There’s a scene in the Big Short where the Brownfield Fund guys realize that they are right about the bets they are going to make. And they start to celebrate in the middle of the casino. Brad Pitt rebukes them.[Just Don’t Dance] I was thinking of this last night, literally in the middle of the night, as I honestly felt I had some background processing going on some of the economic news I have been reading over the past few days.the seemingly impending Credit Suisse disasterthe Bank of Englan...

There’s a scene in the Big Short where the Brownfield Fund guys realize that they are right about the bets they are going to make. And they start to celebrate in the middle of the casino. Brad Pitt rebukes them.[Just Don’t Dance] I was thinking of this last night, literally in the middle of the night, as I honestly felt I had some background processing going on some of the economic news I have been reading over the past few days.the seemingly impending Credit Suisse disasterthe Bank of Englan...

An article in the Wall Street Journal on June 30th proudly proclaimed that “DeFi has an Existential Problem.” It then went on to detail all of the numerous issues with companies such as Celsius, BlockFi, and Three Arrows Capital, all of which have had major liquidity crises in recent weeks due to the downturn in the crypto and broader markets. The author, Jon Sidreau, states that while DeFi has promise, it’s basically gone down the same pit of financial ruin that Wall St., the entity it is me...

An article in the Wall Street Journal on June 30th proudly proclaimed that “DeFi has an Existential Problem.” It then went on to detail all of the numerous issues with companies such as Celsius, BlockFi, and Three Arrows Capital, all of which have had major liquidity crises in recent weeks due to the downturn in the crypto and broader markets. The author, Jon Sidreau, states that while DeFi has promise, it’s basically gone down the same pit of financial ruin that Wall St., the entity it is me...

I sold Never Stop Marketing a month or so before Covid started, but retained a small portion of ownership as well as my email address. However, the time has come to let go of that. NSM was-and is- a critical concept in marketing. You should never stop. It served me well on two tours of duty, from 2008-2012 and again from 2016-2020. At its height, it was a solid brand and I’m proud of what was built there, with the help of many people. However, an important part of life is learning when it is ...

I sold Never Stop Marketing a month or so before Covid started, but retained a small portion of ownership as well as my email address. However, the time has come to let go of that. NSM was-and is- a critical concept in marketing. You should never stop. It served me well on two tours of duty, from 2008-2012 and again from 2016-2020. At its height, it was a solid brand and I’m proud of what was built there, with the help of many people. However, an important part of life is learning when it is ...

One of the conclusions I’ve reached over the past 6 years in crypto is that many of the institutions that ostensibly claim to have the purpose of “protecting” individuals are actually mechanisms for reinforcement of the elite-centric status quo. The SEC is the prime example with accredited investor laws being the pinnacle. I was thinking about this as I read through The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World . There’s a section in there about th...

One of the conclusions I’ve reached over the past 6 years in crypto is that many of the institutions that ostensibly claim to have the purpose of “protecting” individuals are actually mechanisms for reinforcement of the elite-centric status quo. The SEC is the prime example with accredited investor laws being the pinnacle. I was thinking about this as I read through The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World . There’s a section in there about th...

The tour through the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis took us into the stables of the iconic Clydesdale horses. The horses were first associated with the brand in 1933 to celebrate the repeal of prohibition and went on a national tour, pulling a beer wagon and making deliveries to places like Wall St. and the White House. What caught my eye in the display was the description underneath “Commemorated Through Time.” It says: “Collectibles are a tangible way for a consumer to remember an impo...

The tour through the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis took us into the stables of the iconic Clydesdale horses. The horses were first associated with the brand in 1933 to celebrate the repeal of prohibition and went on a national tour, pulling a beer wagon and making deliveries to places like Wall St. and the White House. What caught my eye in the display was the description underneath “Commemorated Through Time.” It says: “Collectibles are a tangible way for a consumer to remember an impo...

The news came out the other day that the Bank of England had started purchasing government bonds on the open market in order to stem the sell-off. And that they would continue to do so “at whatever scale is necessary.” Nowhere in the article, however, did it mention that this is “quantitative easing” by another name. But isn’t it? That’s what I can’t figure out. Why isn’t this simply the creation of more money to be put into the economy?

The news came out the other day that the Bank of England had started purchasing government bonds on the open market in order to stem the sell-off. And that they would continue to do so “at whatever scale is necessary.” Nowhere in the article, however, did it mention that this is “quantitative easing” by another name. But isn’t it? That’s what I can’t figure out. Why isn’t this simply the creation of more money to be put into the economy?

Not the best panorama shot ever, I know, but the only important thing of this wall from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis is how long it is.This is a company that has been around since 1876, had to reinvent itself when Prohibtion hit, and has needed to continually innovate and pivot in order to remain the self-proclaimed “King of Beers.” A lot of other companies started in 1876, I would bet, but most of them are gone. The DNA of AB allowed them to prosper for many years…until they were ...

