Domain-Based Business (10/18/20)
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Here we go with the graphic for this week, let get on with it!

Homeroom
Alright, lay off everyone, I’m behind on my personal writing. I have three ongoing essays, so my focus is all over the place, but hopefully it will yield a stream of published work coming up shortly.
More to come!
Simple Business
Link: I Sell Onions on the Internet - Peter Askew
Most of the time when people start a business it comes from an idea on how to solve a problem. It’s usually something the founder has been thinking about for a while.
But here’s another concept, one that Peter Askew has used to start several businesses:
Start a business from a domain name.
In this article, Askew describes how he founded and grew VidaliaOnions.com knowing nothing about onions.
Askew snatches up domain names. Lots of them. He’ll buy anything he can find that he considers to be a strong domain. For certain types of businesses, such as onion e-commerce, a strong domain name matters. People are going to trust that vidaliaonions.com is a solid place to buy or find information about Vidalia onions.
Askew has ridden this business plan to success with 4-6 websites and it’s his sole source of income.
I think this is an interesting way to approach starting a business. Most of the time people are so focused on coming up with that one big idea that they spin thoughts around in their heads and never do anything. Launching that big idea is tough.
But by backing into an idea by starting with a domain name, you’ve already accomplished step one. You’ve spent money for the domain, you’re pot committed to developing the website, and you might as well find a way to make a business that fits.
Here’s the big lesson in this: unsexy businesses are still fantastic money makers. Askew is doing quite well for himself running several simultaneous projects with different websites. It’s got to be a rewarding way to live and work.
This essay was one of the most-read posts ever on Hacker News and it’s worth a read to learn about this interesting way to start a business.
Climate Science
Link: How Tesla Will Change the World - Tim Urban
Last week I wrote a ton about science and I’m coming back this week with more. I’ve been studying climate change over the last few weeks which is what’s spurring on this wave of scientific content.
The link above is the best thing I’ve ever read about climate change. It’s an essay by Tim Urban, and the real focus of the essay is on Tesla, but the entire first half of it focuses on the science and current state of climate change (as of 2015 when the essay was published). It’s a long read, but worth your time for a topic that’s worth understanding, and written in the entertaining style Urban is known for.
We’re in the Fossil Fuels Era and we have been for ~200 years. It’s a big ol’ TBD on how long the Fossil Fuels Era will last, but it’s 100% certain that it won’t last forever. There is a finite amount of resources in the form of petroleum, biomass, coal, and natural gas. Prolonging the Fossil Fuels Era also has severe negative effects on the Earth, another thing that scientists really don’t disagree on. Take a look at this timeline below. We need to do anything we can to move from the black area and into the yellow.

Elon Musk says that the extension of the Fossil Fuels Era is “the dumbest experiment in history.”
There’s an ultra-fine line between the points where things on the Earth become disastrous. Take a look at this chart which shows how fine that window we’re living in really is:

If the global temperature goes down 5 degrees Celcius, New York would be under a half-mile of ice. If it goes up 6 degrees Celcius it would be underwater and the whole world would be tropical.
It’s important to understand that the reason America is politically divided on climate change isn’t because of the facts. 97% of climate scientists agree with the facts. The reason we’re divided is because of the economic effects of ditching fossil fuels for renewable energy.
The entire fossil fuels industry would go away and the automotive industry has a lot to lose. Because of this we frequently hear conflicting information about climate change in the same way misinformation existed about cigarettes as tobacco companies fought to stay massive.
I’m 100% convinced this is the most important topic of our generation and it should dwarf all other issues in time. I highly encourage everyone to read about climate and find out what the facts are on your own. The article linked above is a great place to start. This website from MIT is also a solid resource for more visual learners.
Man in the Arena
LeBron James and the Lakers just won the NBA title last week and for LeBron, it’s his 4th NBA crown. He now has two titles with the Heat, one with the Cavs, and now one with the Lakers.
I’ve never been a massive LeBron fan, but I’ve always liked him as a person (with the exception of “The Decision,” of course) and have always respected him as a player. Here’s an interesting LeBron nugget that I found online this week.
LeBron frequently writes “Man in the Arena” on his shoes before games. In a way, it’s his personal slogan for gameday.

“Man in the Arena” comes from an idea from one of the first people you also think of when you think about LeBron James.
Teddy Roosevelt.
Okay, so not the first person you think of to connect to Lebron. Here’s the idea from Roosevelt. You can see why LeBron has latched on to it.

LeBron has a lot of haters. People don’t like him for 1,000 different reasons and he’s in the spotlight like few other athletes have ever been. This is his reminder to himself that there will always be people who try and discredit you, but none of them are you. None of them are the man in the arena who does what he does every day.
In an interview, LeBron said this:
“It’s basically saying that it truly doesn’t matter what anyone says because they’ve never stepped foot inside the arena. They’ve never had the blood and the sweat and the tears or paid their dues inside the arena. So they can’t really understand or critique you for what’s going on in your life.”
I think this is a cool mindset for an athlete, but it’s a great reminder for anyone. Even though most of us don’t live in the spotlight or appear on national television 82 nights a year, we all have people who judge us from the outside. We’re the man/woman in our own arena and only the people you let into the arena have the ability to make sound judgments about what’s going on. Let some people into your arena to help you out, but don’t listen to the noise going on outside.
(Literal) Financial Leverage 101
This isn’t a cleverly named Sunday School section, this is literally the basics of financial leverage. I came across this video last week and thought that it explained things so clearly and concisely that I’d share it.
This is relatively basic finance information, but helpful to be aware of. Here’s my explanation of leverage in my own words:
Leverage is using debt financing to multiply return on equity (ROW). The more debt you use for financing the more leverage you use, which can continue to multiply your ROE. It's risky in the sense that if your return on assets (ROA) or income is unexpectedly low/bad, you wipe out your equity.
This video provides a helpful model for understanding something key in real estate or business, plus the dude narrating has a fun accent.
Quote of the Week
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” -Carl Sagan
That’s all for this week, thanks for attending!
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See you next week,
-Ryan Mulholland