect, no country is. But overall it’s pretty damn good, and not just my opinion… as I’m biased…

Here’s how the 2022 rankings sorted out:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Calgary, Canada
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Toronto, Canada
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Osaka, Japan, and Melbourne, Australia (tied)

When it comes to the Top 10 places to live on earth, no U.S. city made the list

Canada, though, might have the most to brag about. The northern neighbor to the U.S. had three cities in the Top 10.

fortune.com

 

[PureA]

Canada may not be perfect, no country is. But overall it’s pretty damn good, and not just my opinion… as I’m biased…

Here’s how the 2022 rankings sorted out:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Calgary, Canada
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Toronto, Canada
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Osaka, Japan, and Melbourne, Australia (tied)

When it comes to the Top 10 places to live on earth, no U.S. city made the list

Canada, though, might have the most to brag about. The northern neighbor to the U.S. had three cities in the Top 10.

fortune.com

Canada is one of the top places in the world I would actively avoid. Seeing what their leadership is capable of this last few years sets a dangerous precedent. Freedom is everything.

 

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[PureA]

You do that. Please continue! Thanks

Hahaha

Genuinely curious, are you not concerned?

 

[thechosen1]

Canada is one of the top places in the world I would actively avoid. Seeing what their leadership is capable of this last few years sets a dangerous precedent. Freedom is everything.

Me too. Canada, Australia, and Austria went the furthest on the lockdown tyranny. The list is a “who’s who” on 2020-2021 oppression.

IN SPITE OF THAT, there are lots of highly intelligent people working hard to make those countries great. Entrepreneurs, investors, innovators.

But that’s in spite of the leadership, not because of it. Big diff!