Travis Steffen

@cjpedregal @meetgranola Who did your animated videos? Really jazzy.

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@amierrivers @midwestern_ope It was the height of luxury 😂

@midwestern_ope @TravisSteffen who does this remind you of

Growing up in small town Midwest means you thought Applebees was a fancy restaurant until about 21 years old

@runwayml content moderation might be getting a bit too out of control 😂 was trying to show my wife the tool while we were waiting to take off… but seems like even G-rated stuff is too wild for ya?

Client callout! @Sortium is about to light the gaming world on fire… check ‘em out!!

@DavidEickholt They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Then starting play again after giving no explanation on the review tells me they saw the ball was out and just bailed out. What an bad crew.

I get the call was absolutely ridiculous and unforgivable. But that's not deciding this game. It's two units of the team that are performing well-below what the defense is.

@hockeymandude @NCAA Agree, and it’s not close. Players are taught to stop play when they hear the whistle and see the official signal the play dead. Shameful that we reward the player who didn’t, but WORSE that the decided on that upon review.

@TravisSteffen @NCAA Fucking worst call of the year unreal

@NCAA you should examine the Iowa Michigan game closely, and assess whether the officials are betting on the game. You’ve looked at every player this year, but these officials basically screamed it at you on the mysterious fumble call there. Absolutely shameful.

@DeanBlandino as a former player, we’re taught to stop play when the officials blow the whistle. It’s that simple. I cannot fathom how the forward motion of the arm matters there. The players listened to the official. Yet we reward the one who didn’t. Shameful.

@noahkagan @NeelBParekh Condos are tough bc of the HOA, which often eats the cash flow. Happened to mine on the LV strip. All mine cash flow consistently, but definitely need to allocate a % for capital improvements. For every 100 units I eval, *maybe* one fits my numbers. All investments are risky.

I will lose $55,000 this year on Real Estate. But if you see the twitter bros here talk about their airbnbs, storage units or real estate you’d imagine - buy real estate and passive income falls from the sky. So how am I losing it, what does it mean for you and what can you do about it? Last month my HOA did a special assessment to improve the roof for $12,000 per unit, I own 3 of them. Ouch - not great when I barely make $750 a month per unit. Then you have to add on the costs of property taxes which have been rising and tenants constantly having requests (toilet issues, garbage disposal, fan not working, etc…). In addition my units were empty for 3 months of the year. (I did try to sell them but had no buyers). I wanted to share details since there’s such a fantasy a) landlords always get rich b) real estate is a great investment c) real estate is passive income. There MAY be a reason all the twitter real estate bros do many other ventures and sell courses… 🤔 “BUT Noah - you’re talking cash flow what about appreciation.” Thanks for asking! So my condos were $366,000 that I bought around 2015 and ONLY cause of Covid they are “worth” around $515,000. Yay I made $150k. Don’t forget to subtract 20% for capital gains and 6% for realtor fees. Sounds great until realize a) they condos didn’t actually sell when I listed them on the market for that much b) it took nearly 8 years to get $150k and c) if I would have taken that same downpayment of $60k - put it into the market 8 years ago it would be at least $148,557.79 today. Plus - the stock market is liquid (meaning I can get my money NOW) and there’s 0 overhead cost of dealing with AC repairs, tenants, etc… So what does that mean for everyone? 1- Real estate CAN be very profitable for people with fixed income jobs 2- 👉Entrepreneurship has WAY better upside AND lower costs 👈 3- Anyone can do real estate. Think about things you have a COMPETITIVE advantage in. 4- Don’t believe the numbers and ease of people claiming get rich quick. What’s in it for them? 5- Opportunity cost. If you’re going to spend 40 hours finding a rental property and dealing with it - what other investments or businesses could you start instead?

Seek wisdom from founders who've tasted success multiple times AND have faced at least one failure. Their insights are molded by both triumphs and setbacks. Beware of the one-hit wonders. They likely have no idea that their advice. isn’t universally applicable.

Allocate 2-3x more time to learning than to teaching. It’s the cornerstone of genuine expertise. When you do impart knowledge, do it for the true betterment of others - not because you’re stroking your ego being seen as an authority figure. You’ll 10x your impact.

