Feelings Check-In: Mercedes-Benz NFTs, Pixel Penguins Charity Scam, Aging (lol)

[00:00] Okay, I have a YouTube troll comment. This was a comment that was left on one of our videos. I don't know which one it was. I know exactly which one it was. Oh, okay. It was me talking about WorldCoin. [00:08] okay the comment reads lmfao brain cells are working overtime on this page crying emoji laughing emoji the struggle bus makes its first stop right here for these two self-proclaimed journalists and geniuses and then the crying and laughing emojis which so good it's perfect honestly it's perfect as a youtube comment is perfect he encapsulated it [00:32] Us. [00:33] Perfectly. [00:34] Yeah. Perfectly. And also YouTube commenters perfectly as well. Yes. He this is canon. [01:00] Just boys club. [01:00] We have a few announcements. This is some housekeeping. Okay. We're launching an AI podcast. [01:07] And it's on the same RSS feed, which means if you are subscribed in Spotify or Apple podcast or whatever, you will get... [01:16] the AI podcast in your feed. [01:18] When it launches soon. So that's exciting. We're going to launch it first on YouTube. There is nothing more humbling than starting a new social media channel. [01:28] from from scratch it's the worst you're feeling good about yourself

[01:32] And you're like, wow, I'm feeling too good about myself. [01:35] Try to start a YouTube channel. You will immediately feel different about yourself. So we're starting from zero over there. But yeah, we're gonna be launching the AI podcast on YouTube first. I don't know, just experiment tours. Let's see if that works as a strategy. Please subscribe to that channel. Please like [01:54] and like rate these podcasts on Spotify or Apple or wherever it is that you get them. [01:59] it really helps the, uh, [02:01] Hand of God, that is the Spotify algorithm. That is running the world. [02:05] So that would be great. Thank you. Yes. [02:16] We're going to talk about two stories and then we're going to... [02:19] have some feelings about the stories and then feelings about just our lives in general our lives and our work i'll go first i'll go first okay okay so this is what's happening this week the story that i chose which is a surprise to dina because we said we were going to do something i know i am i'm at the edge of my seat i cannot wait i got inspired um okay mercedes-benz [02:40] Mercedes Benz, who I have such a deep love and affinity for. [02:46] Because I'm obsessed with F1. [02:49] Same. Because Drive to Survive, love Lewis Hamilton, but more than even Lewis Hamilton... [02:54] I love our main man. George Russell. [02:56] Ew. Pass. Pass. Toto Wolf. Toto Wolf is just...

[03:03] The man. The man. He is the man. So even though they've had some rough seasons here. Anyway, so I have a love and affinity for Mercedes-Benz. And last week, Mercedes-Benz launched... Before you get into this, I just want to say, I have... [03:17] a [03:18] Tweet one day that I'm going to put out that's going to hit... [03:21] And it's going to be really great. Great. And it's too soon to do it now. [03:25] Okay. It's, I cannot, I can't tweet it in good faith right now, but I have a hat. [03:31] That is a Mercedes Benz. You've seen it. The Mercedes Benz F1 hat that on the front has the Mercedes Benz logo. And then it has the FTX logo. It's so good. It's so good. It was because FTX was a sponsor of the Mercedes Benz Formula One team. [03:49] Before, obviously. I mean, obviously. Obviously. What if they still were? [03:54] But anyway, I have been waiting to post about it, but... [03:59] I love it. I love it. It's so good. You were wearing it on vacation and my husband was like, is that a [04:04] joke and you're like yeah it's joke and it was right after it was like right after that's my favorite moment with people [04:12] Like, yeah. Is that a joke? Yeah. Okay. So last week, May 22nd, [04:19] Mercedes Benz launched their Web3 Creative Studio. [04:23] called next. [04:25] NXT. And I saw some rumblings on Twitter about it. And I was like, okay, whatever. Another legacy brand trying to do something in this space late to the game on it sort of just like passively judged it roasted. Yeah, I was roasting it a bit. And then this week, they launched the first of their core collections. So I'm going to give some context for the Web3 studio as a whole and then

