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

[GPM]

Insanely Clueless "activists"

So I read this because Van Gogh is hands down my favorite artist. Turns out these brain dead activists are protesting high fuel prices and such, and are part of a group trying to stop oil production. Yes, you read that correctly. They think high heating costs are a crime, and want the world to stop using oil.

They can actually hold those two thoughts in their brains at the same time. That is absolutely insane. That is like protesting that there is no food on the shelves and saying that we need to stop farmers because they destroy so much natural land in order to plant their crops. These are the young of todays world...

 

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[Antifragile]

Holy shit, this is the building next to mine. I always wondered what they did LOL.
And I guess the other building is a sperm bank. I never knew.

View attachment 45532

It’s not just a sperm bank, it’s a World Sperm Bank. What a row of businesses! How do you fit in all of that?

 

[MoneyDoc]

@MJ DeMarco

Can everyone please report this? They even acknowledge that they got a copyright strike for Part 1 when asked why Part 1 was removed. So they know what they've done is wrong but still do it again anyways. Unbelievable.

View: https://youtu.be/RTHRx5qsjSs

 

[xShepherdx]

Interesting story on how Chobani was founded:

Chobani’s Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors​

Basically, the founder was an immigrant who started/owned a feta cheese company and saw an opportunity to start a new business when an old yogurt factory went up for sale in 2005.

The factory was priced at less than one million dollars, which he was able to afford with an SBA loan and only 10% of his own money down.

So, assuming a flat 1M starting price in 2005 to a 10 billion dollar valuation in 2022, Chobani has increased in value by 999,900% over 17 years. This is equal to a compound growth rate of ~72% per year for 17 years.

The 10 billion dollar valuation is based on what Chobani's (now scrapped) IPO was estimated to be worth in November 2022. This 10 billion dollar valuation is inaccurate for a variety of reasons, but the math shows that even at just a 2 billion dollar valuation, this relatively small investment paid off in a huge way.

For context, if he would have instead invested 1 million dollars into the S&P 500 in 2005, his shares would be worth 4.53 million dollars today. That's only a ~353% total return over 17 years, or a compound growth rate of just ~9% per year.

Granted, this guy worked his tail off to grow the company, probably had his fair share of luck, etc. But I'd take 17 years of hard work for a billion dollars over 17 years of lazy, mediocre stock returns any day.

This is why I love the Fastlane.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

Interesting story on how Chobani was founded:

Chobani’s Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors​

Basically, the founder was an immigrant who started/owned a feta cheese company and saw an opportunity to start a new business when an old yogurt factory went up for sale in 2005.

The factory was priced at less than one million dollars, which he was able to afford with an SBA loan and only 10% of his own money down.

So, assuming a flat 1M starting price in 2005 to a 10 billion dollar valuation in 2022, Chobani has increased in value by 999,900% over 17 years. This is equal to a compound growth rate of ~72% per year for 17 years.

The 10 billion dollar valuation is based on Chobani's (now scrapped) IPO was estimated to be worth in November 2022. This 10 billion dollar valuation is inaccurate for a variety of reasons, but the math shows that even at just a 2 billion dollar valuation, this relatively small investment paid off in a huge way.

For context, if he would have instead invested 1 million dollars into the S&P 500 in 2005, his shares would be worth 4.53 million dollars today. That's only a ~353% total return over 17 years, or a compound growth rate of just ~9% per year.

Granted, this guy worked his tail off to grow the company, probably had his fair share of luck, etc. But I'd take 17 years of hard work for a billion dollars over 17 years of lazy, mediocre stock returns any day.

This is why I love the Fastlane.

I've read his story before. Wonderful entrepreneur and a damn great story.

 

[Antifragile]

Interesting story on how Chobani was founded:

Chobani’s Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors​

Basically, the founder was an immigrant who started/owned a feta cheese company and saw an opportunity to start a new business when an old yogurt factory went up for sale in 2005.

The factory was priced at less than one million dollars, which he was able to afford with an SBA loan and only 10% of his own money down.

So, assuming a flat 1M starting price in 2005 to a 10 billion dollar valuation in 2022, Chobani has increased in value by 999,900% over 17 years. This is equal to a compound growth rate of ~72% per year for 17 years.

The 10 billion dollar valuation is based on what Chobani's (now scrapped) IPO was estimated to be worth in November 2022. This 10 billion dollar valuation is inaccurate for a variety of reasons, but the math shows that even at just a 2 billion dollar valuation, this relatively small investment paid off in a huge way.

For context, if he would have instead invested 1 million dollars into the S&P 500 in 2005, his shares would be worth 4.53 million dollars today. That's only a ~353% total return over 17 years, or a compound growth rate of just ~9% per year.

