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Big thanks to the team at Entre and host Jimmy Douloumbakas for having an almost 1.5 HOUR Founders Series fireside chat.
Founder Fridays Interview Series w/ Shane Neman – 4-time founder, investor, and an all-around great guy. We discussed startups, tech, family, and the struggles of entrepreneurship. This is a great interview with a wealth of knowledge.
What I Am Reading:
"Popularity is only partially about individual attractiveness. It's much more about alliances. To become more popular, you need to be constantly doing things that bring you close to other popular people, and nothing brings people closer than a common enemy. Like a politician who wants to distract voters from bad times at home, you can create an enemy if there isn't a real one."
I do my best thinking and memorizing while pacing back and forth. This finally explains why!
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Had a blast talking to the gracious host of the Miami Real Estate PodCast Omar De Windt from Cervera for almost an hour about:
✅ Being an Entrepreneur in NYC for almost 20 years
✅ Why I decided to move my home and company outside of NYC
✅ The logistical process of moving to Miami and going through a tough residency audit
✅ What the personal benefits of living in South Florida are and why I don’t regret one minute of moving
✅ My Predictions for NYC and Miami in the Next 10 years
✅ Why it completely sucks to be a startup entrepreneur
#Miami #NYC #RealEstate #Startups #Investing #VentureCapital #EntrepreneurLife #NemanVentures
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My experience in the nightlife industry while developing JoonBug showed me that every new opportunity has two sides - one that complements the status quo, and the other that opens up avenues for innovation. I see Opportunity Zones as the perfect example, because while most entrepreneurs are focused on the tax cuts offered by the program, there is also a way for businesses to earn multiple benefits by becoming the cornerstone of the initiative, relocating or re-focusing their business to these Opportunity Zones.
Opportunity Zones (OZs) are a novelty, introduced barely more than two years ago back in December of 2017 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But they’re also well-known in the sense of being a good idea turned utterly convoluted by heaps and heaps of limitations, exceptions and requirements. In fact, some say that merely understanding the inner workings of the opportunity zones mechanism is the biggest barrier for entry.
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What I Am Reading:
The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes by Donald Hoffman
A few months ago I wrote about Donald Hoffman’s Interview on Sam Harris’ PODCast. I had watched his TED Talk and was fascinated by his Interface Theory of Perception. Well now he’s written a book about how Darwinian Natural Selection has actually not selected for us to perceive objective reality as it truly is, but rather has shaped our perceptions as an interface that abstracts away the complexities of whatever the objective reality is. Instead of perceiving the true nature of reality, we perceive everything as icons that give us cues about fitness payoffs in our interface. I’ve drank the kool aid on this one. This book will 🤯.
The Playing Field - Graham Duncan’s Blog
During these uncertain financial times, fear reigns on the markets and investors. This article gave me some great insights on how I should be thinking and acting by breaking down the different levels of investors from the Apprentice to the Expert to the Professional and finally, to the Master. Get to know what it takes to up your investing game and act accordingly.
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Check out what I’ve been reading and listening to that has helped me navigate through these crazy and unprecedented times. From remaining unemotional during tough decision making in this economic whirlwind, to adapting in Quarantine isolation while still staying happily married, sane, and productive, to new ways of rejuvenating my immune system in a time when immunity is extra important. These resources helped me keep perspective, stay motivated and bring a lot of benefit and positivity into my life during the otherwise devastating crisis of COVID-19.
The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic
The point of everything you do is ultimately for you and yours to be happy. If you can figure out how to be happy during lockdown then imagine how happy you will be once things start to open up again!
How are you spending your time in quarantine? Seems like Newton was able to accept his situation and make the best of it by using that downtime to come up with his most brilliant theorems. Stop watching Netflix and get to work on your next business venture, the book you always wanted to write, or the course you’ve always wanted to take.
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This article resonated with me a lot. I clearly remember when I first started JoonBug everyone thought that there would be no way people wanted to see their party photos online nor wanted to buy tickets to events online. Every event producer or club owner rejected us for months until all of a sudden they loved us when we started to bring in cash $$ for them. Likewise when I started EZ Texting everyone told me that SMS was old news and that apps were the things of the future. "SMS is dead," is what I was told by investors and users. Now SMS has the highest open rates and is growing in usage by 25%+ a year. Who looks stupid in the end?
