Hey y’all!

I’ve been off the grid for a few months because I’ve been head down working on scaling one of my business ventures. I’m back though and here’s a new weekly newsletter! You can subscribe here.

Quick update about me: I spent the summer living in Boston, and am headed to Austin, Texas for the winter starting next week!

Five Things To Share

1. Life Hack: Change your phone to black & white to reduce its addictiveness

I recently changed my phone to black and white and I’m never going back! It reduces the mental stimulation gained from using your phone and thus will reduce the addictiveness of your device.

Why? Because if your phone is in black and white then it will naturally be much less appealing to your brain than the real world (in full color). Social media companies employ some of the most talented neuroscientists and addiction specialists in the world and this is a good way to counteract their techniques.

If you want to use your phone less, try this and let me know how you like it!

How to implement this:
Apple: Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters > On
Android: Settings > Accessibility > Vision > Color Adjustment > On

2. Major Trend: TikTok is the next huge social media app and this scares me on multiple levels

TikTok was the fourth most downloaded app in 2018 and can most simply be described as the replacement to Vine: it’s short, silly, dumb videos.

My concerns:
1. It’s a Chinese company which means that the Chinese government is censoring content on the platform. I believe this is the first Chinese social media app that has achieved massive international success.
2. The company’s focus on making a hyper-addictive product is going to have long-term ramifications on the minds of young people (I suppose this is a takedown of all social media though).

3. Political Newsletter: It took me about a year of searching, but I finally found a political newsletter that I like

Just subscribed to the Recount and I’m a fan! It admittedly leans left but the format is unique and valuable. They do a 5-minute video mashup at the end of each day which covers the four most important things that happened that day.

4. Interesting Startup: Cameo – buy a video message from a celebrity for $50-200 

This company has a surprising number of A-list celebrities. Makes a lot of sense for both celebrities and consumers. Could be an interesting birthday or company gift!

5. Quote: About going all out in whatever you do

“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.” — Alan Watts

Thanks for reading mi amigos! Until next week!

Sincerely,
Cam