If you prefer to receive these recaps weekly instead of daily posts, you can manage your subscription preferences right by viewing this email on the web. Look for your profile icon in the top right of the browser, and you can update your settings from daily to weekly (and vice versa) there. However I can get you the full narrative arc without it feeling cluttered - I'm just happy you're here!

Let's connect some dots from this week's notes...

Mailing a care package to France from a post office tucked behind the Burger King, next to where the town keeps its road salt, went sideways the second the clerk said "No pictures." His fix: "Cameras. Are like pictures." We are now, technically, maybe, shipping a camera, and at least the line behind us never looked up from their phones.

Quote from the Personal Archive - after a strip mall post office tried to ship a box to France

Going local to global is never easy.

I used to tell colleagues our job was working the paint counter at financial Walmart, half as a joke and half not. The clerk who gave us "Cameras. Are like pictures" also listened to the guy ahead of us with the money order problem, admitted he didn't have the answer, and sent him "all the way up." I'm choosing to overlook the camera thing, because whoever you're dealing with in that moment is the company.

Quote from the Personal Archive - on the post office clerk and the paint counter

That person at that counter is the brand. It's where trust comes from, and that can be a real source of pride in any job worth doing.

Beehiiv's CEO announced they're doing away with titles internally, and as a lifelong title hater (and a very small investor, disclosed up front) I love it. I also think it's a mistake. The Yankees took the names off the jerseys and kept the pinstripes, numbers, and batting order, and I predict Beehiiv is back to titles within two years.

Quote from the Personal Archive - on what a startup can't skip

If you want something to scale, it needs a shape.

2027 planning starts the way it always does: a big list, a few north stars, and a focal point with a range underneath it, borrowed from Steve Sanduski (you'll meet him in a minute). Then it all gets cut down to what actually fits in the year, and that's the step that feels exciting. After 2026, I feel like 2027 is nothing smaller.

Quote from the Personal Archive - on the other half of 2027 planning

The yesses only get done if the no's protect them.

Steve Sanduski has logged every workout since ninth grade, so when a team reunion book needed cross country stories decades later, he pulled out the three-ring binder. At 50 he walked away from a financial advisor coaching program he helped grow to nearly 1,000 members, then started a podcast as a reason to reach out to people he wanted to know. Yes, he's the north star guy from the 2027 post.

Quote from the Personal Archive - Steve on his cross country binder

So I had these amazing stories in great detail, not because I had to remember them, but because I had written them down.

50 Years of Workouts. 32 Years of Net Worth. | Steve Sanduski on Why He Writes Everything Down

Joseph and I took on "Livin' on a Prayer" at the Music Club (thanks to Matt Ackermann's pitch), and I fell straight down the Desmond Child rabbit hole. Steven Tyler got nervous about "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and swapped in "Cruisin' for the Ladies," and Desmond told him the original was a smash. From there it's Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Kiss's "Bang Bang You," and a very necessary "Shake Your Bon-Bon" mention.

Quote from the Personal Archive - on Desmond Child's shadow over an MTV kid

It's easy to forget how long a shadow he's cast over my taste as an MTV kid from that era.

Three conversations this week asked the same question about a headline: what's actually holding it up underneath?

Tech Is the Cheapest Since 2022. Walmart Is 46 Times Earnings. Where Is the Bubble?

Chris Mayer and Robert Hagstrom joined Bogumil Baranowski and me on 100 Year Thinkers to sort a falling stock from a broken business, from Nvidia versus Walmart to some Sherlock Holmes-style detective work.

The AI Trade Is Cracking | Peter Boockvar on What to Own Instead

Peter Boockvar and I looked at AI that keeps growing while the chips, data centers, and lenders funding it struggle to earn a return, then at what to own instead. Yes, there's a little music talk too.

Blue Wave Sell-Off. Four Market Pros on What Comes Next

Brent Kochuba, Ben Hunt, Aahan Menon, and Eric Pachman joined Jack Forehand and me for November's Last Call to look at one post-election selloff through four lenses: options mechanics, narratives, stock-market wealth, and the energy costs that reach the grocery aisle.

Also this week: the Weekly Wrap with Jack and Corey Hoffstein and Adam Butler on diversification.

When did one person at a counter become the whole brand for you, and when were you that person for someone else?

WHAT'S ONE THING YOU'LL SAY NO TO IN 2027 SO THE YES YOU CARE ABOUT MOST GETS DONE?

Where in your life is a scene turning into a structure, and what shape would help it scale and keep the taste that started it?

WHO DO YOU WANT TO KNOW BUT HAVE NO REASON TO REACH OUT TO YET, AND WHAT PROJECT, QUESTION, OR SHOW COULD GIVE YOU ONE THIS MONTH?

Whose name isn't on the jersey in your life, the person whose work is under all the hits, and what do you want to tell them while they can still hear it?

WHAT FORM OR SYSTEM HAS TRIED TO FIT SOMETHING YOU CARE ABOUT INTO ITS PRE-FILLED OPTIONS, AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE PART IT COULDN'T FIT?

Which headline in your life looks solid right now, and what's one thing you could check this week to see what's holding it up underneath?

As always, I did my part, now it's your turn to write some reflections in your own Personal Archive.

(then, be sure to let me know where you're keeping it, I'm in search of the others too)

ps. Claude helped me organize and synthesize these thoughts from the week's posts. If you are curious how I use AI, read this post: Did AI Do That: Personal Rules