What You Need to Know Today: October 7

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

If you want something done right, do it yourself. That is basically what Microsoft has resolved to do ever since Apple’s Macbook Pro started dominating laptop sales. What we know: yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a bunch of cool new Windows 10 devices. Most of the devices (Hololens, Lumia phones, Surface Pro 4, and Microsoft Band), we suspected. But, there was one device no one saw coming. “Ounce for ounce, pound for pound, this is the fastest 13” laptop ever made, anywhere, on any planet.” Check this out.

~ sneaky little email trick ~ What emails do you typically open first in your inbox? Emails with extremely compelling headlines? Maybe. But more likely you open emails that appear first, at the top of your inbox, regardless of what the headline reads. So how can you guarantee all your emails you send appear at the top of someone’s inbox? Try this sneaky little trick.

This 13-year-old is tackling a serious problem. “A digital camera, a snakehead flashlight, and a toilet paper roll.” Sounds like miscellaneous items you’d find in a plumbers tool box. But really, it’s what police officers might be using to fight impaired driving in the future. Krishna Reddy, a 13-year-old from Wichita Falls, Texas, invented a device that can tell when a driver has consumed alcohol or used other drugs based on how dilated his or her pupils are. Full story.

CAREER

Companies with HQ and remote staff should try this. Before I started working with ETR, I worked a 9-5 office job. ETR was my first job where I got to work from home. This transition from working in an office to at home was a bit challenging. The luxury of ‘can we just talk’ moments don’t necessarily happen or project the same urgency through Skype as they do face-to-face. However, this has led to figuring out new ways of working and communicating with team members — which has been a great learning experience in itself. Why should you care? Zapier just published a must-read article for any startup or business that runs a similar practice. Batchbook — the company highlighted — requires all in-office workers to work from home on Wednesdays. The reason why is genius.

Startups are hard, only founders with this make it happen. I’m going to contradict myself here for a second. I’ve said before, you should tackle a narrow niche and market your business so that you’re attracting customers who strongly believe in what you believe — and at the same time, repel customers who disagree. This still holds true, but it’s no excuse to be thinking small. You still need to think BIG. A lot bigger than a narrow niche — if only for this reason. Once you reap the benefits of thinking BIG, then you can start tackling those narrow niches. Eben Pagan has built several $10+ million businesses using this approach. Here’s a good resource to keep on file.

The best way to grow your email list. Email marketing is still the best and most reliable way to make money online. Our friends at Income Diary recently ran an experiment where they tested out 5 of the most popular ways to show signup forms on a website. In 2 weeks they added 4382 new subscribers. Here’s what worked best. (surprise, surprise, the most annoying tactic won).

Why don’t Fantasy Sports websites need to make money? Probably because they can use internal data to place bets on other fantasy sports websites. You remember the story I shared with you a few weeks ago? This week, the two biggest fantasy sports websites in the world have been under heavy scrutiny, after what appears to be some shady insider-trading-esque colluding. Bloomberg has what you need to know.

LIFESTYLE

#AllPotatoesAreCreatedEqual. Mc’Ds rolled out all-day breakfast yesterday and reactions were so-so. Because the golden arches’ deep fryers cook both the fries and the hashbrowns, that means there’s not enough room to cook both during the day. Here’s what people are saying. The only good news from this is that it creates hashbrown-scarcity :/ But even that is a bit of a stretch. Bottom line: If you’re going to do something, do it right.

This unofficial presidential candidate makes Trump look middle-class. Last week, I shared a story about hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and his on-going battle with Herbalife. Turns out, when Ackman is not wreaking avoc on “pyramid-scheming” supplement companies, he likes to make bold predictions for the 2016 election. At a recent Bloomberg event, Bill Ackman predicted that this billionaire would run for the 2016 presidential race — and win. According to Forbes this guy is worth 10 times more than Donald Trump.

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#NOWYOUKNOW

Science says watch more Mad Men and The West Wing, if you want to become more empathetic.

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