CAIR 75: Real Estate Returns Too Good To Be True? The Land Geek...

Today I had the opportunity to speak with "The Land Geek". Fascinating conversation. He's got over, well over four and a half million downloads on his podcast. He's got some interesting ideas and insights on investing with land that the returns higher than normal, I guess normal, what's normal, higher than, you know, eight 10% return, if you will, returns on these investments. So I'm very excited to have Mark here with me today. Thanks for joining us, we learn the secrets from the land geek.

Everybody welcome to another episode of Financial Investing Radio. So I have been chasing this person for some time. He is super busy and has an amazing profile. I hope you take the opportunity to look into what he's done. We're going to be having conversation today with Mark, Oh man, Mark. I didn't even ask at a time. Podolski!

Mark Perfect pronunciation.

Grant Did I say that? Okay. All right. Very good. Mark. Welcome. Thank you for being here today. I appreciate it.

Mark Grant Larsen, an honor. Privilege. Thank you.

Grant You know, we found out that we are not too far from each other geographically, which is a real treat. There's some neat, neat things about the part of the country we live in for sure.

Mark Absolutely. We've lost our complaining privileges living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Grant That's right. That's right. That's right. Even when it gets a little hot. I've learned to quit Quit complaining about it's not a Houston hot right.

Mark Houston hot. It's 80 degrees in the pool. 

Grant Yeah, that's. That's right. It's fixable with the pool. That's right, right. Okay, so the land geek, you are known as the land geek, you've done a great job getting your name out there as land geek, not only getting your name out there, but proving a framework. But we'll get to the framework here in a moment. Because what you've done is pretty unique compared to other real estate investing strategies that are out there, of which I actually participate in some of those others, right, but I won't get to that yet. So I'm interested to learn more about what you do here. But let's back up. You were doing what what got you started to say I'm gonna go after land investments in this way.

Mark So if we rewind the tape now, to 2000 I was a miserable micromanaged. 45 minute commute to work and back investment banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions with private equity groups. And grant it got so bad for me. I wouldn't get the Sunday blues, anticipating Monday coming around. I'd get the Friday blues, anticipating the weekend going by really fast. And having to be back at work. On Monday. I was pretty much yeah, really blue. So I first hired this guy, and he's telling me that as a side hustle, he's going to tax deed auctions. He's buying raw land, pennies on the dollar. He's flipping them online, and he's making a 300% return on his money. Grant. I'm looking at companies all day long. And a great company great has 15% EBIT on margins are free cash flow, average company's 10%. And I'm looking at companies all day long, less than 10%. So of course, I don't believe them. And I've got three grand saved up for car repairs. I go to New Mexico with them. I do exactly what he tells me to do. I buy 10 Half Acre parcels and average price of $300 each. I flipped them online. And they all sell for an average price of $1,200 each. It worked. So I went to another auction and in Arizona, where we live. And again, this is 2000 There's no one in the room. I'm buying up lots of acreage or nothing. And I sell all that property. You know that what auction I made over $90,000 So I go to my wife. She's pregnant at the time. I said Honey, I'm going to quit My job and become a full time lead investor. And she said, Absolutely not. Yeah.

Grant What do you say? And what are you doing on?

Mark Yeah. So it took 18 months for the land investing income to exceed the investment banking income. And then I quit. I've been doing it full time ever since. And I absolutely love it.

Grant That's incredible. So you just sort of stumbled into it, someone happened to say, they'd already sort of figured this out. Now, it sounds like what you did with that is after you've done this for a while, you've created a system out of this, then is that right?

Mark Yeah, I mean, after a while, you start picking up things, and you start seeing, okay, well, how do I make this job, myself. And, really, my whole philosophy is, I can always make more money, I can't get more time. And so we want to use three levers to scale and grow a business, other people's time, software and automation, and other people's money. And so once I combined all three of those, I was really able to grow and work really about 30 minutes a week, in my business.

Grant What, 30 minutes, you're at a point now where you work 30 minutes a week on your business? In the business? Yeah, that's amazing. Wow. But it took that scaling, right, took that automation to figure it out the team around you to help take care of certain aspects of it took all of those pieces, as well as other people's money. That's interesting. That took five years. Oh, that was gonna ask you so five years to get to that point, learn the lessons, learn the business processes that you should automate, and so forth. Right?