[04:55] thing. I'm just obsessed. Like the more I researched it, I was like, this is so well done. Of course, Mercedes, Mercedes would do this. Well, like, [05:02] What was I thinking? They always do everything so well. So in their words, [05:07] This is why they're doing this. I'm just going to read a little bit from their own tweets and website. Okay. Mercedes-Benz history spans more than 130 years. During this time, collectors have engaged with and enjoyed all kinds of physical objects, from vehicles themselves to model cars and memorabilia. Mercedes-Benz Next aims to bring this collectability to the digital realm. So I'm like, cool. [05:37] and feel a sense of belonging with the brand as a whole, sense of identity with Mercedes. And there's this built-in belief that that's going to extend into... [05:50] the digital world and digital collectibles. So something else they said is, "Enabled by the emergence of blockchain technologies, we believe digital art and collectibles will play an increasingly significant role in our online experience. The formation of Mercedes-Benz Next marks a long-term commitment to building a dedicated presence within the Web3 community and to blockchain-based digital objects." [06:14] They're not shying away from talking about blockchain technology. They're not shying away from talking about Web3 communities. And I think comparing this to how Nike...

[06:25] has approached it, there's some significant differences that I think are really strong. So one other thing that they did in the initial launch is that they came out with a very clear framework for how the activities of the studio are going to show up in the world. [06:40] And so essentially there's three types of projects that they're going to be launching, um, [06:45] within the studio there's their core collections which are planned and developed and managed by the creative studio very tight in-house and launched directly out of the mercedes-benz brand so that's their core collections the second is their satellite projects so these are standalone activities that are smaller in scope [07:04] bring in partnerships still... [07:07] contrived within the brand, but have a flexibility in terms of sort of how they show up. I think less tied to inherent like value that they're trying to drive to the studio and to these digital collectibles, more experimental. And then the third are peripheral projects. So this is [07:25] third-party projects that can use the trademark and ip of mercedes and are officially licensed by them but are not incubated and developed and core to the studio itself so they were like incredibly clear about this framework very german in the way that they're approaching honestly i'm like i kind of want to borrow that for voice club that's a great [07:45] framing. Amazing frame. [07:46] yeah think about [07:48] I totally agree. Yeah. So very thoughtfully, [07:51] constructed in terms of as holders, as participants, like where

[07:57] do you want to tap in and where are we going to be making like clear bets that are supposed to drive value and, uh, [08:05] real [08:06] engagement with the studio and where are some things that are like space for experimentation. [08:11] So [08:12] Really great. Carly from OverPriceJPegs did a segment on her last podcast about the studio launch and had very similar take, was like really impressed. One other take that she had that I really liked was that... [08:27] she really dug into the team that's working behind this and she, [08:31] It was clear that they're like native to this community, native to Web3. They all have ENS addresses. They all have wallets that collect different types of NFTs. They're not just like a B team that was like thrown on this idea of Web3. Really native and really impressive team that's actually running the show. Okay. Okay. [08:49] That's a studio as a whole. So that launched last week. And then this week, they announced their first inaugural core collection. This is called Machine. [09:00] German machine. Like, I'm gonna butcher [09:03] A lot of names. So just forgive me. I'm so sorry. So following the launch of the studio, they dropped this announcement that they're doing this inaugural collection. Yeah. [09:15] co-created with a German artist named Han van Don. [09:19] He's a digital, a German digital artist and fingerprints down. So they're partnering with this artist and this collector Dow to launch this collection.

