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| Icebreakers With...Bloomberg Columnist Matt Levine Bloomberg Whenever we're trying to grapple with a confusing new finance topic, whether it's a SPAC, NFT, or the latest memecoin, there's only one person we turn to: Matt Levine. The former lawyer/banker-turned-writer is perhaps the sharpest person currently writing about Wall Street, which he does every day in his Money Stuff newsletter for Bloomberg (sign up here). We talked to Matt about all of the things. You left banking for writing, saying you felt "alienated" from your labor. Do you think finance faces a brain drain as people look for more fulfilling, less stressful work? I don't know. I think it faces a brain drain as people go into tech. In particular I think that each year there is a cohort of young people who got good grades at a fancy college, are comfortable with algebra, are willing to work hard but don't really have any clear idea of what they want to do, are very focused on money and prestige, and are not too troubled by moral qualms. Those people are always in high demand, and there is a shifting set of industries and companies that successfully recruit them. When I was in college, those people went to investment banks or to consulting firms. Now if you are smart, hard-working, expensively educated, directionless, and down for a certain amount of evil, I think you probably choose Facebook (sorry, Meta) over Goldman Sachs or McKinsey. Or you go into crypto, which is like finance but insane. If you had to write about only one company for the rest of your career, what would it be? Oh, Tesla. It just has everything. It is the original and greatest meme stock. It has a CEO who is constantly doing weird stuff online, including committing light securities fraud. Its approach to corporate finance is so strange yet oddly effective. It has wild corporate governance conflicts. It does battle with short sellers. It does vague crypto things. Also I love writing imaginary dialogue for Elon Musk. I think he is wonderful because he is very smart and thinks interesting thoughts about legal stuff, but he is not a lawyer and sort of thinks the opposite way from how a lawyer thinks? So everything law-related that he does is wrong, but in a plausible and interesting way, and he is sure he's right and has a big fight about it. Give us a sense of your writing setup. Two monitors? Coffee? Music? I mostly write from home, on a Mac desktop with one big monitor. Sometimes I go to the office, where I have a PC with two monitors and I get all the keystrokes wrong. I drink coffee. I subscribe to the Flow State newsletter and sometimes I put on their sort of ambient-ish music to write. But mostly I have no repeatable process, I just wake up and panic until there's a newsletter. I have been doing it long enough that the panic feels less overwhelming; I figure I have a good track record of producing a newsletter every day, so the odds that today's the day it stops working are low. But I do text my friends most days saying "help I have nothing to write about" or "help I have forgotten how to write" or "help today's the day it stops working." Rate your excitement about living in the metaverse on a scale of 1–10 I don't know what it is. I will say that I live a lot of my life on the internet and, like, in particular a lot of my life consists of inhabiting an online persona that is not exactly identical with my real self. So in some ways, you know, bring on the metaverse. But if it's "Zoom meetings but with animated avatars," then no thank you. There's so much more of the interview at this link. |
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| When Your Job Is Too Much Like 'Succession" Each week, our workplace whisperer Shane Loughnane answers a reader-submitted question about work in 2021. Anything bothering you at work? Ask Shane here. I work for a family-owned business, and there is a crazy amount of nepotism. Is there a way to deal with it, or should I just quit and move on?—Jenny, NY Like many of you, I spend this time of year regaling in my favorite holiday classics. Like the one about Donner's son, Rudolph, who nearly lost his assured spot in the family business on account of that shiny red nose. I won't tell you how it ends, but suffice to say nepotism remains a touchy subject in the sleigh-guiding industry. While reports of a nepotistic North Pole may come as a shock, I'm a bit less surprised to hear that you're encountering similar issues in your workplace. Unless leadership is committed to keeping such practices at bay (an outsourced HR function or a strong anti-nepotism policy are good indicators), even the most well-meaning family business can quickly find itself faced with the perception that its culture is exclusionary. While favoritism itself generally does not have any legal implications, keep in mind that could change if those actions are deemed to be discriminatory. Even on the right side of the law, "crazy nepotism" can negatively impact the experience of other employees and the success of the business. In this case, it could be worth having a conversation with a manager or someone you trust to share some careful, objective feedback—but realize that the risk of backlash is probably at least equal to the likelihood of meaningful change. So, should you quit? Like nepotism, it's all relative. If you're being directly impacted by the culture and your growth opportunities within the company are limited, it's likely in your best interest to move on. But remember that problems (including favoritism) can be found everywhere, so if you love this job otherwise and can compartmentalize being excluded from the occasional reindeer game, it may be worth trying to climb that family tree a bit longer. Something bothering you at work? Ask Shane here.