Mark Well, five years just to start getting myself out of business, probably another five years, to get to my point where I can work 30 minutes, 30 minutes in the business, rarely, I'm just meeting with my Acquisition Manager. And we're looking at the numbers and saying how many deals are pending? How many offers went out? How many deals will be closed? How can I support you?

Grant So when it comes to finding these opportunities is the auctions is that your main input, or source or how well find these.

Mark So Grant, I'm going to walk you exactly through how I do it. So you live, I'm gonna use these as a case study. You're in Scottsdale, Arizona, but let's assume that you own five acres of raw land in Texas, and you owe $200 in back taxes. So essentially, you're advertising two important things. 

Number one, you have no emotional attachment to the raw land, you're in Arizona, the properties and taxes in Texas. 

And number two, you're distressed financially in some weird way. Because we don't pay for things like our property taxes, we don't value them in the same way. As resolved, county treasurer, keeps sending me notices saying, Grant, if you don't pay your property taxes, you're going to lose that five acre parcel, tax deed or tax lien investor. So all I'm gonna do is look at the comparable sales on your five acre parcel for the last 12 to 18 months, I'm gonna take the lowest comparable sale, let's say $10,000 and divide by four. And that's gonna give you a Warren Buffett would call a 300% margin of safety. So I'm gonna send you an actual offer on your five acre parcel for $2,500. Now you accept it. Why? Because for you $2,500 is better than nothing. In reality, three to 5% of people accept my quote unquote, top dollar offer. But now that you've accepted it, I have to go through due diligence or in depth research. I have to confirm you still own the property. I have to confirm back taxes are only $200 I have to make sure there's been no breaks in the chain of title. There's no liens or encumbrances. And because it's only $2,500 investment, I outsourced to my team in the Philippines, connected to an American Title Company. It cost about $11. I was investing $5,000 or more, I wouldn't take any title risk. 

You have to close traditionally through a title company. But since this is a smaller deal, everything checks out. And now I'm going to sell your five acre parcel 30 days or less and make a cash flow. So I have a built in best buyer grant. Do you know who it is? Who is the neighbors, the neighbors? So I'm going to send out neighbor letters saying hey, here's your opportunity. Protect your privacy. Protect your views. Know your neighbor. So oftentimes the neighbors will buy now if the neighbors pass a gun to my buyers list, if they pass. A good little website you may have heard of, it's called Craigslist is the 15th most trafficked website United States. I'll go to one I know you've heard of called meta, or Facebook, buy sell groups in the marketplace, and then I'll go to the lands land moto.com lands of america.com land and farm.com land flip.com Land hub.com These are platforms where people buy and sell raw land. But the way that I'm going to do it is the secret. I'm going to make it irresistible for my next buyer. All I'm going to ask for is a $2,500 downpayment, to control this five acre parcel, and then I'll make it a car payment, let's say 297 a month, for the next 84 months at 9% interest. So it's a one time sale, I'll get my money out on the down payment. I could go six to 10 months out. And now I'm getting a passive income of 297 a month, next 84 months. No renters. No rehabs, no renovations, no rodents. And because I'm not dealing with a tenant, I'm exempt from Dodd Frank RESPA. And the SAFE Act, all this owners real estate legislation. So grant, it's a simple game, can I create enough land notes where my passive income exceeds my fixed expenses? And now working? 

Grant Because I want to not because I have to guess you have to? So on those numbers, then Mark, when you look at that, and what's the percentage of those that carry all the way through, you know, you're obviously I love, I love how you have the profile for that best buyer, how you create that, that passive income, what sort of risks does that put on your shoulders, where there's potential for them not following through on the cash flow, any issues there?

Mark We don't mind it, because we use a land contract. And a land contract means that we can we still own the underlying asset, while they make payments. If they default, they have 30 days to cure their default. If they don't, we keep the down payment, we keep the monthly payments, our cost basis goes lower, we resell that property, we get a new down payment, we get new monthly payments, and extends out a return on investment is...