The 20 Best Works of Nonfiction of the Decade - Lit Hub
I exclusively read non-fiction books and I am always looking for great recommendations. This is one of the best lists I have found so far. My favorite: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell.
Human Health Is in the Hands of Bacteria - Time
Ever since I have taken my health and diet seriously, I've noticed that many of the benefits and results I've achieved is because of my healthy gut. Your health is definitely the sum of your parts and this article shows you how true that is. Take care of your gut and live well and long.
The Illusory Truth Effect: Why We Believe Fake News, Conspiracy Theories and Propaganda
I read Farnam Street religiously every Sunday and subscribe to their email newsletter. If you are looking to change the way you think, learn, and live life then this is the right blog for you. In particular this article compels you to rethink what you find to be true and how you came to believe in your truth in the first place.
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Games are regarded by society as a means of relaxation, a fun pastime during those cherished Sunday early evenings with family and friends. And while games are certainly an enjoyable recreation, oftentimes they also teach a lot more about life and business than conventional educational methods do. Take chess for example; a good chess player often turns out to be an excellent strategist in life because they analyze and find the best solutions to multifaceted problems. One particular game that helped me numerous times in both life and business decision making is none other than Dungeons and Dragons. If you've ever played it, you have first hand knowledge of the advantage it gives you in so many aspects of life.
What I am buying:
If you use a new MacBook then you know how bad the keyboards are. If you also own an iPad then you also know that there aren’t very many good keyboard solutions out there either (I currently use a Brydge but its pretty heavy and bulky). The keyboard struggle is real and this new keyboard promises to solve both issues in one. I am looking forward to hopefully receiving mine once they get through the first production run.
Kickstarter - Nu Type Keyboard
For the past few months I have been looking for a solution to replace my kitchen oven with a smart oven that can be turned on with an app. While doing my research I couldn’t find anything that was both internet enabled and good quality. But I came across this kick starter project which can internet enable any offline appliance or switch simply by physically pressing the on button when you use the app. Still waiting on delivery of this genius product and I hope it can deliver as promised!
Kickstarter - Fingerbot
I suffer from chronic lower back pain yet I still workout everyday and usually use a foam roller to release the knotted fascia in my leg and back muscles. I saw an ad on Instagram for this massage ball that turned out to be surprisingly very effective and the best workout recovery I use now. After 15 minutes of using it I am much looser and feel way better than using the foam roller.
Hyperice - Hypersphere Massage Ball
What I am reading:
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As sunny South Florida continues to develop into a world-class locale, and a legal tax haven, many New Yorkers are reconsidering whether the city that never sleeps is the right place in which to live and park their assets. But few know how challenging the process can be for those within a certain tax bracket… Lucky for you, I have the scoop.
I’m a New Yorker through and through – born in Brooklyn, an NYU grad, and job-creator for hundreds of locals through three different companies I founded in the city. More than 35 years later, however, I realized that perhaps the concrete jungle wasn’t the best place in which to take the next step in my career, and continue to grow my net worth. The tax burden, and exorbitant costs that come with living in one of the world’s greatest cities are steep. This is common knowledge. A lesser-known fact, however, is that it’s a massive headache to relocate from New York to a new state once you reach a certain rung on the financial food chain. The state of New York doesn’t let its prized residents flee so easily, a fact that is especially salient today as prominent figures and institutions – Icahn Enterprises, U.S. President and Queens native Donald J. Trump – are stealing headlines for relocating to Florida, just as I did in 2014.
My move was prompted by the same factor that promoted Carl Icahn and Trump’s – the math simply was no longer working out. The family I had always wanted had materialized, and as my wife and I began researching elite schools for our daughter, which were practically the same cost as a state University, the siren song of sunny South Florida began calling me. We knew we wanted a bigger family, and the financials were not making sense. While I’ve never looked back on the decision to relocate, I urge anyone considering following in my footsteps to educate themselves on what the process will entail and be both mentally and financially prepared.