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| Why 144-Year-Old Brands Are Launching NFTs In late November, Budweiser popped open a cold one and took a foamy gulp of crypto, changing its Twitter name to beer.eth and launching an NFT (non-fungible token) project of 1,936 unique digital cans that sold out in minutes. The collection immediately soared in price on the secondary market. On OpenSea, the world's largest NFT marketplace, the cheapest resales went for upwards of .5 ethereum ($2,200) and rarer cans for more than $20,000. To support its NFT launch, Budweiser has also adopted the conventions of Web3, a catch-all term encompassing innovation built on blockchain technology. Its Twitter account traded memes with crypto-influencers, it established a Discord community, and it pledged to holders of its NFTs that each "will act as an entry key to the Budverse, unlocking exclusive benefits, rewards, and surprises for…NFT holders." This is just the latest sign of Corporate America's experimentation with crypto and its willingness to invest significant branding resources in those efforts. What other companies are getting into NFTs?The announcements have come fast and furious from corporate giants across a variety of sectors.
But why now?1. The desire to get in early on a potentially massive technological paradigm shift. Many established companies of the last two decades were slow to take advantage of the internet and mobile technology, and they ended up losing significant market share to digitally native upstarts. By dipping their toes in early, big brands are hoping to be in a better position if crypto does turn out to be fundamental to the next wave of internet innovation. 2. The brand-building and marketing opportunities. Crypto-native companies and influencers have tapped into the mimetic and fast-moving qualities of internet culture to build huge followings on social platforms, and brands see an opportunity to appeal to a new generation of consumers steeped in that world. By partnering with successful Web3 creators and establishing their crypto bonafides, legacy brands are attempting to position themselves as trendy innovators, even when their businesses remain focused on selling physical products and providing services in the "real" world. There is a delicate line to walk, though, since inauthentic-seeming launches are getting panned by the crypto community. Big picture: These early steps into crypto by established corporations are clearly experiments to see what works and resonates with consumers, and there is no doubt that many will be chalked up as failures. However, as interest and participation in crypto-based technologies continue to pick up steam around the world, expect more brands to launch new projects to snag mindshare in this new market. As White Castle would say, it's probably nothing.—MB
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| Open HouseWelcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that is about to ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gnaht ym tup i. That's right, we're doing things a little differently today. We'll give you some stats about two listings and you try to guess which house is more expensive (and, for an extra challenge, by how much).  ZillowToday's first listing (left) is in Natchez, Mississippi. The 8,294 square-foot home was built in 1855, sits on 27 acres, has 8 bedrooms, and 6 vintage bathrooms that decor TikTokers would go wild for. The second home (right) is a 4 bed, 2 bath, 2,020 square-foot duplex in Redwood City, CA—about 27 miles south of San Francisco. It's perfect for fulfilling your childhood dream of living next to your bff, and also includes a side-by-side garage, backyard patio, and your own lemon tree. Which house has the higher listing price?
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| Just Click It1. Is a new kind of religion forming on the internet? (Vox) A gift they'll actually use. Beam's CBD holiday sample pack helps de-stress during the holidays—and right now you can get 15% off with promo code BREW15. You've definitely got a friend who could use a good night's sleep...even if that friend is you. Shop now to get 15% off for the holidays.* *This is sponsored advertising content |
| Meme BattleWelcome back to Morning Brew's Meme Battle, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday. Today's winner: Crystal in Nashville, TN  This week's challenge: You can find the new meme template here for next Sunday. Once you're done making your meme, submit it at this link for consideration. |
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