Rob's recap - February 2024
A recap of cool things I've seen, heard, done and learned this month.
Today’s edition is slightly different.
I’m addicted to content - constantly reading, watching and listening. Much of what I consume ends up in this newsletter, but most doesn’t. So, I thought I’d share a recap of the most interesting, helpful, funny, and thought-provoking content I consumed this past month. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it too. And while I’m at it, I’ll share relevant updates about what’s happening in my life too. Here’s what’s in today’s edition:
Learning
Books
Podcasts
TV and YouTube
Some other stuff I’ve been up to
If the response to this post is positive, I’ll also do a March recap. If you have any show, book, podcast, article, blog or whatever to recommend, please drop it in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
OK, let’s go.
👨🎓 Learning
Duolingo
When we moved back to South Africa from the Netherlands, I promised myself I’d learn Zulu or Xhosa. I’ve been doing Zulu lessons on Duolingo with my 2.5-year-old son as part of his bedtime routine. The lessons are short, fun and well-crafted. I’m on a +40-day steak, and I notice a big uptick in my comprehension. The app is free and offers many languages and has recently branched into music and maths.
Who knows, maybe I’ll write a Zulu newsletter one day.
Acquisition.com
For many years I’ve had an entrepreneurial bird chirping in my ear. This year, I’ve decided to give it a go. Coming from a background of forensic and internal auditing, I’ve realised that there are areas where I have zero experience - sales and product development being one of them.
Alex Hormozi is an American entrepreneur, internet personality and a customer acquisition and monetisation guru. Although he has a bit of an influencer vibe, I found his $100m Offers and $100m Leads courses insightful and riddled with practical tips. The online courses are free, or you can buy the books.
Write Music - Gary Provost
An excellent writing tip from author and writing instructor Gary Provost:
📚 Books
Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography - Mike Tyson
An entertaining insight into the life of one of the most unique people on the planet. Iron Mike’s life has been a whirlwind - crime, being trained by Cus D’Amato, boxing heavyweight champion, celebrity, prison, drug and sex addiction. If you like sports, boxing and crazy stories, you’ll enjoy this book.
In case you missed it, here’s my recent article about Tyson.
Million Dollar Weekend - Noah Kagan
For most aspiring entrepreneurs, starting is the hardest part. This book’s title is a bit self-help-y, but it’s an easy-to-read guide filled with practical suggestions on getting started. It was recently released and has a 5-star rating on Amazon.
🎧 Podcasts
Lex Fridman: Bill Ackman interview
A wide-ranging interview of Bill Ackman, the controversial billionaire investor who shares interesting stories about his investment philosophy, making and losing billions, his beef with Carl Icahn, Brad Pitt trying to date his girlfriend and the recent controversies at Harvard University.
Bulletproof for BJJ: What I learned from a Tech Billionaire (Part 1)
I recently uncovered this relatively unknown podcast about Jiu-Jitsu, hosted by two entertaining Aussie guys with proper Aussie humour. However, this episode (and part 2) isn’t about Jiu-Jitsu. One of the Aussie hosts recounts how a world-famous tech billionaire discovered his work and flew him to San Fransisco for a meet-up. What follows is a mind-blowing few days of private jets, mansions, meetings with other tech billionaires and other billionaire stuff. It’s a lesson in entertaining storytelling and a reminder of the limitless and random opportunities that can come from creating content online.
The Blues and Soul Show (Spotify only)
Not a single podcast episode, but a weekly show on Spotify about blues and soul music. If you like blues and soul, it’s a great way to discover music and learn more about the genre. Here’s the most recent episode:
📺 TV and YouTube
Masters of the Air
Frequent readers of the newsletter know that I’m obsessed with WW2. Masters of the Air is a limited series on Apple TV+ about the bomber pilots of the war. The series was produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and other members of the team that created Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The fight scenes are epic and give a frightening perspective of what it must have been like to be in the planes that bombed the Nazis.
The Dynasty: New England Patriots
Like the NFL version of Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance, this series tells the story of Tom Brady and his run with the New England Patriots. It’s a good sports documentary, especially if you know little about American football. It's also on Apple TV+.
UFC Countdown and UFC Embedded
One thing I love about American sports is the spectacle and the story they create around it, and you don’t get any better than the UFC. If you are not a fan of the sport, watch the UFC Countdown and Embedded shows broadcast on YouTube before the monthly fights. After you’ve seen each fighter’s backstory and watched him/her train, it’s hard not to get riled up rooting for a fighter you’d previously never heard of. The next big fight, UFC 299, is on March 10. UFC 299 Countdown will be released on the UFC YouTube channel on March 2.
*With Dricus as the world champ, it is all the more reason to get into the UFC.
🚀 Some other stuff I’ve been up to
This newsletter: Building Blocks
This year, I’m trying to be more consistent with the structure and cadence of the newsletter. I also post my articles on LinkedIn at least weekly.
This seems to have helped my subscriber count. Since I started posting on January 20 2024, I’ve had an 8% increase in subscribers - slow and steady. A massive thanks to all the readers who share my articles. It helps me a TON. I cherish each and every subscriber.
This is how my recent articles have been performing. You can find each one here.
My cap brand: Bob’s Athletic Co.
I love wearing caps, so I created my own brand, Bob’s Athletic Co. The first range of caps was released last week.
I’m selling the caps through The BB Store, this newsletter’s online retail outlet. It’s the first online store I’ve ever built. I used Shopify, and although time-consuming, it was pretty straightforward and fun. It’s still V1 of the site, and I hope to refine it over time.
Please go check it out…Or even better, buy a cap! Building Blocks subscribers get a 20% discount if they use code: BBSubPromo0324