Granted, this guy worked his tail off to grow the company, probably had his fair share of luck, etc. But I'd take 17 years of hard work for a billion dollars over 17 years of lazy, mediocre stock returns any day.

This is why I love the Fastlane.

What a great read. Thank you for sharing! So many valuable lessons, from pricing and financing to control. Amazing!

 

[Beebop27]

Curious, is there a pejorative word to describe someone like this?

No matter what you say, this person always has a snappy comeback, an opposing view to whatever you say.

And it doesn't matter WHAT YOU SAY.

You could say, "The sky is blue." and this a**hole would comeback and say, "well technically, it is black and the oxygen makes it appear blue."

I recently had to delete a dickhead like this from the Unscripted Text Network. . . I think in total I have probably made 60 posts in the network, and 60 times, he's had to bounce back with his contrarian viewpoint. Needless to say, I removed this dickhead from the group who became like an insufferable ankle-biting chihuahua, nipping at any comment I made.

Edgelord comes to mind to describe someone like this, but it doesn't seem to fit.

Narcissist

 

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[loop101]

Curious, is there a pejorative word to describe someone like this?

No matter what you say, this person always has a snappy comeback, an opposing view to whatever you say.

And it doesn't matter WHAT YOU SAY.

You could say, "The sky is blue." and this a**hole would comeback and say, "well technically, it is black and the oxygen makes it appear blue."

I recently had to delete a dickhead like this from the Unscripted Text Network. . . I think in total I have probably made 60 posts in the network, and 60 times, he's had to bounce back with his contrarian viewpoint. Needless to say, I removed this dickhead from the group who became like an insufferable ankle-biting chihuahua, nipping at any comment I made.

Edgelord comes to mind to describe someone like this, but it doesn't seem to fit.

I've always heard the term "contrarian". You even used it in your question

 

[loop101]

If American car companies can't get chips from China, I wonder if they will start building "retro" cars that don't need them. Give us "ATVs" that are fully street-legal. Give us VW Bugs, Ford Mustangs, and earlier Jeeps, again. Bring back simplicity.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Can everyone please report this? They even acknowledge that they got a copyright strike for Part 1 when asked why Part 1 was removed. So they know what they've done is wrong but still do it again anyways. Unbelievable.

It's been removed, I joyfully filed a claim, another strike for them. How many until their channel is removed? What a shitty business model, stealing other people's IP.

 

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[eramart]

I've always heard the term "contrarian". You even used it in your question

Smartass sounds close to the mark )

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Smartass sounds close to the mark )

Yes, and the "actually guy"...

 

[MoneyDoc]

It's been removed, I joyfully filed a claim, another strike for them. How many until their channel is removed? What a shitty business model, stealing other people's IP.

Lovely!

Last I checked it was 3 strikes.

What's even more shittier is the fact they acknowledge what they're doing is copyright infringement and yet still do it again.

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1580889341265469440

View: https://twitter.com/jordanschnyc/status/1580889341265469440

 

[Kak]

If American car companies can't get chips from China, I wonder if they will start building "retro" cars that don't need them. Give us "ATVs" that are fully street-legal. Give us VW Bugs, Ford Mustangs, and earlier Jeeps, again. Bring back simplicity.

I’m in, but they won’t. I think they’d sooner just build the chips themselves.

I’d take a brand new 80s Jeep in a heartbeat though.

 

[MattR82]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1580889341265469440

View: https://twitter.com/jordanschnyc/status/1580889341265469440

Is this as dramatic as he makes it sound?

 

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[loop101]

There is a caterpillar that, when threatened, morphs in to a fake snake. Assuming that generations of caterpillars did not look at a snake, and decide to evolve the ability to mimic the snake, then evolution found this solution through generations of mutations and propagating the better solutions. I believe in evolution, but it looks like a freaking snake.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1581215592136130560

View: https://twitter.com/fasc1nate/status/1581215592136130560

 

[xShepherdx]

Just read an interesting article about California switching to digital license plates:

California drivers can now sport digital license plates on their cars​

I was mostly interested in the last two paragraphs:

"The department (California DMV) believes that the Digital License Plate is a viable license plate alternative and recommends it to become a permanent option for Californians," the agency said.

Reviver offers a battery-powered version of the RPlate that costs $19.95 per month as well as a hard-wired option for commercial vehicles priced at $24.95 per month.

Elsewhere in the article, they mentioned that there were roughly 36 million vehicles registered in California.

Some quick math shows that even if just 10% of the vehicles switch to the new plates, Reviver will be earning at least ~$71 million dollars per month or ~861 million dollars per year. And that's just from a small amount of Californians. I'm also guessing their churn rate would be incredibly low.

