🏃🏻 Faster Narratives

Hey friend 👋,

It’s been a while since a Monday post, but I’m excited to be back with a topic about something I care about - moving fast.

Whenever I write, I always think about why this is something that’s worth your time. Admittedly, sometimes it comes from a selfish place: "if I write about it, maybe it’ll help me with understanding the topic better”. This is one of those topics everyone should be aware of. Our world is speeding up and we should stand up & take notice.

We’re moving quickly, and some folks (like Ryan Reynolds and Balaji Srinivasan) are shaping their own narratives - let’s explore two examples and figure out where we land.

Let’s get to it!

Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile

I read a couple of weeks ago about Ryan Reynolds’ $170m payday - T-Mobile acquired the parent firm of Mint Mobile for $1.35bn. He likely got a 17x return, as the interwebs are guessing he put in $20m for a 25% stake ($10m in cash and the rest as the frontman).

Reynolds' ran the same playbook with Aviation Gin. He took a minority stake in 2018 and became the pitchman for the alcoholic beverage. Two years later, Diaego bought Aviation Gin for $610m.

He also setup his own film production & marketing agency to market these products and leverage his brand. For example, during last year’s Super Bowl, Reynolds took out a full page ad in The New York Times, explaining that the decision to spend $125,000 on a print ad instead of a $5 million+ 30-second Super Bowl commercial would enable the pre-paid carrier to pass the savings onto consumers.

In October, when Mint launched 5G for all its plans, he brought on the Head of Technology to explain what 5G actually is, and after hearing the technical explanation, happily said: “We may never know, so we’ll just give it away for free”.

Ryan gets to play with the zeitgeist in real-time; he can play with a narrative and react. There’s also no red tape or anyone he needs to go through for sign-off. Big corporations take weeks or even months to get something approved. Small agencies have lower budgets but can react rapidly to news and cultural stories.

What are the takeaways?:

1. Reynolds makes conscious choices about the products he endorses, and then markets the heck out of them.

2. He runs everything through his own agency so that decisions can be made faster and he can react faster, while shifting the narrative in his favor. Savvy marketing > big budgets.

🧨 BTC = $1M in 90 Days?!

So, great products and savvy marketing can change a narrative. But what else could get people talking? Yep, big outlandish bets.

Speaking of big bets - Balaji Srinivasan (sold his genetic testing company for $300m, CTO at Coinbase, predicted how COVID-19 would play out) made a bet that 1 Bitcoin will be worth $1M+ in 90 days.

He even transferred $2m of USDC (the stablest of stablecoins) to make two separate bets if he’s wrong.

The rationale:

• SVB, Silvergate and likely Credit Suisse - banks that have gone bust or moving in that direction. He believes many other banks are insolvent

• As our society is online 24/7, news can spread like wildfire. What used to take multiple weeks or even hours, can be sent out to millions of people in a matter of a few tweets and people can react fast (e.g. access to instantaneous banking & settlements)

• As more and more people are impacted by this uncertainty, a series of bank runs will happen.The Fed can't allow the collapse of the banking system. So, they'll likely print trillions in order to bail out the banks.

• As trillions of dollars get pumped into the system, hyperinflation will occur.

• And as soon as hyperinflation arrives, people will look for alternative currencies. Bitcoin will take on this role and “hyper-bitcoinzation” will be the result.

What are the takeaways?:

1. Balaji is an ideologically-motivated person - he’s trying to shift the zeitgeist by proposing that the current financial system is doomed to fail, and that Bitcoin is a better alternative.

2. Everyone and their mother are talking about hyperinflation. Every podcast is inviting Balaji.

3. He’s burning money for an ideological cause.

The Speed of Information

Being able to react fast is an advantage. Being able to move money instantly using your smartphone is a game-changer.

There are two big learnings I’ve taken from both stories: 

1. Being able to react fast is a competitive advantage. You should proactively move quickly (like Ryan’s marketing agency), as well as note that the world is speeding up (speed of information, access and money).

2. Being bold isn’t just about shouting from the rooftops - the power comes from backing up your bet if you’re wrong. This is the way to shift a narrative in your favor.

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I mentioned this post in a previous newsletter - Zuckerberg laid out a Facebook’s (what it was called back then) strategy in a post titled “speed and strategy” where he articulates the importance of removing friction, moving quickly and laying out a clear plan of attack.

Our world is moving faster, narratives change quickly and it’s our duty to keep up.

Let’s not get left behind.

🔗 Links Of The Week

🤖 The Age of AI Has Begun

Bill Gates shaped the PC revolution - now he’s deploring us to take note of the AI revolution happening around us. We’ll see transformative change across industries and with Gates at the Gates Foundation (rather than at the helm of a technology company), I’m excited for what’s to come.

🤩 How to get Celebrity Endorsement Without Paying The Big Bucks

Love this marketing stunt - essentially, this cereal company found people with famous names and had them try their cereal. Genius! Check the post to see their stunts.

🏎 Drive to Survive Director on His Creative Process

Enjoyed reading about some of the Behind-The-Scenes on Drive to Survive - especially in the early days when the whole industry dismissed it.

Until next time 👋

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition - I'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two.

Got feedback? Reply to this email or tweet at me and let’s chat.

Fahim