Grant Oh, that's awesome. 

Mark So I've been investing my wife and I invest in real estate, but it's it's on. It's with the tenant model, right? It's, you know, creating sort of the cash flow on that site. And it has some of the challenges and headaches you're talking about. Right? It's I deal with property management organizations, I deal with tenants that aren't following through blah, blah, blah, blah, all that. And so this is appealing to me to be able to say, hey, you know, I don't have to worry about about that. 

Grant Is there a return that you felt like is higher taking this strategy than taking that sort of tenant based model?

Mark Well, our average return on cash is 300%. And on terms, it's 1,000%.

Grant That's crazy. Because we you know, typically fight for eight to 10 or 15%, right? In this in this renter model. So that's, that's fascinating, fascinating approach. So a couple things here. The average hold time. So you'd mentioned 30 days, are you literally flipping these in a 30 day timeframe? Is that the average?

Mark Yeah, that's average. Now, if it's more than 30 days, something has to change. Maybe we have to raise the downpayment, maybe people think it's too good to be true. Maybe we have to lower the downpayment, maybe we have to raise the price, lower the price, change the interest rate, change the terms, something needs to change, maybe it's as simple as the headline is conducting. So that's our litmus test for what's wrong with our app. Why did that? Why is this not selling 30 days?

Grant What's the what's the benefit of turning it into that passive cash flow as opposed to just flipping and taking the cash right now all of it out of the deal and walking away with that in your pocket?

Mark Well, cash is a problem, right? Because now I've got to do it all over again. And I've just created a really hard job for myself. So I'd rather buy the asset one time and hold it for as long as I can and have a cash flow rather than flip a tax. Hopefully, I get another deal flip, pay tax, the market could turn on me. Right? I've been I've overpaid and I'm stuck with an asset.

Grant Yep, makes makes total sense. So I noticed on your on your on your YouTube channel here. I noticed on there you you've been creating quite a nice playlist for a long time describing some of the challenges the hurdles the things people might deal with some tips and techniques around that. You've been publishing for quite a while on this. If someone were to get started on your YouTube channel itself, you've got this nice entry YouTube video right there passive income without headaches explained. I love that as your entry one. I watched that and you walk through much of the framework that you just described here today, what would be some of the hurdles that you think people will run into? Or that you've seen people run into where, where this doesn't work?

Mark Well, you know, the biggest hurdle I think, for people who get started is they think, can I do this in my backyard? Well, if you live in San Francisco, no, no one's gonna sell you an infill lot. 25 cents on the dollar, they're gonna go the biggest, baddest land broker in town. If you live in Manhattan, same thing. So we're looking at properties an hour to three hours from the nearest town. And also, there's 3007 us counties like where do you start? So if I live in Iowa, let's face it, nobody wakes up next boy, I'd like to buy some land today in Iowa, unless you live in Iowa. So to get your biggest buyer pool, you want to be the southwest, little bit the Northwest, California and Florida. These are the sunshine states. These are fast growing states. And there is just a plethora of inexpensive raw land.

Grant Okay. All right. That's fascinating. The other thing that I think you wrote your book was in 2017, did I get the date? Right? I think 2018 and 2018. Okay, dirt rich, dirt Ranch is out on Amazon did a review of that awesome book. Tell us about that? What does that cover?

Mark So Dirt Rich gives you the basics of how to buy and sell raw land, it also tells my story. So you don't make the same mistakes. I did. And then Durbridge two is coming out very soon. The next plot how to scale your business.

Grant I love that the next plot, there's a play on words right there for sure. You're also out there on medium.com. I see you being referenced and talked about there. As well as you got your website, check that out as well land geek, the land geek.com, right, the Land Rover COMM And I'm assuming that is I reviewed that what I noticed about what you have here is this is where people can come to your organization, if I understand it, right and say, hey, I want to get trained in this. I want to get skilled and how to create my own business. I'm assuming this is where you take your years and years of expertise. And you condense that into a program, if you will, that take all the lessons learned rather than take 10 years to learn it. You'll learn it and you know, how long, what is sort of the up ramp for people in terms of amount of time and effort?

