Where’s My Get Rich Quick Scheme?
Crypto! NFTs! Substack! Other buzzwords!
At 1:25 pm on Wednesday, while I was digging into a $5 falafel sandwich from Oasis, Coinbase began trading on the NASDAQ at $381 a share. At one point during the day’s trading, shares reached $429.54, which apparently made Nas’s investment in the company worth more than $200 million. Kevin Durant’s investment in Coinbase may now be worth seven figures.
The news came three days after Ben Smith’s story in The New York Times about a couple who each received advances totaling $550,000 from this very platform of Substack. That piece followed a steady drumbeat of recent stories about huge sums being paid for NFT artworks and the Stonklords making a mint off Gamestop and celebrating with their tendies.
It seems like everywhere you turn these days, you hear about people making a lot a lot of money (no, that’s not a typo) without much effort. This approach used to be called a “get rich quick scheme,” and my initial reaction that the term still applies. At the same time, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t checking r/wallstreetbets and wondering whether to invest some of my (albeit limited) funds in cryptocurrency.
My interest doesn’t rule out the possibility that these are get rich quick schemes. It does, however, force me to acknowledge that, even if they are, I’d still like to get in on the action. That I’m writing this post on the aforementioned Substack further confirms it. While Just A Thought doesn’t charge a subscription because this is really more of an outlet for Andrew and I to write about what we’re into, I definitely wouldn’t be mad if writing about what we’re into had a check component to it. (Andrew concurs. When I shared this story with him for his edits, he left a note in the Google Doc that read, “one day 🤞”
That, of course, is the allure of a get rich quick scheme. Who wouldn’t want to get Bugatti money just by doing what they’re already doing? With NFTs, artists, photographers, musicians, writers, and other creatives aren’t necessarily putting out different outputs. The difference is that they are minting the work and getting paid (quickly! handsomely!) for it.
For those who are doing similar work and not minting it (🙋🏽♂️), feelings of jealousy can arise. To which the minting class could fairly retort, “Then start minting, slacker.”
And maybe I will. But I also realize that I subconsciously made a decision long ago to prioritize working on things that were cool over things that were lucrative. Sometimes you can do both, which is great. But when forced to choose, I’m picking cool nine times out of 10, and I’m OK with that.
Bebop Porú con Mickey Pérez & special guest Lágrimas de Oro @ The Lot Radio
This two hour set, shared by Vadim in Oh Fire, is best listened to with windows open, on loud speakers in the car or at home, with a tropical beverage in hand (if in the car, it is required by law that your beverage be non-alcoholic). I am very much looking forward to my first alcoholic tropical beverage IRL at The Lot Radio in a few weeks.
–Andrew
Sonic Souvenirs
If Mikey February isn’t one of your favorite surfers, I feel bad for you. In all boardsports, there is talk of this ephemeral sense of “style.” It could manifest itself in the way someone holds their hands, the lines they shape, or the position of their feet. Trying to define it is tough, but rest assured, February has it. And it’s on full display in his new edit.
–Justin
Vacation Sunscreen by Poolside.fm
As the Vice Chairman of the Karaoke Council (see below), I order you to watch the video on the Vacation.inc website. I believe that’s well within my powers. The Poolside.fm brand is strong and they absolutely nailed the launch of their first physical product: SPF 30 sunscreen. Much like the drops from MSCHF, this is fun, on-brand, and with the help of this newsletter, will be quite viral.
—Andrew
