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Be like Fred
Hey there,
This week I've got a personal story about a family friend, an interview with one of the greatest minds writing financial newsletters today, and then a favorite book I read.
FROM THE BLOG
Be like Fred
A dear family friend and one of the most incredible humans I've ever known passed away a couple of weeks ago. I feel so lucky to have known him and learned from him and I wanted to share his story with you so you might benefit as well.
Fred was incredibly generous with everyone. I remember being in his shop one day and the UPS driver stopped in, waved a quick hi, and went to the fridge to grab a Snickers bar and soda. He wasn’t even delivering anything to Fred that day. Fred told everyone he knew to make themselves at home and to stop by anytime and grab a snack. And he lived on a busy highway, so plenty of people did!
Fred hosted incredible family-focused New Year’s Eve parties. The main attraction was a massive bingo game with very elaborate prizes. When I was 10 or 11 I won a watch that probably cost $50 or more. There were hundreds of people at the party and he must have spent many thousands of dollars on prizes alone, not to mention the drinks, snacks, and personal pizza orders for every family.
So much of how I’ve built my company and how I try to show up for my friends and family is what I saw modeled by Fred.
FROM ART OF NEWSLETTERS
Byrne Hobart
Byrne Hobart is a chartered financial analyst who loves writing about the intersection between finance and technology. He writes The Diff, one of Silicon Valley’s most popular newsletters. In this episode, we dive into how Byrne launched his newsletter, how much he’s earning, and how he publishes five times a week!
You’ll learn why Byrne isn’t worried about pirates getting their hands on paid newsletters, and why you should worry about selling hard enough, instead.
Byrne talks about how to build recurring revenue, and writing for different types of readers. He also points out an important factor that affects the churn rate of your newsletter!
WHAT I'M READING
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
This was a great read. It seems like financial success should be as easy as a mathematic equation, but its so much more complicated than that, because humans are involved. So much of how we look at money, how we spend money, how we earn money, is a result of our life experiences, personality, and emotions. This book has a bunch of short stories that illustrate that. I particularly liked the end where he talked about the rise of the US consumer. Such a great explanation of income inequality and how we got where we are today.
Thanks for joining me this week!
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
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