DeFi Slate Fam:

Monday morning stream of consciousness brought to you by coffee & some deep thinking about what we are really trying to achieve here.

New industries open up all types of opportunities for the opportunist.

Big $$$ opportunities.

Are you seeking a better situation? A purpose? Something to build for the long term?

Read into what I think is best below.

Have a great week y’all.

-Andy

The world is changing and careers are being disrupted, here’s how you can stay ahead

A young mans journey into the business world as we know it…I sit here reading an article about bonds from the late & great Ray Dalio. As CEO of Bridgewater he did numbers no one saw coming and changed the investing game, here’s what he had to say about bonds:

The world is a) substantially overweighted in bonds (and other financial assets, especially US bonds) at the same time that b) governments (especially the US) are producing enormous amounts more debt and bonds and other debt assets. This is particularly true for US bonds. US bond holdings are over a third of global bond holdings held by central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and international investors with the next largest country/currency bond being euro bonds at only roughly 60% of US bond holdings.

What this even means is truly beyond our means, I mean what the hell is a US bond. Im 21. Just trying to go outside and live a little.

Unpacking this it looks like Dalio is fundamentally bearish on the state of US bonds/fixed income because of the excessive increase in M2 money supply & the overcrowdedness of that trade.

I’ll tell ya Dalio, I have an undercrowded trade to introduce you to.

Starts with eeeef ends with irium.

Also what it appears is Dalio is saying its not hard to outpace the meager 1.6% yield that US bonds/fixed income rate in the markets…so risk on? Thats what I’m reading. He mine as well have ended this piece with “buy Bitcoin, its the future” or something contradictory like so.

Economic concepts that have existed in the past are quickly being rendered useless…fwiw & for better or for worse. Recently I’ve had a calls with a financial advisor buddy of mine and man oh man is the TradFi market in trouble when they see what DeFi has coming for them.

And right now it feels as if its light years away until your advisor is telling you to dump USDC into Aave and earn 8%.

Growing up, there were principles of economics and markets that are taught by your elders. As we all know, what you learn is what the teacher knows to be true, not necessarily what IS true. These are two different things entirely.

And the reason why? Time.

Ok so let me give you an example:

GOLD.

An older mentor and friend of mine was one of the latest and greatest to do it around the town which I grew up in. Now I don’t necessarily live in the mansion on the water neighborhood, but middle/upper mid class. Forever grateful for my family. Anyways, gold is a rite of passage for him, a true goldbug.

For me, it’s a metallic element that has little use case or appeal.

Sure it’s used in airbags in cars, jewelry, and has some element of scarcity to it…but that is it. By the way I’ll never say he’s not right per say…but we don’t share the same opinions always because of our generational age gap. Bitcoin is our gold. Ethereum is our silver/oil/money. Altcoins are our venture equity bets. DAOs are our new corporations.

Community is the new CEO. And decentralization is breeding collaboration more than ever before.

Back to the bonds.

Bonds.

So we are in this era of what *seems* like semi-hyperinflation (fear driving, don’t worry WAGMI) where asset prices go up and everyone who owns crypto-equities-real estate-and anything thats not dollars or bonds gets paid.

While those who aren’t in the position to own assets get stimmys & government handouts. This has a few effects on society and can cause division if we are not careful about our approach.

Heres what I mean:

• Wealth gap
• Rapid, unforeseen biz changes (ex: WFH is now normal)
• Psychological impact of everything covid/lockdowns
• Thinking gap and outlook on life

Is all this true? How could I tell you? Im supposed to be writing about my journey into business & DeFi. Writing this feels like I’ve lived 18 lives in the last 3 years.

But this is where I stand now and its a crucial part of the journey because what is happening this year in 2021 might change the world for good, and potentially, put us in a shaky spot in the not-so near future. Dalio finished this piece with closing thoughts on the impact of bonds saying to short the dollar and effectively long assets traded against the dollar & Asian markets. I’m long BTC & DeFi.

I just met up with my accountant recently, as its clearly tax season.What an experience again for a 21 year old like myself, the internet has opened up possibilities which are not even realistic.

