What You Need to Know Today: September 15

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

Courtside seats with @finkd. NBD. “Mr. Zuckerberg hopes the Oculus headset will power a host of new ‘immersive’ experiences, from virtual doctor appointments to live concerts to courtside seats at a basketball game” (WSJ). If you thought virtual reality was just for pimply-faced, video game playing nerds living in their parent’s basement — you’d be right. “Oculus firmly believes that VR will initially be popular with hard-core gamers and enthusiasts who are willing to invest in high-end desktop computers for gaming for the next two years.” BUT, “Zuckerberg’s own vision is much broader than this…” Facebook is working on a stand-alone app for mobile that will support 360 degree video. Whether you like it or not, VR tech is becoming a reality fast. Which is why The Daily Brief will be featuring a VR tech expert in coming weeks to keep you in the know. If you haven’t already, click here to get TDB sent straight to your inbox every weekday. Please share this with a friend.

You will never guess who stole the show at NY Fashion Week. “We wanted to incorporate drone technology into the show because the millennial woman is probably going to have her own drone in the next couple of years,” says Uri Minkoff, co-founder and CEO of Rebecca Minkoff. Tech-enabled fashion is in vogue. Find out what a top designer from NY Fashion Week thinks The Future of Fashion will look like.

+ We got inside the ‘Tinder for elites’ – here’s what it’s like to use. (Business Insider)

“Celeb endorsement isn’t gonna make anyone’s product better. We focus heavily on helping companies grow,” says Ashton Kutcher. In case you didn’t know, Kelso from That 70’s Show is a pretty legit tech investor. Ashton recently did an interview with Product Hunt talking about investment strategy. Read the full transcript here.

CAREER

People hate this more than they love free money. “I’m going to toss a coin, and if it’s tails, you lose $10. How much would you have to gain on winning in order for this gamble to be acceptable to you?” This is what Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman asks all his students, and a variation of this question, he’s asking top executives and really rich people. The point Kahneman is trying to make is people hate losing more than they love winning. And knowing how to apply this psychology when selling proves extremely helpful.

#MentorChats. Two of my virtual mentors, Frank Kern and Eben Pagan, say “you should give away your best content for free.” This is a concept I think every entrepreneur needs to know. I recently spoke with one of my mentors at Early to Rise about this idea and he shared with me some good advice about the specific type of content you should be giving away:

1. Free is the “what” to do — paid is the “how” to do.

2. Free is interesting, surprising, engaging factoids that keep people engaged. Paid is in-depth specifics. Take X for example — his storytelling is what keeps people opening the emails every day. Every day people don’t know if they’re going to get a story about him trying to date girls and getting denied or him in a meeting with the directors of Google. There’s some interesting perspectives in there. Then his paid stuff is more specific, researched and in-depth content.

+ Why Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t buy ads on YouTube.

What the world’s largest hedge fund can teach you in 40 minutes that 18 years of school can’t. “After I presented what I thought was a decently reasoned argument, my interviewer gave me my first piece of feedback: ‘You completely failed that interview. We will not be hiring you at Bridgewater.’ BOOM. No finesse. No softening the blow. Just cold, hard truth like a punch to the gut… His feedback session to my 10-minute argument took about 40 minutes. I sat there, mouth slightly ajar, as he picked apart my argument piece by piece, exposing it for the flimsy reasoning it was. I had never experienced such an extreme dismantling of my opinion. Had never had someone call me on nonsense so cogently before. It was a profound moment and I spent a long while reflecting on it.” This story is exactly why ‘winging it’ is almost never a good idea.

LIFESTYLE

“The first thing Anthony Bourdain does upon arriving in a city he’s never been to — a small category that’s shrinking quickly — is to drop his bags and head straight for the central market. Even in a globalized 21st-century metropolis, where Starbucks and foodie blogs have sapped away most mystery, the market, Bourdain believes, can still be counted on for authenticity. ‘You see what’s for sale, you see what’s in season, you see the fundamental color palette of a cuisine,’ he says. ‘You really get a sense of what a culture loves most dear.’ On the other hand, the first thing Bourdain does upon arriving in a city he knows well…” (Men’s Journal). Bourdain has plans to turn his idiosyncrasy nto his ‘Legacy’ by 2016. Find out Bourdain’s BIG IDEA for NYC.

+ 28 ideas for becoming more productive every week.

Want to be featured in The Daily Brief? We’re looking for experts in tech, career, finance, and personal development who have advice to share with millennial entrepreneurs and go-getters. Send an email to daily@earlytorise.com and we’ll be in touch.

#NOWYOUKNOW

After 7 seasons someone FINALLY won American Ninja Warrior.

Watch Isaac Caldiero beat the course here. Unreal!

Know someone who should be getting The Daily Brief? Send this.

Check out what you missed in the last Daily Brief here.