[09:30] So... [09:31] Essentially, this collection is 25 pieces of digital artwork that are created by this [09:39] artist harm and he has trained neural networks to identify and select generative outputs so it's not a piece of ai artwork but it is using sort of some of the [09:54] same digital tooling to create and neural networks to create these pieces of 3D work. [10:02] Are they like cars? [10:05] So they're inspired by a wheel. [10:07] He has this whole thing about, and they're basically like spinning sort of digital art that you could see, oh, if someone said like that's inspired by automotive stuff. [10:19] Okay. Movement that it would make sense. So 25. 25. So a few things that I really like about this. [10:26] Mm-hmm. [10:27] One, they chose an artist who has been working in blockchain and digital art since 2015. So a longtime artist in the space. They decided to work with this DAO that's been doing this type of collecting and curating for a long time in the world of crypto. [10:44] And... [10:45] It's very clear to me that they have [10:48] just really intentionally thought about how do we take [10:52] How do you take communities and people who are very knowledgeable and excited and have been doing the work of thinking about this type of space for a long time and amplifying it through the brand of Mercedes-Benz? And how do you take this idea of digital art, digital collectibles, and have digital collectibles that stand the test of time, like Mercedes-Benz?

[11:14] cars that's sort of their main premise is like this is something that is built to last and they're taking that same approach with these digital works of art and collectibles so that's what they're doing june 7th the auction will go live on fingerprints dow website and machina [11:31] is the name of the collection. Okay, a couple things come up for me. One thing that I like is that the 25... [11:38] pieces is very different to Porsche's approach, which was like, I don't know, 5,000, 3,000, 2,000. They were trying to move a lot of... [11:46] NFTs and it [11:48] didn't work in the way that they had wanted it to work. And I think that just as a strategy for brands who are looking to experiment in the space, generally making sure your scope [12:00] for your sales is manageable. Yeah. There's very little, there's no risk that they won't sell the 25 and they still get to buy [12:09] one experiment in the space. [12:11] credibly and to be seen to be experimenting in the space credibly so it's kind of win-win in the way that they have [12:17] set up the logistics of how [12:20] the sales can work. So I really like that. Love everything you're saying about [12:24] the team that's been put around this has like real roots into what's happening in the space. One other thing that I forgot to add about the core collections, which is this machine is one of the core collections, is that the idea is that it will build [12:38] on itself. [12:39] Piggybacking on what you're saying about the 25 is what I like about it is you can start with the super manageable number and know that they have the intention of doing more on top of that in some capacity. And for them, it gives them the flexibility to do that. And from the holder's perspective, there's some...

[12:57] sense of, okay, I'm holding one of 25 of these core collections that I know they're going to inherently have projects that are building on top of that. It's like a story. So do you think they're going to do a Nike thing where it's like they sell the wheel and then they're going to sell a body and then they're going to sell a windshield wiper? Like, do you [13:18] It's... [13:19] So abstracted. Like it's very abstracted from like a wheel. You would never see that and be like, that's a wheel. And the artist said that he was like inspired by automotive technology. And so it's not, I don't think what I could see is like a core collection piece has a, [13:38] some [13:40] mint pass to the mercedes-benz experience at south by southwest exactly okay got it cool uh awesome or like an f1 f1 ticket i don't know i would be in for that and actually f1 is doing i saw a press release the other day that they're doing nfg ticketing they just did it at monaco there was some sort of piece yeah okay devil's advocate [14:03] with Nike's [14:05] Drop I [14:07] liked that they abstracted away the technology element of it and really just framed it from [14:13] What's the consumer care about? Casual consumer doesn't care that it's... [14:18] blockchain technology and so were it me I would have maybe pushed for some of the technical stuff. [14:25] the blockchain

