Dickie's Digest - Writing, Airbnb, Tim Ferris, Lindy Essays, and Getting Started
A handful of things from me this week:
Today is the last day to sign up for the January Ship 30 for 30 cohort before prices jump. Over 40 people have signed up so far and the goal is 100! If you’re looking to start writing in 2021, this is the community for you.
I wrote a guest post on Jack Butcher’s Value.app about his Build Once, Sell Twice course. I also published essays on why you should start writing online, the five steps to take to get there, and the best resources to help you improve.
I shared templates for starting a daily writing habit and planning your day.
That’s it from me! In this week’s Digest
Have an epic week!
Dickie
🏘 The Airbnb IPO
The Airbnb IPO was the most fascinating event of the week. Surging to a close of $144 after pricing at $68, the company is now worth more than Marriot and Hilton combined at 100 billion dollars.
They have such an epic story. I dove into a few essays this week to learn more about their business model, their origin story, and their IPO process. TL;DR - everything about this company makes me long-term very bullish.
Starting with their origin story, I read this essay from Paul Graham. Such a cool story. From selling cereal boxes, to maxing out a binder full of credit cards to continue funding their company, to reaching ramen profitability - everything about their origin story is gritty.
What was special about the Airbnbs was how earnest they were. They did nothing half-way, and we could sense this even in the interview.
Why hadn’t they given up? This is a useful question to ask. People, like matter, reveal their nature under extreme conditions. One thing that’s clear is that they weren’t doing this just for the moneyThey knew they’d discovered something. They’d seen a glimpse of the future, and they couldn’t let it go.
After reading up on their origin, I dove into their business model in this post from my favorite tech Subtack, The Generalist.
It’s an ultra-comprehensive breakdown that takes about an hour to get through, but it was worth it. This company has a total-addressable-market of over 3.4 trillion dollars. We will look back on COVID as a blip on their radar if they capitalize on that opportunity.
If you don’t want to read that entire post, you can read this tweet thread summary which is the 80/20 of its origin, market, competition, financials - the whole nine yards.
Then, I revisited this podcast with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. This interview was on May 22nd, 2020. Airbnb had just raised an emergency funding round, slashed all of its nonessential expenses, and had a true come-to-Jesus moment as a company. But just listen to how calm, rational, and deliberate Brian Chesky was during the interview. I’m not surprised at all that they pulled through.
All in all, this is a company I think dominates the global travel, real estate, and experiences market for many years to come. But at a $100bn price tag, a lot of that is in the price.
What’s your take? Are you a buyer of the Airbnb IPO? Hit reply and let me know.
🧠 The Tim Ferris Show’s Incredible Juggernaut Run
The Tim Ferris Show is my favorite podcast. It’s been my favorite podcast for the last two years. I’ve listened to every single episode. Yet, in the last 12 weeks, the show has gone on an absolute juggernaut run, pumping out incredible episodes at a rapid clip.
Just in the last 12 weeks, I’ve listened to episodes with:
Every one of these episodes was epic. THEN, in just the last week, he released four more that were fire as well.
Here’s my advice: listen to all 10 of these episodes in a row. You will walk away smarter in just about every area of your life. Seriously - finance, marketing, productivity, creativity, entrepreneurship, crypto, writing, podcasting, e-commerce - you can learn from 10 geniuses in these 10 episodes. I plan on listening to each of them again this week.
Which of these is your favorite? Hit me reply and let me know - I’d love to know why.
📖 The Best Lindy Essays on the Internet
This thread is a huge curation of the best, timeless essays on the internet. Much of what I consume online was created in the last week. This was a refreshing change of pace, highlighting some essays I’d forgotten about and showing me a few I can’t believe I’d never read.
I’ll let you explore the entire thread, but here are my five favorite essays over five years old:
What is your favorite essay older than five years? Hit reply and let me know.
Last week’s most popular link
🎧This Week in Podcasts
If you love the Digest and its weekly podcast recommendations, consider checking out the Digest Podcast Compendium. It’s a curation of my favorite podcast episodes ever recorded, tagged, and summarized with three key takeaways. Supporters get three new podcasts and summaries every week plus an invitation to a private Slack group to chat about the best episodes.
🧠 Idea Corner
This section explores one new idea I came across in the past week.
Thanks for reading!
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