Sometimes I feel like I’m moving too fast.

But here we are.

Feeling rather blessed because my accountant is helping me with taxes, which can be extremely confusing. Taxes are a b*tch. They are necessary to keep America great, thank goodness for the G. He’s the man.

These days the markets are ripe for me to do nothing, yet at times I just want to do it all. The hardest part of investing is not over-trading. The hardest part about business is not overthinking.

Speed, execution, application.

DeFi Slate is slowly blossoming into a decent sized portfolio and our goal is soon-to-be 7 figures (we’ve got a ways to go). This is the 3rd project I’ve worked on that has blown thru the $xx,xxx mark in less than 3 years.

Note: OPSEC is key. Pay your taxes. Store your own keys. Don’t flaunt and brag. Be semi-anon. Be a good person.

Making money seems to come effortlessly to me, like playing sports. I want to inspire you to achieve greatness on your own path, not what someone else says you have to do.

Lets focus on the path college students take to become 90 hour week finance bros first.

Is that even a real thing? Working 90 hours a week for a finance corporation. Really seems to me its too far fetched to believe. The cocaine, long nights on the charts, all for a big multinational…corporation which you don’t even get equity in..?

Damn! We ought to train these folks to think for themselves and become a part of a decentralized network. Join a DAO, operate in comms. in DeFi, be a community manager, learn to code, become a marketing powerhouse, an education source like DeFi Slate.

Ok who am I kidding…up until about 5 years ago the BEST financial route was right into banking/VC/hedge fund and crush it for the first part of your career, kiss ass and make it in the millionaires club by lets say 30.

All while having a blast and hella babes.

I f*ck with the vision.

But that path is destroying mental health (I guess we care about this now, 2020 for ya) and any & all creativity those analysts have. Pondering what the other path I just mentioned looks like is trying to play connect the dots in the dark.

Just start a DAO bro!!!!!!!!! Lol.

No matter how confusing it might be, for young men & women interested in finance, tech, and the future there is no better place to ape into than DeFi & crypto right now. Its the wild wild west.

Its what you dreamed of when you heard of the analyst position that was available.

Precisely, it is exactly the sh!t you see on wolf of wall street thats happening in crypto. For better or for worse, its a mania and the finance bros who join the dark side will reap the rewards…and probably flaunt to their past 90 hour week counterparts.

Its just how it goes with new industries.

Coming out of college you really have two options, work or not work. Until you’re about 23/24 you can mess around with little to no consequences. Who am I kidding, I was building 6 fig businesses by 19 in my college apartment. I wasn’t finishing that economics degree (sometimes I wish I did). Its certainly worth it if you do. College gave me more than I could ever ask for as a young kid.

Some people don’t have the luxury of college.

Some do.

Its just how it is.

This will change soon.

I digress. As many of my friends in my class are set to graduate this year, I find myself sitting back wondering what the hell many of them are going to do. Not only is the pandemic still lurking in the air, but the world is changing at a faster pace than ever.

“Careers” as we know them are shifting to WFH experiences.

“Guaranteed salaries” are being transformed into performance based business profits and automated code.

Like what the hell is even happening. Many of my friends are looking to be location independent, well at least I hope they are. Without a doubt that is one of the biggest benefits of working on DeFi Slate anywhere, anytime.

As we are gearing up to launch our first offer, a digital subscription community, I am looking back on everything we’ve done up to this point.

The podcast, the protocols, the communities…

If you explained this to someone just 10 years ago, they would laugh at you.

“Stop smoking crack”

Poor Wojacks Will Never Understand.

Take DeFi Slate & this stream of consciousness as an inspiration to you, a person coming out of a TradFi job/college/in college/in highschool even to chase your dreams and not let society dictate your path…espeically not now.

In an ever changing world, the time to build in new industries is now.

Why would anyone choose a career in the industry that reached its cyclical ‘top’ 20 years ago? Wouldn’t you want to work in the one that is on the way up?

Someone’s gotta tell Dalio about DeFi.

Get out there and build, make some noise, and eventually they will come to play in our playground.

That’s what I call recess.