An investor, entrepreneur, and author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party. I started and sold two successful companies: Flight Display Systems and Museum Hack. Join 20,000 CEOs, investors, and founders and receive business tips, productivity tools, and other resources from me.
Friends news: How to get Verified 🐝
Hello Reader, from your friend Nick in Austin, Texas.
In this issue: how to get Verified on Instagram (it worked: but it was a web of lies), the male friendship recession, AWS Private 5G, a 6-minute meditation video, one of my party tips, and a bunch more.
Why you’re getting this: I'm Nick Gray and this is my Friends Newsletter. I send this every month to interesting people I’ve connected with and friends I want to keep in touch with. You can un-subscríbe any time and I won't be mad. I won't even be notified!
Random Links
✅ Real Money, Fake Musicians: Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme
Ever wonder how some people get verified on Instagram that seem… fake? Here’s how one jeweler paid $25k to turn himself into a fake musician to get verified on Instagram.
💔 Men have fewer friends than ever, and it’s harming their health
Vox says that the “male friendship recession” is having dire consequences.
📡 AWS Private 5G – Build Your Own Private Mobile Network
"AWS launches private 5G in the cloud. Connect up your radios and AWS will run all the back-end for you. A lot of people think this is the future of telcos, too." via Benedict Evans
📺 YouTube: Walkmans and "Ghetto Blasters," the latest fads in personal music in NYC
CBS News special from May 1981. It is wild to see that the concept of listening to personal audio was so special and new: "Listening to Beethoven and walking in Manhattan... it is pretty nice." Also I can't believe the term "Ghetto Blaster" was real slang for a boombox.
🎉 Two Santa Monica Artists Create a Legacy Through Potlucks
(1) I love reading about people throwing parties, and (2) this is another example where turbo-hosts stop hosting after COVID. Is anyone talking about all the people that just stopped hosting after COVID? Because they lost momentum and fell out of the habit. Anyhow. Potlucks. See how this couple expanded their network by hosting small gatherings in their backyard. Sent to me via Carrie Perreault (she was featured on my party blog!).
😢 Will I Ever See the $36 Million Oberlin College Owes Me?
This family was falsely accused of racism by a powerful school in a small town. Their business was destroyed. They won the case. But the school is refusing to pay. (Update: Oberlin says they will pay!)
📺 YouTube: The Meaning of Life - Sam Harris
My friend Chad Rubin swears this short 6-minute meditation is very good. I have to try it!
💬 What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
Very long article, but I get a lot of these messages. The fact that these scammers never include the pitch in their opening texts makes them seem confusing and mysterious.
One of my party tips
Watch this video to see one thing you can do to kick off any gathering (90 seconds video on YouTube)
| Watch the Video: Party Cheer |
I also made a video blog: see which name tags I like best, my favorite markers on Amazon, my Tesla Model Y with white interior, my friends in Austin, and the "behind the scenes" of hosting a meetup at a local bar. (4 mins on YouTube)
| Watch: Nick Gray's Austin, Texas Party Diary |
Louisiana Purchase
Here’s a map of the Louisiana Purchase. Take note of the top area, circled in red:
"What happened up here? Did Canada ask nicely or something? I want it back. War is on the table." -- via @growing_daniel on Twitter
Quotes
"Lord, I confess I want the clarity of catastrophe but not the catastrophe. Like everyone else, I want a storm I can dance in. I want an excuse to change my life."
Franny Choi, via Kendall Waldman
"In the age of cell phones, the area code has become the ancestral clan name or heraldry. It is a marker of old stories, loyalties, a statement that says 'there was a land I came from but am there no longer"
via @MartyrWith on Twitter
"Nothing is scarier to someone above the age of 30 and having a relaxing drink than watching a DJ start setting up."
via @jtrain56 on Twitter
Send a Friend My Newsletter
I'm trying something new! Do you enjoy reading my quirky, no-ads, personal friends newsletter? Get a free copy of my book on Audible if you get 5 new people to sign up for my newsletter. Use this special link below:
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Featured Book Reader: Jonathan
It is hard to make new friends. Especially hard as an adult. I'm on a mission to get 500 people to read my book The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, host a party, and then email me their group photo afterwards. Here's party host 59!!
You can learn how to host a happy hour, a housewarming party, or even a networking event. My book is the "cheat code" for how to host a successful small gathering. You'll build big relationships that can help you launch a business, boost your career, or even just make new friends. Buy it here.
Sales stats from last week
Kindle: 64, paperback: 84, Audible: 39, total Amazon reviews: 230+
The End
Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom!
My best girl-friend Nina Simon is staying with me in Austin this week. There's something special about having a house guest for a few days... the morning tea, conversations before bed, etc.
If you're in Texas next week, Sept 29th, famous entrepreneur and investor Andrew Wilkinson will be in Austin. I'm helping to host his meetup. Plus Codie Sanchez! See the info and RSVP here.
Upcoming travel in October: Scottsdale, AZ for Satori conference... Orlando, FL for NBAA conference and book signing.
See my other content on social media: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.
That's all I got for now! I have a bunch more fun stuff to share in next week's issue, including a few incredible articles that I've been thinking about.
🤠 Nick Gray
p.s. Here's the About Me on my website if you forgot who I am. We met [HOWWEMET GOES HERE].
Friends Newsletter
An investor, entrepreneur, and author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party. I started and sold two successful companies: Flight Display Systems and Museum Hack. Join 20,000 CEOs, investors, and founders and receive business tips, productivity tools, and other resources from me.