What You Need to Know Today: August 18
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
Smart contracts could replace lawyers. Everyone has heard the hype about bitcoin, but the real promise of the technology behind cryptocurrencies is smart contract management—that is, legally binding agreements that execute themselves through software (Quartz). Smart contract management could cost a lot of jobs but has the potential to save companies billions of dollars in bank and legal fees. Full story
What happens in Vegas… The wearable tech expo kicks off today in Las Vegas, NV. The highlights of the conference will no doubt be smartwatches and fitness trackers, but conference attendees should also pay attention to the next generation of wearable tech – smart clothing (think: Lululemon meets FitBit).
+ 3 things you need to know before you shell out for a pricey fitness tracker
Breaking the first rule of Fight Club. In high school some friends of mine started a backyard-boxing-club. It was dumb, I admit it, but we were 16. During lunch we would go to a friend’s backyard close to the school and two ‘contenders’ would duke it out for 3 rounds with boxing gloves. This lasted maybe a week before teachers and authorities caught wind and calls to parents were made. How do high school kids today spend their lunch hours? Surprisingly, not much has changed.
+ The next generation of selfie stick will be a drone on a leash.
CAREER
How to save 50-75% on acquiring new leads. Buying ads on Facebook to drive traffic to a landing page, where leads will receive a free gift in exchange for an email and later be sold to, in hopes of seeing an ROI, is the classic direct response approach. This method worked great a year ago on Facebook, but now it’s becoming expensive. One way to decrease the cost of acquiring new leads is to do what Josh Rhodes does and start building an “invisible list.” Here’s Josh’s step-by-step guide.
+ What I learned from getting my first 100 customers – Sujan Patel.
Can you spot a deal? Bob Iger can. Iger, Disney’s CEO, has made three of the most important deals any company has in the past 9 years. His most recent was a $4 billion steal. Star Wars fans should weigh in.
LIFESTYLE
You can’t polish a turd. “Buffer year” or “living in your parents basement by choice,” both sound like a bad idea to me. If you need a year to figure out what you want to do with your life, you’re doomed. The only real way to figure out what you want is to try something, get feedback, and keep trying new things until you find what you like. Taking a year off after college to travel and “find yourself” is nonsense. If you want to travel and have fun, do it. Don’t try to justify it like this.
+ These should inspire you to move out of your parent’s basement.
On-demand dating apps are the future. Ask anyone who uses Tinder if they take the app seriously? They’ll probably tell you, no. That’s because of the game-like features. But there are new dating apps taking over and Tinder better watch out.
#NOWYOUKNOW
This guy makes $10,000 a month sending people potatoes. Awesome!
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