I'm out in Newport Beach, CA for a few days hanging out at an industry conference called Future Proof.
I don't even know where to start with these guys.
I've had a front row seat to watch my good friend Josh Brown partner up with Barry Ritholtz, hire Michael Batnick and many others along the way, and turn a small advisory into a $5 Billion AUM firm - one of the fastest growing Financial Advisors in the United States.
It was awesome when they were first coming up and putting on conferences. They were big, but still small and intimate in their own ways.
Now they're just way too successful.
That band that was cool when just a few people knew about them has gone mainstream.
There are way too many people here. It's absolutely insane.
My friends are rockstars. And I couldn't be happier to see all of their success.
I say there are too many people at this conference as a joke. But I'm not even kidding. There were like 20 open bars at happy hour last night and I still couldn't get a drink.
It was nuts.
And today is actually the first full day.
I've already run into a bunch of old pals, who many in their own right, have seen massive success since we met 10-15 years ago.
Joe Weisenthal, for example, has been crushing it for a long time now. He currently hosts a podcast on Bloomberg and had Josh Brown on as a guest.
If you're curious as to how things were when blogging, twitter and the new financial media emerged during that 2009-2012 period, this podcast episode is a fantastic listen.
It's a real trip down memory lane if you were there, as I was and many others as well. But if you weren't, it may help you understand why I am the way that I am, and why I have no problems telling it like I see it.
I don't know any other way. That was the environment that I came up in. And fortunately that served me well.
But in addition to all of that, I think there are some great lessons we can all learn from that era.
Things evolve, especially on Wall Street. And if you don't evolve with those changing times, then you're going to get left behind.
I can't begin to tell you how many conversations I've had over the past 10 years from former wall street superstars that are now completely irrelevant.
They stayed too long. And now they have to start from scratch, building an audience, building a business, and trying to support all the expenses they still have from when they were big time.
That lifestyle creep is real.
And they don't know what to do.
It's sad in many cases, because these guys were heroes of mine when I was a lot younger. Now they're coming to me asking for help.
It's wild.
But great lessons for all of us, myself included.
Don't get left behind.
You don't necessarily have to be an expert at always being able to see around the corner.
Just keep your eyes open. See what the most successful ones are doing. Pay close attention to what those who are losing are doing.
And one of the things I've noticed about the people who are succeeding and living their best life is that they're writing and they're reading.
I can tell you for a fact that both of those things have helped me tremendously.
It's incredibly therapeutic to put thoughts and ideas down on paper. It forces you to think through your ideas and actually do the research.
So I write every day, selfishly, whether anyone reads it or not.
But the fact that there's even just a small chance that it could help someone too, then that makes it truly incredible.
I appreciate all your support over the years. I don't forget it.
If you're here in Newport Beach, because it seems like everyone is here, come find me and say hi!
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