First things first, for those who read the last Saba Says, Pitch-R Perfect, Lisbon was beyond all expectations. It is the perfect mix of history, culture, art, tech and food. Web Summit also was an unforgettable experience. More on that later.
SABA SAYS ::: GO EXPLORE
Sometimes, the best place to go is nowhere. So you can do… nothing.
Going nowhere, and doing nothing, is actually very powerful. Whether you’re on the couch, sitting by the pool, or in nature. Doing nothing, allows you to keep balanced. It doesn’t have to be meditation either.
Just the act of doing nothing and taking a break allows you to disconnect, so you can reconnect stronger. It allows you to get some rest, so you can perform at your best. Turn it off, so you can turn it up. Doing nothing, allows you slow down, so you can go faster.
So next time you ask someone what they did on the weekend or over break, and they say nothing. Don’t say “why not?”, give them a high five, and tell them “I love it when you do nothing!”. Also, look up the concept JOMO.
SABA SAYS ::: STARTUPS RULE THE WORLD
A couple months ago, Denver-based startup daydream apartments, purchased the resident apartment building I live in for $304M. At first I was like what in the world is going on, then I remember startups truly do rule the world. The reason for the purchase was to implement a new type of urban residential community, where the building:
Gives me a stipend to interior style the place
Installs a safe, and fits new locks for my closet
Takes beautiful photos of my apartment
Lists my home on Airbnb for me whenever I am away
Clean’s the place as soon as I’m off on a trip, and before I get back
and, Pays me for all of this whenever someone stays the night!
Now is that cool or is that cool? So whilst other cities are banning “Airbnb-ing”, daydream has designed its business around home-sharing, all in compliance with the city’s requirements.
This got me thinking. If I can rent out my place when I’m away, can I rent out my car too? Or go halvsies in a vacuum with my neighbor, since it’s very unlikely we need it on the same day at the same time?
Better yet, why can’t I rent out the unused space under my bed? Amazon hit me up - I’m happy to store the 50 most purchased items in my area, for you.
SABA SAYS ::: READ THIS
The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are In a Video Game, by Rizwan Virk
This was unlike most books I read, and I loved it. Recommended by David Cohen, the co-founder of Techstars, the book explores philosophical concepts of video games, and relates it back to maths, physics and technology. The desire to read this came up when I first started pondering if the dreams I’m having are really just subconscious imaginings, or if they’re actually a reality happening somewhere in another dimension. Sadly, I didn’t get the answer to my question, but the book was super thought-provoking nonetheless. Order Now.
TALKING ::: TECHSTARS
I recently installed a chatbot on the Techstars website that “speaks” to founders by asking a series of questions to help figure out what the startup is working on and which stage they are at.
The results are exciting. Here are some key results:
It took me about 20-30 hours to design and implement
To date, Scout, has chatted with 729 founders (it’s just one of the many funnels)
If I had spoken with each founder for about 15-20 minutes, it would have taken me 12,757 minutes, or 212 hours.
This means, I saved myself about 5-weeks of back to back phone calls, where, instead, I have provided an instant answer to help guide a founder on how Techstars can help.
Who said chatbots are so 2018?
Reach out if you want to learn more about my chatbot experiment, and see if it could be a solution for you. I use HeyMojo.
POPULAR ::: POSTS
Photos from Web Summit here.
On mentors…
Reasons to quit your job…
THE ROSE ::: ACTIVITY
Rose: After emceeing/hosting the preliminary finals of PITCH Competition on a side stage to a “small crowd” of 300 people, I was asked to the judge the semi-final of the PITCH Competition on center-stage in front of 20,000 people. I know it’s not about me, but the startups that were pitching, yet this was one of the most humbling experiences ever. Read about how good Web Summit was here.
Bud: I am really looking forward to the sunshine in LA over winter break.
Thorn: Learning a new language is hard right? Over the last few years I’ve tried and quit French, Spanish, Chinese and Italian. Now, I’m onto Portuguese… but I wonder how long I’ll last. I don’t know why I just can’t do it. Got any tips? I’d love to know what’s worked for you.
That’s all for now.
Tchau!
P.S. I love the new Tesla Cybertruck. What do you think? Hot or Not? I know what Sunny thinks.. what a legend!