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: The best (cheap) robot vacuum
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Hello Reader, from your friend Nick, author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party. In this issue: The best robot vacuum that I use, 52 things learned in 2024, a rare $7.5M baseball card, two types of dinner party guests, my December 2024 asset allocation, and a bunch more. FRIENDS NEWSLETTER 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! The Best Robot VacuumThe Roborock Q5 Pro is oddly on sale at Amazon for $139. I just bought 1 for my parents and another 1 for myself. You should buy this if you don't yet have a robot vacuum, or if your existing one is more than 2 years old. I say "oddly on sale" because I just bought it for $329 on sale in March 2024. You can even get it with the self-emptying machine for $329, which I've heard is a game-changer. I'm sorry to nerd out and shill this thing. Yes I get like $2 if you buy it using my links. But I love this robot so much. I'd say my top 3 home gadgets are robot vacuums, smart home stuff, and bidets. See my full list of home gear here but that list is old from 2022 and I need to update it. This Roborock brand is among the most widely-awarded robot vacuums from Wirecutter, The Verge, and my own testing. It's 4X better than models from iRobot and Roomba due to its incredibly accurate LiDAR room mapping, auto-schedule features, great smartphone app, mopping capability, and more. Also if I'm honest I never use the mopping functionality. My floors don't get dirty, they just get dust and detritus. If I had kids or pets I'd probably use the mop more. But still! It sweeps up all this stuff. Great compliment to my weekly housekeeper visits. Random Links🍛 Of Course I Want to Know Who Else Is Coming to the Dinner Party! Hosting a dinner party? "There’s no point in surprising people about their table-mates." Yes I deeply agree with this. Send guest bios in advance if you have time, as detailed in my book The 2-Hour Cocktail Party... sent in via Zach Ware 🎙️ Love, Death and Gratitude (Spotify podcast: Honestly w/Bari Weiss) I loved this podcast episode. Feel-good, quick, no politics: "Seven stories about gratitude. There’s one about a man’s deeply held appreciation for his father, a story about a mother who forgave the man who killed her son, and one about a busboy who prayed over Robert Kennedy right after he was shot in 1968. There’s a story about a first love, an unexpected friendship, and being yourself." also on Apple Podcasts. 🗓️ 52 things I learned in 2024 by Tom Whitwell A great curator of fun facts: from South Korea's anti-tax-evasion green license plates to Mongolia's horseback raves. 📈 My December 2024 Asset Allocation I posted this yesterday and it got a ton of clicks. From my investing page: I’ve got 83% of my net worth in stocks. I rent my primary residence, own zero crypto, and I don’t do venture capital or angel investing. Here are my top holdings plus details on the other 17% of my assets. You might think sharing this is tacky but I also hope it encourages others to talk more about investing in public. Also you should probably just buy Vanguard index funds; don't be a degenerate stock picker like me. 📘 Book: The 2-Hour Cocktail Party Makes a great gift for any 20- or 30-something. Paperback is on sale for $16 on Amazon now. James Clear of Atomic Habits said my book is the best how-to guide for hosting a meetup, networking event, or even a birthday party or Wine Wednesday. See why: 500+ reviews. Also on Audible, Spotify, Kindle, etc. Friends ClassifiedsI want to try featuring cool things that my friends are working on, like these: FaceTime cooking: I have a food focused Instagram @happytoeatall and my mission is to make people feel less lonely in the kitchen by connecting with me over the phone or FaceTime as they cook, by Crystal Heller. Cool Audio Transcription App: I built an AI note-taking app called Wave. I'm an indie hacker and solo founder doing it all myself. I’m at $5M ARR now which is cool. --> If you have something fun to share, write me back for consideration! Reply to this email with a concise, direct summary and links like the above. Met Museum Tour with MeI walked around the Met Museum in NYC for 15 minutes the other week with a cameraman. These are some of my favorite things to see on a tour. Including a hidden and rare $7.5M baseball card. Watch it on my YouTube channel here. The EndThat's all for today. My birthday is on Sunday and I'm going to try to send another bonus issue announcing a new project I'm working on that will help you in an interesting way. I'm still working on it though, so let's see. Email me back now if you have a fun project to share, article you love, YouTube video you want others to see, anything really-- and I will include a bunch of those links in the next issue. OK! Have a great week. 🤠 Nick Gray p.s. Here's the About Me on my website if you forgot who I am. We met [HOWWEMET GOES HERE]. Add me elsewhere@NickGrayNews on all the social media The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings |
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.