Not the best panorama shot ever, I know, but the only important thing of this wall from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis is how long it is.This is a company that has been around since 1876, had to reinvent itself when Prohibtion hit, and has needed to continually innovate and pivot in order to remain the self-proclaimed “King of Beers.” A lot of other companies started in 1876, I would bet, but most of them are gone. The DNA of AB allowed them to prosper for many years…until they were ...

The prompt for this blog is: “What’s on your mind?” What’s on my mind is trying to figure out if I want to stay committed to the daily practice of blogging. On the one hand, it’s a meditation of sorts and probably for that reason, it’s worth it. On the other hand, sometimes it’s a grind and I can’t figure out what I want to write about and so I just stare at the blinking cursor for a bit. That blinking cursor, when you have to write something, and, in particular, when you tell yourself “oh, t...

The prompt for this blog is: “What’s on your mind?” What’s on my mind is trying to figure out if I want to stay committed to the daily practice of blogging. On the one hand, it’s a meditation of sorts and probably for that reason, it’s worth it. On the other hand, sometimes it’s a grind and I can’t figure out what I want to write about and so I just stare at the blinking cursor for a bit. That blinking cursor, when you have to write something, and, in particular, when you tell yourself “oh, t...

I had the good opportunity to talk with Ted Wright, the CEO of Fizz (and of the book by the same name), and one of the world’s leading experts on Word-of-Mouth (WOMM) marketing. I’ll spare you all of the statistics, as I’ve referenced them many times before, but WOMM, even and especially, in our over-saturated media world is the single most important type of marketing. As I tell my team….”no one cares what we say about ourselves. They care about what other people say about us.”Stories Sell an...

I had the good opportunity to talk with Ted Wright, the CEO of Fizz (and of the book by the same name), and one of the world’s leading experts on Word-of-Mouth (WOMM) marketing. I’ll spare you all of the statistics, as I’ve referenced them many times before, but WOMM, even and especially, in our over-saturated media world is the single most important type of marketing. As I tell my team….”no one cares what we say about ourselves. They care about what other people say about us.”Stories Sell an...

The biggest problem that I found in the article, Composability in the Context of Defi which I touched on in Smart Contracts that are Too Big to Fail, was the implied assumption that the “fundamental infrastructure” of DeFi is existent.“Systemic risk increases the more a platform moves away from fundamental infrastructure elements such as Ethereum for Smart Contracts, IPFS and the Dat Protocol for Storage, and Chainlink for reliable off-chain data.”That’s just nonsense. Ok, so that may be a bi...

The biggest problem that I found in the article, Composability in the Context of Defi which I touched on in Smart Contracts that are Too Big to Fail, was the implied assumption that the “fundamental infrastructure” of DeFi is existent.“Systemic risk increases the more a platform moves away from fundamental infrastructure elements such as Ethereum for Smart Contracts, IPFS and the Dat Protocol for Storage, and Chainlink for reliable off-chain data.”That’s just nonsense. Ok, so that may be a bi...

There are a couple of things about the current macro-economic situation which baffle me. One is the price of gold. Let’s leave aside Bitcoin and the debate about whether or not it’s an inflation hedge, but gold? The long-time haven? With inflation running as rampant as it is, what gives in the gold market (down 8% this year)?Sovereign DebtThe other thing that really, really baffles me is the amount of sovereign debt out there and what happens to debt service (i.e. interest payments) as rate r...

There are a couple of things about the current macro-economic situation which baffle me. One is the price of gold. Let’s leave aside Bitcoin and the debate about whether or not it’s an inflation hedge, but gold? The long-time haven? With inflation running as rampant as it is, what gives in the gold market (down 8% this year)?Sovereign DebtThe other thing that really, really baffles me is the amount of sovereign debt out there and what happens to debt service (i.e. interest payments) as rate r...

The other day, we introduced the concept of Composability vs. Interoperability, inspired by the article, Composability in the Context of Defi. In that post, I focused a lot on the benefits of composability, calling it the “superpower” of crypto. That’s all true, however, it does come with risk and this risk is known as “Smart Contract Failure.” Basically, if any one of the smart contracts which serve as the proverbial “money legos” doesn’t work the way it is intended, the financial app that i...

The other day, we introduced the concept of Composability vs. Interoperability, inspired by the article, Composability in the Context of Defi. In that post, I focused a lot on the benefits of composability, calling it the “superpower” of crypto. That’s all true, however, it does come with risk and this risk is known as “Smart Contract Failure.” Basically, if any one of the smart contracts which serve as the proverbial “money legos” doesn’t work the way it is intended, the financial app that i...