Given that these plates also allow you to renew your registration automatically, track location and mileage, show amber alerts, signal that a vehicle was stolen, etc., I could see companies installing these plates on factory vehicles moving forward. Or even being mandated by the state potentially.

The general consensus in CA is that the DMV sucks, and this is a potential solution to that problem.

So, at a very quick glance, this seems to be a great business opportunity...all for something as "simple" as a license plate.

How many basic objects do we walk by or use each day that could turn into an opportunity like this?

Makes me wonder...

 

[GPM]

Just read an interesting article about California switching to digital license plates:

California drivers can now sport digital license plates on their cars​

I was mostly interested in the last two paragraphs:

Elsewhere in the article, they mentioned that there were roughly 36 million vehicles registered in California.

Some quick math shows that even if just 10% of the vehicles switch to the new plates, Reviver will be earning at least ~$71 million dollars per month or ~861 million dollars per year. And that's just from a small amount of Californians. I'm also guessing their churn rate would be incredibly low.

Given that these plates also allow you to renew your registration automatically, track location and mileage, show amber alerts, signal that a vehicle was stolen, etc., I could see companies installing these plates on factory vehicles moving forward. Or even being mandated by the state potentially.

The general consensus in CA is that the DMV sucks, and this is a potential solution to that problem.

So, at a very quick glance, this seems to be a great business opportunity...all for something as "simple" as a license plate.

How many basic objects do we walk by or use each day that could turn into an opportunity like this?

Makes me wonder...

Tie this in to our new social credit system and we are golden. Do something that the state doesn't agree with? Now their license plate can be blanked out with big Red Letters displaying that they need to be pulled over or reported asap. Bad citizen! Please call on your neighbor and your social credit score will increase by 5 points!

 

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[MattR82]

Tie this in to our new social credit system and we are golden. Do something that the state doesn't agree with? Now their license plate can be blanked out with big Red Letters displaying that they need to be pulled over or reported asap. Bad citizen! Please call on your neighbor and your social credit score will increase by 5 points!

Surely it will never be hacked either...

 

[Antifragile]

Tie this in to our new social credit system and we are golden. Do something that the state doesn't agree with? Now their license plate can be blanked out with big Red Letters displaying that they need to be pulled over or reported asap. Bad citizen! Please call on your neighbor and your social credit score will increase by 5 points!

Like a black mirror episode on netflix
... shiiiit ...

 

[msufan]

So, at a very quick glance, this seems to be a great business opportunity...all for something as "simple" as a license plate.

Thanks for the interesting post. This example intrigues me because it seems like a much, much worse alternative to me. Yet they are able to charge more for it. That makes me wonder what other things I rule out as being changes for the worse which could actually be appealing to a subset of people.

For example, you could have:
-Speakers/earbuds/headphones that can't play very loud (which is worse... but which might be marketed as good for protecting your hearing, perhaps to be sold for kids?)
-Men's clothing without pockets (which is worse... but perhaps there are men who want more form-fitting clothes?)
-Portable freezers (which would be worse than a normal refrigerator/freezer, but could be better for college dorm rooms which usually only have mini-fridges)

Which gets us into the idea that reducing features can be a key to success... things like
-"Dumb" cell phones for kids (very limited features on purpose)
-Arithmetic-only calculators (removing the algebra/geom/trig keys for people not wanting them)

and so much more. This is interesting to ponder!

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

Thanks for the interesting post. This example intrigues me because it seems like a much, much worse alternative to me. Yet they are able to charge more for it. That makes me wonder what other things I rule out as being changes for the worse which could actually be appealing to a subset of people.

For example, you could have:
-Speakers/earbuds/headphones that can't play very loud (which is worse... but which might be marketed as good for protecting your hearing, perhaps to be sold for kids?)
-Men's clothing without pockets (which is worse... but perhaps there are men who want more form-fitting clothes?)
-Portable freezers (which would be worse than a normal refrigerator/freezer, but could be better for college dorm rooms which usually only have mini-fridges)

Which gets us into the idea that reducing features can be a key to success... things like
-"Dumb" cell phones for kids (very limited features on purpose)
-Arithmetic-only calculators (removing the algebra/geom/trig keys for people not wanting them)

and so much more. This is interesting to ponder!

Most of the things you mention do exist as products, so yes, there is a market for that.

In the case of the digital license plates, getting an “in” with the government people would be your biggest competitive edge.

I wonder who has a stake in that company....

 

[S.Y.]

Thousand of books, mainly classics, are accessible through Project Gutenberg.

 

[Xeon]

Creating a product for a problem that doesn't exist.

Meta documents show main metaverse is losing users and falling short of goals, report says

Facebook owner Meta's Horizon Worlds is failing to meet internal performance expectations, a report says.

www.cnbc.com

 

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[msufan]

Creating a product for a problem that doesn't exist.