Mark I mean, can really get going in about 16 weeks. Okay. Yeah.

Grant That's, that's amazing. It's amazing. Have you do you participate in any sort of real estate investing other than raw land?

Mark No, because I don't have an advantage in any other real estate niche other than raw land. So I'm a inch wide, and a mile deep. So and no one can really get my returns, it would be nice to get depreciation because land lasts forever. But that being said, I don't have to deal with the depreciation like there is depreciation for reason I don't have to deal with any physical structures. So I like the headache free piece of it. And I got it 90% automated with software and expensive virtual assistants.

Grant That's incredible. So tell me about your, your best type of client that would come to you and say, hey, I want to participate in building passive income with your program. What does that look like? Who do you know? 

Mark You gotta have a burning desire to change your life? Right? You don't have to grit. So anything we're doing in life is inherently hard. And so it's kind of like hockey, right? People who play hockey, really love hockey, because they love it enough to get their teeth knocked out and get back up. It's the same thing in business. You have to love what you're doing enough to get knocked down and get back up. And so if you have a burning desire, give me that more than somebody who has cash. So I always say commitment over cash. It's, that's really all it takes.

Grant How much cash did you have when you got started? I mean, it wasn't a ton. Right?

Mark I start with $3,000. My buddy Durant's are $800. We think that, you know, 5000 is a is a really easy number. We have some clients who start with $500. 

Grant So you really don't need a whole lot of cash is needed that commitment or that grip that that desire to move forward with it. Okay, very good. So, any other tips that you'd want to share with our listeners on on doing this?

Mark Well, if I were the listener, I would be thinking, well, Grant. It's so great. Why is Marc teaching it?

Grant That's gone through my mind. I mean, You're talking Yeah. 300% To 1,000% return.

Mark Right, right. So to answer the question, because when I started teaching that my wife asked me the same questions like, aren't you going to create your own competition? And it's a very valid question. So I started putting on my investment banker hat. And what's the first thing, investment banker looks at? How big is the market, and there are billions of acres of raw land available in the United States. And there is literally do you couldn't think of a more boring niche, like you could go on HGTV or the DIY Network and think, Oh, I'm gonna watch flip this land. The before pictures are all in the after pictures are all in. Plus, there's no hedge funds, there's no private equity groups. So you meet a million people can be in this niche, will all run out of money, before we run out of deal flow.

Grant Plenty of opportunity for sure. So is some of this sort of altruistic in terms of you know, you want to give back, you want to see others sort of experience some of the same benefits you have is, is there a component to that that's driven yet to create these systems?

Mark I mean, that really is my, my purpose, honestly, because, you know, buying and selling land is great. It's helped five people, really, my family. Yeah, that being said, nobody ever bought a piece of land for me, you know, called me and said, Mark, you changed my life with this land investment, but being able to help people retire their spouses, so they could spend more time with their children, being able to have people replace their income, and really get out of what I call so economic dependency, which means that they're personally not working. They're not making any money, so that they can move up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, into self actualization, and solve not just their money problems, but their time problems, to explore their highest purpose in life. That has been the most gratifying thing for me, professionally. And I absolutely love waking up to that idea every day.

Grant This is the "why" of your journey. Right there. That last sentence, isn't it? Yeah, it's helping them to get out of that solo economic dependency for sure. You had mentioned at one point, or I saw when I was doing some reviews on you, five reasons you should be creative, Pat, you should be creating passive income in raw land. What are those five reasons?

Mark The first reason is, it's just so simple. All you got is a piece of land and a buyer and a seller. So you know, juxtapose that to like, say multifamily, where you've got to raise millions of dollars, you have to get private capital, you have to get investors, you could spend a million dollars just on due diligence alone. So it's just a much simpler way to go. The other issue is there's just no headaches, nobody's calling you up at three in the morning saying my land is leaking. So you get to go to bed every night, knowing that you don't have to deal with the typical headaches of real estate, tenants, termites, toilets, that kind of thing. So you know, another reason would be that it cash flows. So why not have this passive income come in, and get total freedom in life. So you can work when you want, where you want, and with whom you want. I think another reason is just that there's no limit to it. So you can grow as big or, you know, you can get to a point where you kind of like the Mexican fishermen, you have enough type of thing. And then I just think the other reason, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. And it's not building another job for you, yourself if you just automate it. And I think that's great.