[14:28] language to be abstracted out because I don't know that three years from now [14:32] that will be the type of language that we're using to describe these types of projects, because I think that it will be in the stack. [14:40] I agree. Definitely agree with you that they're playing to web your audience. I sort of see it as [14:46] Like with cars. [14:48] As an example, people who are super into cars care about the engine and the rev speed and the thing and the that and the turbo. I do not care. [14:58] I do not care. I want cars that are flashy. [15:03] and expensive and i want a g-wagon [15:08] I want to, that's all I want actually, like a Land Rover. You want a status. [15:14] I want a status symbol that's like sexy to drive. I don't care about horsepower. [15:19] at all. But people who are super into cars, all of that is details that they [15:24] are excited about and into. And I think that's similarly what they're playing to here of, [15:31] People who are into this stuff right now and who are you actually going to be selling these NFTs to at this point in the market are only people who are super into this stuff. Totally. And so talking about how it's, you know, inspired by blockchain, how it's a neural network, how all of these sort of things are... [15:48] grounding for the types of person who is obsessed with this. So, [15:53] I think it will be interesting over the course of however many years they're doing this if they're able to

[15:59] slowly [16:01] Still have all of that in her working, but also be able to be like, this is a G-Wagon, which is what they've been able to do for their actual cars for the average consumer. But at this point, I think they're just playing to... [16:12] who they think will actually... [16:13] participate but like they launched this last week and they have 3 000 followers on twitter they've not blown it away and have a huge audience around it yeah but i think they've shown up with a lot of credibility so interesting you had one more thing though right yeah one more thing which comes up for me which i don't know if it's fair it might be too spiky as a take but there's something in my soul that is reacting to the story in a way that's like [16:39] I [16:42] don't need [16:44] art from Mercedes. [16:48] I don't know that that's what my soul is calling for. An auto... [16:53] mobile manufacturer too. Well, auto art as one thing, but I think even just [16:59] Mercedes having license. [17:01] To create art. Is something that. I don't know. [17:07] that checks out for me personally. And I don't think that that's true necessarily of, say, a Nike or a Ralph Lauren. I think there's a clear through line [17:16] from... [17:17] sort of fashion and streetwear brands through to art that makes me kind of believe it more and makes me more willing to [17:26] spend the time with it, but I don't know with...

[17:29] Mercedes, if they were to do physical, like actual physical, like [17:34] on canvas art. I don't know that [17:37] they're the voice that I'm looking for. [17:39] in that space can you imagine so it's mercedes-benz [17:43] It's a creator. But I think that we're in a moment in this industry where projects and experiments like this are being expressed in art. So that's like what they had to do to be able to play here. But I wonder if that's needed, if there was a way for them to have some sort of digital collectible or something that... [18:04] I don't know. I still think it's cool. [18:06] without having [18:08] to it to be a better shoehorn it into art i know i guess but the alternative is what porsche did which is like these nfts of cars that are so lame yeah that i'm like yeah i get you know what i mean i do yeah and i haven't seen the artwork in fairness so i think maybe it will i will be i don't think you're gonna be like blown away i mean it's pretty but i get what you're saying it's like i'm never gonna hang a mercedes-benz piece of art in my house why would i i'm [18:32] own it in my wallet. But I can see the world where it totally makes sense for them to have [18:38] Some sort of digital collectible, some sort of asset, some sort of whatever. Lewis Hamilton PFP. [18:43] There it is. Now that I would place a bit on. But yeah, I guess just the art component feels like, I don't know, I guess just corporate art in general. [18:56] Yeah. [18:57] I don't know. [18:59] Tough.

[19:00] It's tough. [19:01] It's tough to win. There's so much beauty in the world. [19:03] Yeah, there's and so much truth in art that when it's [19:08] Voiced from... [19:09] well yeah or like when it's when it's [19:12] voiced from a [19:14] a C-corp. [19:15] that has like i don't know it just there's something about she's a boogie man [19:20] I get everything. I totally get everything. [19:29] So this is a story about a rug pull. A rug pull, if you don't know what that is, is when a project comes along and it raises a bunch of money in various ways. And then the founders or the builders abandon the project and take all the money. [19:43] That's a rug pull. This is a story about a rug pull. It's also a story about social engineering and like a long con. [19:49] Which is brutal. Oh my god. Okay, so there was this person... [19:53] who identified as a woman online, don't know if they're a woman or not. Their name is Sarah. [19:58] at hope exist one you'll see that twitter account name being thrown around so she is [20:04] or they proclaimed to be [20:07] NFT artist in training that was taking classes and... [20:13] and really made inroads within the NFT community. They were doing commissions for people. So they were like producing work for people and like forming relationships that seemed very authentic and [20:29] them reaching out and asking for feedback seemed to be a very authentic, legitimate student of art that was

