What’s up everyone! This week I had the chance to sit down and talk with Kevin Vu. Kevin is the founder of Boundless, a mobile outdoor gym where classes start with meditation and end with high intensity training.
It was interesting hearing from Kevin how the Yin and Yang of meditation and high intensity training complement each other to provide more holistic wellness.
Kevin has had quite the journey from full-time engineer to CrossFit coach to founder of Boundless. Hearing his story of how he aligned his inner and outer life to find purpose and peace made me reflect on how I might do the same.
In this episode Kevin and I talk:
Content That Will Make You Smarter:
Opportunity Beckons in the Middle East by Jared Kushner
One of the greatest accomplishments of Trump’s presidency was his ability to broker normalized relations between Israel and the Arab world. Known as the Abraham Accords, these agreements define a new era where Arabs would rather make peace with Israel, to the detriment of Iran, than maintain the prior 70+ year status quo.
In this special op-ed to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner (husband to Ivanka) writes how proud he is of this accomplishment, while celebrating the Biden administration’s tacit acceptance of Trump’s defining foreign policy decisions.
If Trump’s greatest foreign policy accomplishment was making the Washington establishment acknowledge China as enemy number one, the Arab world’s increasingly normalized relations with Israel is second.
Gumroad Offers Early Investment Round for Ordinary People
In partnership with Republic.co, content creator platform Gumroad offered investment in its next funding round to non-accredited investors. Investments were capped at $1,000 with a maximum raise of $5 million at a valuation of $100 million. The cap was hit in less than 24 hours.
With asset valuations sky high and wages stagnant, people are desperate for outsized returns to keep up with their dream of owning a home or sending their kid to the best college. While a 10x return on $1,000 wouldn’t be much, it’s better than nothing, and people, including myself, jumped at the chance to invest.
Historically, venture capital firms have controlled almost all early stage funding, where both risk and opportunity are sky high. But when the SEC increased crowdfunding limits from $1 million to $5 million in late 2020, it opened up new possibilities for firms to raise a meaningful amount of capital in a more inclusive way.
Dig Deeper: Gumroad Valuation Analysis
Some States Let You Borrow Like the Ultra Rich at Less than 1%, Some Don’t
Last weekend I made plans to take out a loan against my Bitcoin to buy more real assets that should benefit from inflation. Yes, it’s risky, but when I heard Celsius was offering loans at less than 1% interest I was sold.
Unfortunately, when I went to borrow I learned California residents were not eligible. The regulatory burden California imposes on financial intermediaries is something some high growth tech startups like Celsius don’t want to deal with. They’d rather lose the market opportunity than put up with the regulations.
Now I am left with only the option to borrow at 4-10% on BlockFi, which isn’t much different than what you’d get at your local bank. Plus unlike BlockFi, Celsius has no origination fees and no prepayment fees. It’s frustrating living in a state where burdensome regulations meant to protect ordinary people prevent them from accessing extraordinary products. I would move, but California’s monopoly on Mediterranean climates makes me hesitant.
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