Grant Yeah, yeah, that is great. It's interesting that you found this niche. I love how you described it. It's narrow and yet very deep, you become very specialized in this. That's awesome. Mark. Thanks for taking the time with us today. Any final comments or tips you want to share with our listeners?

Mark I always love this quote from Zig Ziglar. If you'll do for the next three to five years, what other people won't do, you'll be able to do for the rest of your life. What other people can't do.

Grant That's a very enabling. I love that for sure. Gosh, that's awesome. Mark. Thanks for taking the time, "The Land Geek". I appreciate you doing this. And everyone thanks for listening to another episode of Financial Investing Radio. And until next time, check out thelandgeek.com

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FIR 156: Real Estate Returns Too Good To Be True? The Land Geek...

Today I had the opportunity to speak with "The Land Geek". Fascinating conversation. He's got over, well over four and a half million downloads on his podcast. He's got some interesting ideas and insights on investing with land that the returns higher than normal, I guess normal, what's normal, higher than, you know, eight 10% return, if you will, returns on these investments. So I'm very excited to have Mark here with me today. Thanks for joining us, we learn the secrets from the land geek.

Everybody welcome to another episode of Financial Investing Radio. So I have been chasing this person for some time. He is super busy and has an amazing profile. I hope you take the opportunity to look into what he's done. We're going to be having conversation today with Mark, Oh man, Mark. I didn't even ask at a time. Podolski!

Mark Perfect pronunciation.

Grant Did I say that? Okay. All right. Very good. Mark. Welcome. Thank you for being here today. I appreciate it.

Mark Grant Larsen, an honor. Privilege. Thank you.

Grant You know, we found out that we are not too far from each other geographically, which is a real treat. There's some neat, neat things about the part of the country we live in for sure.

Mark Absolutely. We've lost our complaining privileges living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Grant That's right. That's right. That's right. Even when it gets a little hot. I've learned to quit Quit complaining about it's not a Houston hot right.

Mark Houston hot. It's 80 degrees in the pool. 

Grant Yeah, that's. That's right. It's fixable with the pool. That's right, right. Okay, so the land geek, you are known as the land geek, you've done a great job getting your name out there as land geek, not only getting your name out there, but proving a framework. But we'll get to the framework here in a moment. Because what you've done is pretty unique compared to other real estate investing strategies that are out there, of which I actually participate in some of those others, right, but I won't get to that yet. So I'm interested to learn more about what you do here. But let's back up. You were doing what what got you started to say I'm gonna go after land investments in this way.

Mark So if we rewind the tape now, to 2000 I was a miserable micromanaged. 45 minute commute to work and back investment banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions with private equity groups. And grant it got so bad for me. I wouldn't get the Sunday blues, anticipating Monday coming around. I'd get the Friday blues, anticipating the weekend going by really fast. And having to be back at work. On Monday. I was pretty much yeah, really blue. So I first hired this guy, and he's telling me that as a side hustle, he's going to tax deed auctions. He's buying raw land, pennies on the dollar. He's flipping them online, and he's making a 300% return on his money. Grant. I'm looking at companies all day long. And a great company great has 15% EBIT on margins are free cash flow, average company's 10%. And I'm looking at companies all day long, less than 10%. So of course, I don't believe them. And I've got three grand saved up for car repairs. I go to New Mexico with them. I do exactly what he tells me to do. I buy 10 Half Acre parcels and average price of $300 each. I flipped them online. And they all sell for an average price of $1,200 each. It worked. So I went to another auction and in Arizona, where we live. And again, this is 2000 There's no one in the room. I'm buying up lots of acreage or nothing. And I sell all that property. You know that what auction I made over $90,000 So I go to my wife. She's pregnant at the time. I said Honey, I'm going to quit My job and become a full time lead investor. And she said, Absolutely not. Yeah.

Grant What do you say? And what are you doing on?