[20:36] wanting to learn, wanting to help, wanting to contribute, doing these commissions, asking for feedback on their work. And they had been around. [20:45] for months doing this and embedding themselves in the NFT community. [20:50] So then they launch this... [20:53] NFT collection called Pixel Penguins. [20:56] And whatever image you have in your mind around what Pixel Penguins looks like, that is what it is. Okay. It is little pixel. Quick question. Yeah. Were they anonymous? [21:09] Or presenting as anonymous. [21:13] Well, no. Okay. I mean... [21:16] I don't really know how to answer that question actually. [21:19] I guess maybe you wouldn't know this. [21:21] Like they had a name, Sarah. [21:23] They didn't name Sarah. There ended up being a photo of a face. Okay. [21:28] Okay. Okay. Not, not proclaiming to be a non, I would say. Okay. Okay. Okay. So they launched pixel penguins, which is like classic 10 K PFP type of thing, pixelated penguins. And part of the story in launching that collection was that they were using the funds to pay for medical expenses. They were saying that they have this particular type of cancer. And then part of the [21:52] They had the type of cancer that like went into your eyes. There's like a name for it. I don't know what it is. And they had the medical name for it. And they had to get one eye removed. And then part of the story was like that their doctor said that they needed to remove the other eye and they were like, No, I want to keep it because I'm an artist and I'm not going to keep it.

[22:12] I just want to take the risk and hope for the best. This is so deceptive. It really is. And really pulling on heartstrings. [22:20] And like this sort of subtext there was that like they were willing to sacrifice their life for the art and. For pudgy penguins. Exhalated penguins. [22:30] people are like taking this as a goodwill story or whatever and [22:34] Also part of the story was like, [22:36] They were saying publicly that they don't want to take donations. And that was a big part of the proclamations they're making. And then I was listening to this Twitter space and these dudes were like, yeah, I know she's saying she doesn't want to take donations, but like I'm going to find her wallet address anyway. I can do some ether sand sleuthing and send it to her anyway. [22:54] And... [22:55] Because people really wanted to believe that this is true. And okay, wait, quick question. Yeah. [23:00] Thank you. [23:01] So they launch the... [23:04] a pixelated penguins and then part of the story of this launch is the is the cancer i think the cancer had kind of always been there [23:12] But it was very much in the story of the… [23:16] NFT launch. Okay. As a way to support them. [23:18] Yes. Yeah, exactly. I also was listening on the same Twitter space. These dudes are talking about how they were like, yeah, I minted a bunch and then... [23:29] the the floor price it started pumping in value and they were like I was selling them for profit and then I was taking that profit and sending it directly to her oh my god I know okay so then [23:42] This person, Andrew Wang, who is a very well-respected NFG influencer collector and people really like him. He

[23:52] he gets behind this project and he's like this person i know i've known for months [23:57] I'm in touch with her art teacher and I really believe in her. He goes all in. And he has 150,000 followers. He's a big deal. [24:06] 10,000 mint out and like it's now like it's pumping pumping pumping. [24:11] And then part of that part of the story that Andrew shared was a photo of her face like bandaged up. And OK, I saw this photo. Yes. Yeah. So she has like a face bandaged up and she's writing that she's like going through treatment. And that's part of why he was felt compelled to share. Yeah. [24:30] Then after it mints out and after the floor price goes like starts pumping, it's [24:36] people start to see these weird tweets that that same account had sent last year the tweets are like not adding up they're using a male pronouns and stuff like that and then they look on the foundation page where she was selling the the pixelated penguins and there's stolen art that gets discovered then she wouldn't even stolen art there's stuff that she had for sale that was from other artists somebody okay okay that's the one that said had created and then [25:02] her Twitter goes down and she deletes her account or they delete the account. And so they have now rugged. They've now exited the story and have kind of like rugged. There's much more damaging rug pulls. There was only 61 ETH that went into, which is like $115,000. Like it's not nothing. I'm going to talk about some other rug pulls that were like unfathomable amounts of money. But I think that there's a couple of things. One, the