Meta documents show main metaverse is losing users and falling short of goals, report says

Facebook owner Meta's Horizon Worlds is failing to meet internal performance expectations, a report says.

www.cnbc.com

I hope that continues to languish

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Creating a product for a problem that doesn't exist.

Meta documents show main metaverse is losing users and falling short of goals, report says

Facebook owner Meta's Horizon Worlds is failing to meet internal performance expectations, a report says.

www.cnbc.com

This is what happens when you ignore the commandment of NEED

 

[ZF Lee]

I just came back from helping to organise a church man's camp.
Of course, there's a lot we had to buy and order for the event.

And amongst our various vendors, I got reminded that as imperfect as we can be in providing value-- it is
HOW we adapt to amend the gaps that actually make the cut.

Here's two of our vendors to compare:

(A) CAMP CATERER
The camp place had an on-site kitchen where we sourced all the camp meals.
Our food and logistics people specifically informed them of the number of pax to cook for (plus extras).

The first day of camp was a washout.

We were running dry of food quicker than expected-- so that we had to instruct the team on duty to carefully portion out servings before we opened the floor for second helpings. If it were not for my dad bringing in extra treats (that is another story altogether)...and logistics bringing extra fruits and others-- we'd be screwed.

Rule No. 1 of running camp is you must NEVER run out of food!

We could have let it go if the slip-ups were kept only to the first day itself.

But SECOND DAY breakfast food portions got pretty sad...some folks were only left with sauce to drizzle on their rice...

The logistics guy was so furious...he took the kitchen head aside and said, 'If we paid you too little-- just TELL us! Yet we paid you...and then you DIDN'T PROVIDE ENOUGH FOOD?!'

So for the rest of camp, they upped the food portions. We even went out to boost the food choices by buying some fried egg or pork or whatever. But we'll be blacklisting that camp provider in future...

Now here's a different case story:

(B) T-SHIRT DESIGNER
Every camp will need official T-shirts.

So we ordered a few hundred microfibre shirts...but the designer delivered them so late that we could only get them on last day of camp! In fact, the logistics person had to drive out late at night midway of camp to get him.

But the difference here is that the T-shirt designer not only gave us a good discount to compensate us...he gave us some microfibre shirts FOR FREE. He didn't have enough stock to provide around 10 microfibre shirts for XXL sizes...so he gave XXL shirts in COTTON to us FOR FREE.

Later he'll be sending us the remaining microfibre shirts.

Needless to say, we'll be going back to him for next camp's shirts.



On a separate note...helping to organise events and camps CAN improve your mental models on creating Fastlane systems (especially when there's people involved). It's been YEARS since I helped at church....and there was plenty of lessons I drew out from it all.

 

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[xShepherdx]

Tie this in to our new social credit system and we are golden. Do something that the state doesn't agree with? Now their license plate can be blanked out with big Red Letters displaying that they need to be pulled over or reported asap. Bad citizen! Please call on your neighbor and your social credit score will increase by 5 points!

But California would never do that! Besides, I can customize the plates with personalized banners and show off how unique I am! /s

In reality, they already know where each of us are basically 24/7 thanks to the tiny back box in our pockets. So having your phone emit a forced, highly audible amber alert sound is already a possibility.

 

[xShepherdx]

Thanks for the interesting post. This example intrigues me because it seems like a much, much worse alternative to me. Yet they are able to charge more for it. That makes me wonder what other things I rule out as being changes for the worse which could actually be appealing to a subset of people.

For example, you could have:
-Speakers/earbuds/headphones that can't play very loud (which is worse... but which might be marketed as good for protecting your hearing, perhaps to be sold for kids?)
-Men's clothing without pockets (which is worse... but perhaps there are men who want more form-fitting clothes?)
-Portable freezers (which would be worse than a normal refrigerator/freezer, but could be better for college dorm rooms which usually only have mini-fridges)

Which gets us into the idea that reducing features can be a key to success... things like
-"Dumb" cell phones for kids (very limited features on purpose)
-Arithmetic-only calculators (removing the algebra/geom/trig keys for people not wanting them)

and so much more. This is interesting to ponder!

Hey, I'm glad you found value in it!

I think "worse" is the wrong word here though.

For example, people mow their lawns while listening to headphones to cancel out the noise. Are you aware of just how loud and bad that is for your ears?

So quiet headphones would be "better"... based on my values.

And that's what it all comes down to: What does the customer value?

People who value their ears may want a set of headphones with limited volume.

Whereas people who value the ability to block out all outside noise may want full control of their volume.

This is definitely an interesting way to think.

What else could be improved by reduction or restriction?