Mark Yeah. So it took 18 months for the land investing income to exceed the investment banking income. And then I quit. I've been doing it full time ever since. And I absolutely love it.

Grant That's incredible. So you just sort of stumbled into it, someone happened to say, they'd already sort of figured this out. Now, it sounds like what you did with that is after you've done this for a while, you've created a system out of this, then is that right?

Mark Yeah, I mean, after a while, you start picking up things, and you start seeing, okay, well, how do I make this job, myself. And, really, my whole philosophy is, I can always make more money, I can't get more time. And so we want to use three levers to scale and grow a business, other people's time, software and automation, and other people's money. And so once I combined all three of those, I was really able to grow and work really about 30 minutes a week, in my business.

Grant What, 30 minutes, you're at a point now where you work 30 minutes a week on your business? In the business? Yeah, that's amazing. Wow. But it took that scaling, right, took that automation to figure it out the team around you to help take care of certain aspects of it took all of those pieces, as well as other people's money. That's interesting. That took five years. Oh, that was gonna ask you so five years to get to that point, learn the lessons, learn the business processes that you should automate, and so forth. Right?

Mark Well, five years just to start getting myself out of business, probably another five years, to get to my point where I can work 30 minutes, 30 minutes in the business, rarely, I'm just meeting with my Acquisition Manager. And we're looking at the numbers and saying how many deals are pending? How many offers went out? How many deals will be closed? How can I support you?

Grant So when it comes to finding these opportunities is the auctions is that your main input, or source or how well find these.

Mark So Grant, I'm going to walk you exactly through how I do it. So you live, I'm gonna use these as a case study. You're in Scottsdale, Arizona, but let's assume that you own five acres of raw land in Texas, and you owe $200 in back taxes. So essentially, you're advertising two important things. 

Number one, you have no emotional attachment to the raw land, you're in Arizona, the properties and taxes in Texas. 

And number two, you're distressed financially in some weird way. Because we don't pay for things like our property taxes, we don't value them in the same way. As resolved, county treasurer, keeps sending me notices saying, Grant, if you don't pay your property taxes, you're going to lose that five acre parcel, tax deed or tax lien investor. So all I'm gonna do is look at the comparable sales on your five acre parcel for the last 12 to 18 months, I'm gonna take the lowest comparable sale, let's say $10,000 and divide by four. And that's gonna give you a Warren Buffett would call a 300% margin of safety. So I'm gonna send you an actual offer on your five acre parcel for $2,500. Now you accept it. Why? Because for you $2,500 is better than nothing. In reality, three to 5% of people accept my quote unquote, top dollar offer. But now that you've accepted it, I have to go through due diligence or in depth research. I have to confirm you still own the property. I have to confirm back taxes are only $200 I have to make sure there's been no breaks in the chain of title. There's no liens or encumbrances. And because it's only $2,500 investment, I outsourced to my team in the Philippines, connected to an American Title Company. It cost about $11. I was investing $5,000 or more, I wouldn't take any title risk. 

You have to close traditionally through a title company. But since this is a smaller deal, everything checks out. And now I'm going to sell your five acre parcel 30 days or less and make a cash flow. So I have a built in best buyer grant. Do you know who it is? Who is the neighbors, the neighbors? So I'm going to send out neighbor letters saying hey, here's your opportunity. Protect your privacy. Protect your views. Know your neighbor. So oftentimes the neighbors will buy now if the neighbors pass a gun to my buyers list, if they pass. A good little website you may have heard of, it's called Craigslist is the 15th most trafficked website United States. I'll go to one I know you've heard of called meta, or Facebook, buy sell groups in the marketplace, and then I'll go to the lands land moto.com lands of america.com land and farm.com land flip.com Land hub.com These are platforms where people buy and sell raw land. But the way that I'm going to do it is the secret. I'm going to make it irresistible for my next buyer. All I'm going to ask for is a $2,500 downpayment, to control this five acre parcel, and then I'll make it a car payment, let's say 297 a month, for the next 84 months at 9% interest. So it's a one time sale, I'll get my money out on the down payment. I could go six to 10 months out. And now I'm getting a passive income of 297 a month, next 84 months. No renters. No rehabs, no renovations, no rodents. And because I'm not dealing with a tenant, I'm exempt from Dodd Frank RESPA. And the SAFE Act, all this owners real estate legislation. So grant, it's a simple game, can I create enough land notes where my passive income exceeds my fixed expenses? And now working? 