[25:30] The reputational damage to the influencers that got behind this project, like that sucks. I think that Andrew Wang person was really well intentioned. Yeah, that really sucks. Like really well intentioned. I didn't know what was going on with the story. I had seen some picture that picture on Twitter a lot. And then I saw a thread from him. [25:48] Yeah. Post rug. [25:50] And I felt so bad because I was like, I don't know what happened. Like I'm unclear on the context, but. [25:56] the whole thread was like, [25:58] I'm so sorry. This is what I know. This is what I didn't know. And just really... [26:03] transparent around how he was rugged as well. Yeah. And, [26:08] It's really... [26:09] disheartening to see that happen anyway that's the story i just want to talk through so you have some context for some other famous rug pulls i like did a deep dive and i was like man these are incredible there's this one [26:24] called OneCoin, which was a really long running Ponzi scheme that started in 2014. At one point, there was about 3 million members that were contributing to this Ponzi scheme. $4 billion. [26:36] four billion dollars what yeah four billion dollars and the woman that's behind it her name is rugna ignatova she is now on the fbi's 10 most wanted [26:47] Oh my gosh. I know. I know. It's insane. That's crazy. And then there's this other one called DeFi 100 that relatively speaking, not very much, $32 million. They like did the exit rug whole thing and then put something up on their website that said we scammed you guys and you can't do shit about it. And then there's a similar one, another one. Oh my God. I know. A token called ProDM that.

[27:09] was supposedly revolutionizing the fruit and vegetable industry. And when they did the exit, when they like whatever exited, they like just had the word penis on their website, which is like, I know, I actually think I remember that it happens. [27:22] And it's going to continue happening just by the nature of... [27:26] these transactions aren't reversible. [27:29] It's gone. And so I don't know. It's not fun. But just to say proceed with caution. What feelings? Man, a feeling that comes out for me. It's just. [27:40] Really... [27:41] depressing to see [27:46] bad intention. Like, I [27:50] I operate in a world where I think that most people are, that I'm working with have, [27:57] good intention and want to [27:59] do things that are interesting and to build things that have value and to work together collaboratively and like all this perspective of the world that you hear these stories and you're like, wow, that is not... [28:12] Everyone. Totally. [28:14] And it's disappointing. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It also just perpetuates a story about this industry that I think... [28:27] It's not good. [28:28] Isn't that good? It's also such a small part of the industry. Tiny. And it's so... [28:33] tantalizing, [28:35] that people then... [28:38] want to understand it and like of course things get weird and people are like what's happening there and so I feel like that also was there for maybe we shouldn't have covered it

[28:47] I don't think so. I think I saw it all over Twitter and I was wondering what was going on. And I also think for the reputation of people who... [28:53] were well-intentioned [28:55] influencers in this space who got rugged i think it's helpful to have context for what happened yeah okay [29:09] Should we go into personal feelings? [29:12] personal feelings i actually don't have anything uh prepared i [29:15] Okay, well, you have to go because I had a friend, one of my dearest friends, who's the sweetest person in the whole world was like, I love your podcast. It's my favorite podcast. And I was like, that's so kind. And he was like, man, your vulnerability recently is like unprecedented. It's so amazing. And it was like, so nice. [29:30] And I will, if you're listening, love you. And I was like, okay, I got to take a beat. I got to take a little bit of a beat. Because honestly, I've just been like, whatever, which is how I feel. But... [29:43] between Ozempic and last week's feelings check-in and anything anyway. [29:48] Your turn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I'm turning 39 and... [29:53] five days two hours oh my god uh [29:59] And... [30:00] I feel... [30:04] Thank you. [30:06] Mostly a piece of it. [30:07] I think that [30:11] I don't know. I do feel very distinctly that I'm moving into a new phase in my life.

