Cultish Creative Weekly (5/4/2024)

Feeling charitable? I participated in the PNL for a Purpose all-day livestream to fight cancer this week. Check out the amazing 24 guests who gave their time, hunt for which interviews I did, and hey - make a donation - all on the Excess Returns YouTube channel. 

I kicked off the week with Sarah Shook’s kicked-off habits but still feeling the weights of old patterns song, “M***********.”

The Jay-Z diss of Talib Kweli and Common keeps inspiring lessons with people. I’m delighted and amazed. And I highly doubt the new Kendrick - Drake diss will inspire such talks (but I’ll talk about that soon too, I’m sure). The Jay/Kweli tradeoff is so powerful because it’s a meta-commentary on community building. If you’re busy building people up, do read “Alternates to Chasing Fame.”

On Two Quants and a Financial Planner, we covered,“Fact or Fiction: Inflation, Taxes, and the End of the Star Manager Era.”

Over on the Epsilon Theory YouTube channel, my interview with Howard Lindzon came out too. The meta-read through of what makes an Intentional Investor by the way, is these are all going to be guests I look up to for non-financial reasons. Howard’s story about his daughter coming into to kick CEO-butt in his defense, unprompted - I don’t care about his returns. Did you raise your kids to do that? This interview was so good:

A financial planning expression I love to say to my procrastinating clients is “Kick The Can Not The Bucket.” It’s ok to not get everything done right away. Just know what you need to do before you die, and the rest can work itself out.

Did you know Lisa Loeb initially wrote her massive hit “Stay” for Daryl Hall (of Hall and Oates fame)?! I didn’t. Here’s the story, “Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay’ And The Power of Unconventional Hits.”

What is it about breaking into savings for something we don’t want to spend money on but we have to spend money on? A little behavioral psychology. “Piggy Bank Smashing.”

All businesses should understand how much it costs to get new clients. They should also understand how much it costs to keep old clients. It’s so obvious, and so often overlooked. This came out of my notes from the interview with Howard Lindzon, mixed up with an excellent post on how much funds cost from my friend Dave Nadig. Your career success also depends on your cultural awareness of details like this too - read, “Customer Acquisition Costs Vs. Free Stuff.”

The week ahead is a big one, I’ve got a new Just Press Record with Grace Nikae and Peter Atwater on confidence and decision making (and vulnerability) I cannot wait to release.

And, tomorrow, I’ve got a super-special new playlist for you (and for charity). Don’t miss it.

What’d you like? What’d you’d share? How much do you need me to take the time to write about Kendrick’s Drake diss or that wild new Beyonce country record?!

Lemme know.

-Matt

ps. Shout out to Tom Morgan who delivered the best thing I read all week, “The Story That Changes The World” over (no paywall) on Epsilon Theory.