Grant Because I want to not because I have to guess you have to? So on those numbers, then Mark, when you look at that, and what's the percentage of those that carry all the way through, you know, you're obviously I love, I love how you have the profile for that best buyer, how you create that, that passive income, what sort of risks does that put on your shoulders, where there's potential for them not following through on the cash flow, any issues there?

Mark We don't mind it, because we use a land contract. And a land contract means that we can we still own the underlying asset, while they make payments. If they default, they have 30 days to cure their default. If they don't, we keep the down payment, we keep the monthly payments, our cost basis goes lower, we resell that property, we get a new down payment, we get new monthly payments, and extends out a return on investment is...

Grant Oh, that's awesome. 

Mark So I've been investing my wife and I invest in real estate, but it's it's on. It's with the tenant model, right? It's, you know, creating sort of the cash flow on that site. And it has some of the challenges and headaches you're talking about. Right? It's I deal with property management organizations, I deal with tenants that aren't following through blah, blah, blah, blah, all that. And so this is appealing to me to be able to say, hey, you know, I don't have to worry about about that. 

Grant Is there a return that you felt like is higher taking this strategy than taking that sort of tenant based model?

Mark Well, our average return on cash is 300%. And on terms, it's 1,000%.

Grant That's crazy. Because we you know, typically fight for eight to 10 or 15%, right? In this in this renter model. So that's, that's fascinating, fascinating approach. So a couple things here. The average hold time. So you'd mentioned 30 days, are you literally flipping these in a 30 day timeframe? Is that the average?

Mark Yeah, that's average. Now, if it's more than 30 days, something has to change. Maybe we have to raise the downpayment, maybe people think it's too good to be true. Maybe we have to lower the downpayment, maybe we have to raise the price, lower the price, change the interest rate, change the terms, something needs to change, maybe it's as simple as the headline is conducting. So that's our litmus test for what's wrong with our app. Why did that? Why is this not selling 30 days?

Grant What's the what's the benefit of turning it into that passive cash flow as opposed to just flipping and taking the cash right now all of it out of the deal and walking away with that in your pocket?

Mark Well, cash is a problem, right? Because now I've got to do it all over again. And I've just created a really hard job for myself. So I'd rather buy the asset one time and hold it for as long as I can and have a cash flow rather than flip a tax. Hopefully, I get another deal flip, pay tax, the market could turn on me. Right? I've been I've overpaid and I'm stuck with an asset.

Grant Yep, makes makes total sense. So I noticed on your on your on your YouTube channel here. I noticed on there you you've been creating quite a nice playlist for a long time describing some of the challenges the hurdles the things people might deal with some tips and techniques around that. You've been publishing for quite a while on this. If someone were to get started on your YouTube channel itself, you've got this nice entry YouTube video right there passive income without headaches explained. I love that as your entry one. I watched that and you walk through much of the framework that you just described here today, what would be some of the hurdles that you think people will run into? Or that you've seen people run into where, where this doesn't work?

Mark Well, you know, the biggest hurdle I think, for people who get started is they think, can I do this in my backyard? Well, if you live in San Francisco, no, no one's gonna sell you an infill lot. 25 cents on the dollar, they're gonna go the biggest, baddest land broker in town. If you live in Manhattan, same thing. So we're looking at properties an hour to three hours from the nearest town. And also, there's 3007 us counties like where do you start? So if I live in Iowa, let's face it, nobody wakes up next boy, I'd like to buy some land today in Iowa, unless you live in Iowa. So to get your biggest buyer pool, you want to be the southwest, little bit the Northwest, California and Florida. These are the sunshine states. These are fast growing states. And there is just a plethora of inexpensive raw land.

Grant Okay. All right. That's fascinating. The other thing that I think you wrote your book was in 2017, did I get the date? Right? I think 2018 and 2018. Okay, dirt rich, dirt Ranch is out on Amazon did a review of that awesome book. Tell us about that? What does that cover?

