What's in store for you:

1. Photo From My Life
2. Life Thought: Why Being Sick Reminded Me How Lucky I Am
3. Financial Thought: Dave Ramsey
4. Good Sh*t: The Future of AI is Already Here

Photo From My (Sister's) Life:

Life Thought:

Why Being Sick Reminded Me How Lucky I Am: I was hit with a rough case of the flu this past Sunday and it has taken me nearly 4 days to feel somewhat back to normal. I don't know whether to blame nonstop work travel or a 2-year old in daycare, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. As usual, I tried to find some silver lining as I shivered under the covers with the heat set to 73 degrees.

Here's what I realized:

I am so lucky to be able to spend nearly 3 full days in bed. I have an amazing wife who somehow managed the home front. I have an amazing family who sent me text messages to make sure I was doing okay. I have partners and colleagues who managed everything in the working world. I have a friend who told me about a new Winston Churchill show on Netflix.

Sure, I felt pretty awful. But, I never want to forget how lucky I am. We all have bumps in the road and unexpected challenges, but my hunch is that if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re already incredibly fortunate in many ways. I think the world would be a better place if we all took a step back sometimes and just appreciated our luck. I'll stop preaching now.

Another flu-related realization: NyQuil is a hell of a drug. WOW.

Financial Thought:

Dave Ramsey: Someone recently asked me my opinion on Dave Ramsey. If he hasn’t hit your algorithm yet, he's a personal finance guru and real estate investor who built a large real estate portfolio in his 20s before losing it all due to over-leverage. After coming out of bankruptcy, he became a financial influencer, writer, and investor focused on a debt-free philosophy.

In general, most financial influencers drop nuance in favor of strong, absolute opinions to maximize their reach on modern-day algorithms.

I have nothing against Dave Ramsey. But let’s be honest—his advice is only helpful in very specific situations.

If you’re drowning in credit card debt, have zero savings, and need someone to yell at you to stop buying lattes, Dave is your guy. His system of cutting up your credit cards, living on rice and beans, and avoiding debt like the plague is exactly what some people need. But if you’re already financially responsible, his advice probably doesn’t apply to you.

His “no debt ever” rule ignores the fact that leverage, when used wisely, is one of the most powerful tools for building wealth. No, you shouldn’t finance a jet ski at 18% interest, but taking on a reasonable mortgage, using business debt to expand, or leveraging low-interest loans for investment purposes isn’t the end of the world. If anything, it’s how most wealthy people got to where they are.

Another issue—Ramsey assumes that personal finance is just math and discipline. But for most people, money is emotional. Cutting every expense to the bone sounds great in theory, but it’s not realistic if it makes you miserable. There’s a big difference between being responsible with money and letting money control your life. (My personal philosophy tends to sit somewhere between the FIRE and FatFire movement.)

So if you’re struggling to get your financial life together, Dave might be a great starting point. But if you’re past that phase, it’s okay to move on to more nuanced strategies. There’s a point where the goal isn’t just survival—it’s optimization.

Good Sh*t:

The Future of AI is Already Here: I constantly rotate between the thought that AI is going to change the world and the fear that it’s going to ruin the world. As a builder, investor, and entrepreneur, I undoubtedly believe these tools will make businesses more efficient and profitable. But I also believe this shift will be massive—and society will need time to adjust.

If you’re even remotely interested in AI, you should check out ChatGPT’s new Operator feature. It basically lets you customize and fine-tune AI assistants to work exactly how you want—whether that’s handling emails, automating tasks, or even acting as a personal research assistant.

I haven’t fully tested it yet, but I have friends diving deep, and they’re saying it’s a game-changer for productivity. Chris, a business influencer on Twitter, shared this video of Operator working on a side hustle for him. Pretty wild.

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