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Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap 6/6/2025)
From Observation to Obsession: How Deep Work Creates Authentic Connection
Matt Zeigler
June 07, 2025
Let's connect some dots from this week's notes...
But first: Did you know you can now sign up for this weekly email ONLY? That's right. If my dailies are clogging your inbox, I've got you. Open this email in your browser, then click > the profile icon in the top right > manage subscriptions > preferences (on the menu on the left) > select daily or weekly > and it will auto save! Click reply with any questions.
On to the recap…
This concert meditation explores the power of observation and empathy through watching different types of SZA fans at a Kendrick/SZA show. My approach of "don't look at the stage, look at the crowd first" becomes a framework for understanding connection and community. By observing teenage superfans, a solitary swaying devotee, and an animated friendship duo, I reveal how art creates spaces for expressing love in public and reminds us that humanity thrives through shared experiences, even when we don't personally connect with what brings others joy.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "I don't know if I can appreciate something more than seeing others react so strongly to artist I clearly get a fraction as much as they do," I tell my wife. She agrees. SZA was kind of stealing the show that night, largely because of these fans.
This deep dive into Jim Downey and Norm MacDonald's SNL Weekend Update process reveals the meticulous craft behind seemingly anarchic comedy. I follow Downey's obsessive refinement of a single joke, showing how adding one word ("surprisingly") transformed good into perfect through rhythm, timing, and audience psychology. Their "punk" approach required endless practice in safe spaces with friends, proving that the most subversive performances emerge from disciplined attention to detail rather than spontaneous rebellion.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "Jim Downey's GREATEST CONTRIBUTION to the whole season of the show, with an iconic live-playing actor, was to add a single word. Punk. And, practiced. It's beautiful."
Using Richard Linklater's creative philosophy as a guide, I argue that money should be a tool for resisting mediocrity rather than accumulating comfort. Linklater's approach of staying unemployed from 1981-1987 to "buy freedom" and his obsession with truthfulness over personal experience creates a blueprint for anyone called to create something authentic. I connect regional filmmaking to finding your own weird truth worth celebrating, emphasizing that great art breaks cycles of mediocrity by inspiring others to pursue their curiosities rather than accepting conventional paths.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "Money, yes - this is a financial person talking! - is a tool for resisting mediocrity. And, isn't that true on so many levels? The trick is, as every artist knows, will you be good with just enough money to subsist on, or will you require more comforts and corresponding tradeoffs to have the life you actually want to live?"
My exploration of professional boundaries addresses the blurry line between networking contacts and actual relationships. Nina Badzin's powerful insight that "there are people who never disappoint us, and they are called acquaintances" becomes the foundation for understanding how both she and Lara Crigger solved the overwhelming problem of constant requests for free advice. I reveal practical solutions for maintaining professional helpfulness while protecting personal capacity, showing how two strangers navigate these exact boundaries in real time.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "You're gonna have to have conflict with your actual friends...the people you don't get upset at and the people who don't get upset at you are acquaintances."
I extract three transformative lessons from friendship expert Nina Badzin: just starting instead of perfect planning, setting boundaries to protect what matters most, and embracing the journey from expert to enthusiast. Nina's transition from teaching to writing through the "just start" mentality demonstrates how successful people begin with what they know and adapt as they learn. Her approach to intellectual humility and resistance to expert status reveals how true wisdom comes from continuous learning rather than positioning yourself as having all the answers.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (Nina's quote!) "I struggle with the expert thing. I'll describe myself as a writer who studies friendship. I don't like to call myself a friendship expert - because... I'll say enthusiast, I'll say any number of things, but I almost never say expert."
I profile Lara Crigger, former VettaFi Editor-in-Chief who walked away from success to chase meaning. Three key insights emerge: deep expertise requires going where others won't (reading every SEC filing), success permission comes from belonging rather than achievement, and the heroine's journey transforms through descent rather than conquest. Lara's discovery that external validation couldn't provide the belonging she found through authentic relationships mirrors how sustainable growth requires internal excavation alongside external treasure-seeking.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (Lara's quote!) "If the hero's journey is a mountain that the hero must climb, the heroine's journey is a pit that they have to descend into and come back out... when she's at that lowest point, she realizes she didn't need all of these trappings, all these weapons or anything. She had the power within her all along."
Where Else I Showed Up This Week
Rupert Mitchell came on Excess Returns and we talked all things macro (while I educated him on Animaniacs and WWII era marketing squirrels… yeah, not a fair tradeoff, I’m not proud of it but it’s what happened, OK? Anyway). I’m a huge fan of his work - if you’re in finance and not on his mailing list, you’re missing out. He brings a ton of industry and investment banking experience to the table, along with a non-US view. Check Blind Squirrel Macro on Substack and hear us talk on Excess Returns:
Katie Stockton is one of my favorite technical analysts. She took Justin Carbonneau and I on a tour of her favorite charts and seeing as this one has over 17,000 views in just a few days, apparently a few of you appreciate her insights too!
Personal Archive Prompts (for you):
What artist or community do you not fully understand, and who could you observe to learn what genuine love looks like in that space?
HOW COULD YOU OBSESS OVER THE DETAILS OF YOUR CRAFT THE WAY DOWNEY AND NORM REFINED A SINGLE JOKE THROUGH RHYTHM AND TIMING?
Where are you waiting for perfect conditions instead of just starting with what you know and adapting as you learn?
WHAT BOUNDARIES DO YOU NEED TO SET TO PROTECT YOUR CAPACITY FOR DOING YOUR BEST WORK RATHER THAN GIVING AWAY YOUR ENERGY FOR FREE?
How are you trying to earn belonging through achievement instead of embracing where you naturally fit with unconditional acceptance?
WHERE IN YOUR FIELD COULD YOU GO DEEPER THAN YOUR COMPETITION IS WILLING TO GO, READING THE EQUIVALENT OF "EVERY SEC FILING"?
What tools or credentials are you carrying that you might not actually need, and how could viewing setbacks as descents rather than failures change your growth approach?
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)