[30:18] Which... [30:18] I don't know, maybe it's like [30:20] as a woman [30:22] There's as a woman, right? [30:24] She said it. I don't know. Okay. I'm just gonna be like super transparent. There's something that... [30:30] when you know that you've had... [30:33] the kids that you're going to have. [30:35] Uh-huh. [30:36] Like, this is actually a big part of it for me. Like, I... [30:39] have had my two children, I'm not planning on having [30:42] another child [30:44] And there's something about the finality of that. [30:48] And... [30:49] the sort of realization that [30:51] And that's an active choice that I'm making, and I'm totally empowered in that choice, and it's what I want. [30:59] There's something about... [31:02] Like, this is the shape of my family and this is the shape of my life. And yeah, [31:07] It's not... [31:08] Unless I suppose I could make some other decisions and [31:11] I don't know, adopt children... [31:14] divorce my, like there's other like, of course, like things I could do to like change the shape of it materially that I've no intention of doing right now. But like, [31:22] This is what it looks like. And... [31:25] I don't know. There's like something about it that's [31:28] feels... [31:32] Final. [31:33] And... [31:34] it's like a new feeling that I'm trying to manage and that I'm trying to come to terms with that, um, [31:41] is like fine i'm i'm fine but it's a little it's like ambient it's there [31:47] and [31:48] I think part of it is...

[31:50] I guess the realization that [31:52] Doors start closing as you get older. [31:56] And... [31:57] when you're 25 or when you're 30, those doors all look open and [32:03] And yeah, they just feel like they start closing. I have feeling a lot of feelings about [32:07] my career. [32:09] And... [32:10] And... [32:12] Just, and I know I said this in the last podcast, but like just really... [32:16] really wanting a win [32:18] And... [32:20] feeling like I've been working really hard for a really long time. Yeah. And [32:26] I don't know that I've like... [32:29] I don't know that I... [32:32] I feel like I can see that. [32:34] So that's there. And... [32:39] Yeah, also I think related to the feeling of like finality around [32:46] My family is like, [32:47] a sense of [32:48] Time. [32:50] becomes... [32:51] I am much more present to [32:54] I have this feeling that I'm running out of time, especially when it comes to my career. And so all of a sudden, I'm like, man, everything that I'm doing right now, and I think that this is healthy. And I think that [33:04] it's good to put a lens on the work that you're doing and be constantly evaluating. If it's something that you feel like, [33:11] the stuff that you want to do, but... [33:14] I don't know, even like short-term stuff. I'm like, do I want to spend six months on this when – [33:19] Right.

[33:20] that six months feels more precious than it did before. [33:24] when I was 31. [33:25] Like it feels like I need to be... [33:27] Thinking about these things much more seriously now. So that's kind of what I'm going through. [33:32] With the finality thing around family and the shape of your life, is that... [33:39] Is there... [33:41] a freedom that you're feeling around that? Or is it like... [33:43] and existential dread. [33:45] - That like this is... - Both. It's both. Yeah. [33:48] Which is cool. [33:51] Yeah, it's both. It's like there is a freedom because [33:56] I don't know, this is really personal, it's not like... [33:59] I don't know if people were interested in this or not, but... [34:01] When you're young kids, you're in baby prison. [34:04] and [34:05] Right. [34:06] Like it's just so rude. [34:09] you're trapped and so limiting and it's so beautiful and wonderful. And it's like the most wonderful like time in so many ways, but you're also totally, totally, [34:15] bound to the house like in in [34:18] Anyways, and knowing that I'm not going to have... [34:20] another baby, there is a freedom for sure in [34:23] like, [34:24] What it opens up. [34:25] and also like how aggressively I can pursue things in my career. [34:29] Because when you have a baby, [34:31] I don't know. Everyone wants to tell you otherwise, but like things... [34:35] take a hit. Yeah. And I just like or they have for me personally, and that might not be true across the board. And maybe that's a bad feminist thing to say, but it has for me and for a lot of my friends. So. [34:49] There's like a tenacity that I can pursue things in right now that I appreciate and I have a lot of freedom in. But yeah, also it's an existential dread for sure.

