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: Warehouse Tours, Must-have Winter Item
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Hello Reader, from your Internet friend Nick Gray in Austin, Texas. In this issue: my visit to an Amazon warehouse, a travel-friendly iPhone trick, how to not die from heart disease, Lauren's corner with a must-have winter item, and another plug for why you need a personal website in the age of ChatGPT. NICK GRAY FRIENDS NEWSLETTER Why you’re getting this: I'm Nick Gray and this is my Friends Newsletter. I'm the author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, I started a company called Museum Hack, and I'm working on a museum donor database project called Patron View. 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❤️🩹 Ticker: Don’t Die of Heart Disease A great resource to start thinking about your ApoB levels -- "You should be scared of heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, and it’s not just an old people problem. 25% of heart attacks occur in people under the age of 55." via Zach Ware and Ricky Van Veen 📱 Use iPhone more comfortably while riding in a vehicle Neat new feature in iOS 26 for anyone in your life who gets car sick using their phone during travel. 💻 MacDown: Free Mac app for Markdown I write a lot in markdown these days. (Markdown is like plaintext, with a little formatting.) I mostly use markdown for LLM instruction stuff, since LLMs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini like markdown and XML. But I also use markdown for drafting articles. MacDown is an old open source app, not updated anymore, but is the simplest tool on the Mac I've found for creating and viewing and editing markdown files. 🎊 21 Facts About Throwing Good Parties Good list! A bunch of people sent me this, including Adam Hansen. 🌵 Live Stream from the Namib Desert "A couple weeks ago I happened on this live streaming camera near a water hole in the Namib Desert and it's now my first stop every morning. Zebras, ostriches (which wait as a family at a safe distance), oryx, warthogs, wildebeest, jackal, bat-eared fox, spotted hyena, cape hare, red hartebeest, giraffes, springbok, elephants, etc. If I were an elementary school teacher I'd place a big-screen TV in my classroom and turn it on to this camera's feed on a regular basis." via HackerNews 🗻 Nick Gray's Family Office: November 2025 Asset Allocation My little family office portfolio (aka everything that I own) is up around 51% YTD. But that is entirely driven by my overweight holdings in certain technology stocks. I published my semi-annual asset allocation report and it includes: Prenup notes about real estate, IRR thoughts for a real estate fund, Trimming a stock for first time, and: Would I do more real estate? 🔗 List of Personal Websites I've Made for Friends I think almost everyone who can afford it should have a personal website on the Internet. You should own and influence what shows up when someone searches your name on Google or ChatGPT. That’s how you put your best foot forward for employers, employees, business partners, and investors. Try it now: search for your name on ChatGPT or Google. Ask it what it knows about you. If you don’t love what you find, or if there’s nothing there, you need a personal website to tell the robots about you. Here’s a free checklist and guide (Google Doc) I wrote so you can make one yourself. Or you can hire my team for $29/month plus a $199 setup fee and we’ll do everything for you. If you’re on a budget or just want a deal, ask me for a coupon code. We’ve built over 100 personal websites now for friends and newsletter readers, so we know what works. We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and haven’t lost a single client yet. Amazon Warehouse Tour Review: Fulfillment CenterIf you're a supply chain nerd, or simply interested in how your packages get delivered: Amazon is offering free daily tours of their logistics warehouses. You can go in California, Texas, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, and a bunch more states in the USA (and 2 in Canada). If you are a nerd and enjoy e-commerce or infrastructure stuff then you should totally do one. It is free and takes about an hour. Thanks to reader Jonathan Wegener for the tip. Just For LaughsI saw this online and it made me smile. Lauren's Corner: Heating PadLauren has gifted this heating pad to over a dozen people. I have started using it to help me fall back asleep at night and will add it to my travel gear. I asked Lauren why she loves it so much: "I am constantly cold, and so like a moth to a flame, I am attracted to warmth. In the winter months, and even sometimes in the summer months, I keep it in my bed. I turn it on right before I shower at night. Then when I get in bed, I have a really nice and warm spot. I fall asleep with it. It’s just nice and warm and comforting. It's also really great in the winter if you work out outside or go on walks to come back into your warm house and snuggle up on the couch with the heating pad." PureRadiance Luxury Heating Pad for Cramps, Back, Neck, & Shoulder Pain Relief There are two versions: one for $44.99 (12x24 inch) or a larger for $49.99 (20x24 inch). Lauren prefers the smaller. My Amazon shows a $5 off coupon today for it, too.
The EndThanks again for reading my Friends Newsletter. Writing and sending this is a labor of love. Do you have a fun gadget, or a cool article, that I can include in the next issue? Please reply and send it to me! I love hearing about new stuff like that. And I'm serious about the personal website stuff. If you're running a business or you just want to show up better online when people search for your name, having a simple text-based website like my home page is a great way to do that. I've made over 100 of these websites for friends now. I will make one for you for $199 plus $29 per month to keep it online and updated (yes! we do free updates!). Email me back to get set up. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. OK! Have a great weekend. 🤠 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.