Surround yourself with a tribe of other badass founders. It’s not for mere networking. It’s to help spark mutual growth. Their successes become yours, and vice versa. The same is true for insights, support, and access. Simple, but required.

In the pursuit of product-market fit, “listen” more to silent users than vocal ones. The ones who just act are the ones being most authentic about their experience. Where they engage. Where they get stuck. Where they leave. This often holds the keys to what's truly missing.

@alexderkrieger Great analogy. I’d add - founders try to win Mr O, an ultra marathon, a powerlifting contest, and the CrossFit games all at the same time. Greatness in athletics relies on the SAID principle in training (specific adaptation to imposed demands). Foundership requires the same.

Achieving Product-Market Fit is like winning Mr. Olympia. I've seen founders make one critical mistake. They try to: • bulk up • cut down • change diets simultaneously. You'll never win that way. Pick one strategy and commit. Start focusing today.

Depth over breadth. Exponential growth happens through deep, profound understanding, not cosmetic surface expansion.

@alexderkrieger Ultra marathons, adventure races, Ironman, mountaineering, NPC competition… whatever scares you into positive change.

@TravisSteffen Can you give some examples of your hellishly events?

My biggest life hack to date: Schedule one hellishly hard event annually. It's more than a challenge; it's a yearly reminder that you're built for the grind. That fear? It's just discipline in disguise - preparing you to tackle the other 364 days with grit.

@businessbarista Is there a website? Can’t find a link…

I'm fascinated by the idea of going long creators. Some folks are doing it via lump sum payment in exchange for % of future earnings. Others are launching/investing in creator-led businesses. And others are launching vc-backed businesses that quasi-index growth in the creator economy. But I'm most interested in a hybrid approach... A portfolio of businesses that allow you to participate in the upside of a creator's journey from day 1. Here's my gameplan: I launched @storyarb, a ghostwriting agency for b2b execs. On the surface, it's a service that helps CEOs/Founders build their brands on social media. But in reality, it's an incubator for B2B creator brands. Our clients are high-performing execs who understand the power of content & want to build their authority online. We take all of the lessons/insights/stories in their brain and turn it into hyper-specific, niche content. This attracts the RIGHT audience vs. a HUGE audience. Example: a successful self-storage developer attracting an audience of other developers & investors And we get to participate in this earliest phase of a creator's journey with a monthly agency fee. Then as they build their rented audience on social, you have the ability to build down the content stack with them. Short-form video. Long-form video. Newsletters. Podcasts. As they hit a critical mass of having trust from a high-quality audience, the creator hits the next part of their journey. Building businesses. It's at this point that I want to partner with select clients from @storyarb to launch businesses off the back of their audiences. We'll talk to their followers. Identify painful problems. And build quality solutions. Once the product is built & the business is ready for launch, we'll use the creator's built-in audience as the best-first marketing channel to increase its odds of success. Given these creators are execs/CEOs already running businesses, I'll support them in researching & building their first creator business & hiring a CEO to run it full-time. This allows the team to participate in Chapter 2 of the creator's journey, which is the business-building phase. I believe this modular, multi-business approach to partnering with creators allows you to participate in their upside while also offering them flexibility to work with you when & if they see the value.

@businessbarista Because true happiness is having something to look forward to :)

I went to an event for exited founders this morning. Had some great convos, but what fascinated me most was how people introduced themselves. Everyone got in a circle and the host asked each person for three things: 1) Their name 2) What company they sold 3) What they do on the weekends Not one person followed the directions. Every founder answered the questions above, BUT they also answered a fourth, unasked question: "What's next?" One founder said "I sold a business in B2B SaaS now I'm building in holistic wellness." Another said "I sold my business 6 months ago, so now I'm spending the next 6 months ideating." And it had me thinking. Why does there have to be something next? And how can we relieve ourselves of the self-induced, societally-inflicted pressure for a next to exist? And finally, if there is a next, why does that next have to be the next startup? Because while I'm sure there are founders that take a second and third swing because building companies aligns with their values. I'm willing to bet many come back for reasons that will never drive true contentment.