[34:58] And I don't know. I feel like a lot of this. [35:03] also like ties back to what we were talking about last week and turns it up [35:07] 10 notches around is this the right work to be doing? Are we pursuing the right things? If you're feeling the sense of a ticking clock around your career and the time that you have and what? [35:22] So it makes it in some ways harder to [35:25] to see because it's loaded with all this stuff. But in other ways, I think it's really positive because you're in this space where [35:31] you can be like, [35:32] with a scalpel about it because there's not margin. [35:37] I think with my career, I just like have a real sense that I've never worked on something that's actually worked. [35:42] Oh. [35:44] I'm serious. I know you feel that way. [35:48] I know that you feel that way. It's really hard. I don't think that that's true. [35:51] I know that you don't think it's true. [35:53] I know that you don't think it's true. [35:55] And I know that you're going to say something nice about how that isn't true, but like, that's how I feel. Yeah. And like, it's a real tough pill to swallow. [36:03] Yeah. [36:06] I... [36:08] just wonder what it would feel like to work on something that was really working. [36:12] Mm-hmm. [36:15] Thank you. [36:16] And... [36:17] I've never really had that sensation. [36:20] Yeah. [36:21] Of course, there's windows and glimmers over here and there, and... [36:25] boys club has been incredible and

[36:29] And... [36:31] Thank you. [36:31] Thank you. [36:32] I don't know, whatever. This, it's... [36:36] That's the feeling. [36:38] now i feel like i can't say something nice because it's like fake it's faux it's a faux nice thing to say but i don't need you to say i'm not i'm not fishing and i don't need you can you imagine if you were can you imagine if that was the type of relationship we had [36:54] I would never, you would never do that. [36:57] I just want to say, I think you and I share... [37:02] a perspective about [37:04] our lives and the work where we are [37:08] incredibly ambitious. And how that shows up is an inability to see things [37:16] as good enough. [37:18] And as a win. That might be true. That might be true. And so I think we're always wanting more. We're always seeing where there's opportunity. We're always trying to take something to the next level. And. [37:28] that results in feeling like [37:32] everything's [37:34] not as good as it can be. [37:35] And so [37:36] That is where that feeling comes from, I think. So it's healthy for me to hear you say this, because I'm like, oh, wow, I understand how. [37:46] It's crazy making for other people in our lives who are like, what are you guys talking about? [37:50] Just... [37:52] chill the fuck out. And I'm like, no, [37:55] Not until I have $1 billion. [37:59] Not that money is the end. I'll be out, but like, yeah, it's an indicator. And so anyway, I can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you poolside at Soho house.

[38:10] If we ever make it there, we keep making this plan that I'm going to come to Nashville for work. And then we're going to spend a day by the pool. And then that never happens. We end up just being like, actually, we're just editing the podcast. [38:20] okay you're not gonna share any feelings that's fine you don't have to you overshared so i've overshared i have a i have an overshare hangover so okay okay dina where are we gonna be in september we are going to be at permissionless in austin texas permissionless too it's happening and we're curating the culture track for the conference so if you're into the stuff we talk about here you should come and have a good time with us so email your boss tell them that you [38:50] Buy your ticket now. They will never be as cheap as they are today. And we also have a promo code in our Discord for Boys Club members. Come hang in Austin. [39:02] This is where we make an ask. We're in our call to action era. It's CTA times. Rate and review this podcast. Subscribe to our newsletter. And if you're feeling extra generous... [39:14] Send it to one friend. [39:17] Thank you for listening. We love you. Bye.