Mark So Dirt Rich gives you the basics of how to buy and sell raw land, it also tells my story. So you don't make the same mistakes. I did. And then Durbridge two is coming out very soon. The next plot how to scale your business.

Grant I love that the next plot, there's a play on words right there for sure. You're also out there on medium.com. I see you being referenced and talked about there. As well as you got your website, check that out as well land geek, the land geek.com, right, the Land Rover COMM And I'm assuming that is I reviewed that what I noticed about what you have here is this is where people can come to your organization, if I understand it, right and say, hey, I want to get trained in this. I want to get skilled and how to create my own business. I'm assuming this is where you take your years and years of expertise. And you condense that into a program, if you will, that take all the lessons learned rather than take 10 years to learn it. You'll learn it and you know, how long, what is sort of the up ramp for people in terms of amount of time and effort?

Mark I mean, can really get going in about 16 weeks. Okay. Yeah.

Grant That's, that's amazing. It's amazing. Have you do you participate in any sort of real estate investing other than raw land?

Mark No, because I don't have an advantage in any other real estate niche other than raw land. So I'm a inch wide, and a mile deep. So and no one can really get my returns, it would be nice to get depreciation because land lasts forever. But that being said, I don't have to deal with the depreciation like there is depreciation for reason I don't have to deal with any physical structures. So I like the headache free piece of it. And I got it 90% automated with software and expensive virtual assistants.

Grant That's incredible. So tell me about your, your best type of client that would come to you and say, hey, I want to participate in building passive income with your program. What does that look like? Who do you know? 

Mark You gotta have a burning desire to change your life? Right? You don't have to grit. So anything we're doing in life is inherently hard. And so it's kind of like hockey, right? People who play hockey, really love hockey, because they love it enough to get their teeth knocked out and get back up. It's the same thing in business. You have to love what you're doing enough to get knocked down and get back up. And so if you have a burning desire, give me that more than somebody who has cash. So I always say commitment over cash. It's, that's really all it takes.

Grant How much cash did you have when you got started? I mean, it wasn't a ton. Right?

Mark I start with $3,000. My buddy Durant's are $800. We think that, you know, 5000 is a is a really easy number. We have some clients who start with $500. 

Grant So you really don't need a whole lot of cash is needed that commitment or that grip that that desire to move forward with it. Okay, very good. So, any other tips that you'd want to share with our listeners on on doing this?

Mark Well, if I were the listener, I would be thinking, well, Grant. It's so great. Why is Marc teaching it?

Grant That's gone through my mind. I mean, You're talking Yeah. 300% To 1,000% return.

Mark Right, right. So to answer the question, because when I started teaching that my wife asked me the same questions like, aren't you going to create your own competition? And it's a very valid question. So I started putting on my investment banker hat. And what's the first thing, investment banker looks at? How big is the market, and there are billions of acres of raw land available in the United States. And there is literally do you couldn't think of a more boring niche, like you could go on HGTV or the DIY Network and think, Oh, I'm gonna watch flip this land. The before pictures are all in the after pictures are all in. Plus, there's no hedge funds, there's no private equity groups. So you meet a million people can be in this niche, will all run out of money, before we run out of deal flow.

Grant Plenty of opportunity for sure. So is some of this sort of altruistic in terms of you know, you want to give back, you want to see others sort of experience some of the same benefits you have is, is there a component to that that's driven yet to create these systems?

Mark I mean, that really is my, my purpose, honestly, because, you know, buying and selling land is great. It's helped five people, really, my family. Yeah, that being said, nobody ever bought a piece of land for me, you know, called me and said, Mark, you changed my life with this land investment, but being able to help people retire their spouses, so they could spend more time with their children, being able to have people replace their income, and really get out of what I call so economic dependency, which means that they're personally not working. They're not making any money, so that they can move up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, into self actualization, and solve not just their money problems, but their time problems, to explore their highest purpose in life. That has been the most gratifying thing for me, professionally. And I absolutely love waking up to that idea every day.

Grant This is the "why" of your journey. Right there. That last sentence, isn't it? Yeah, it's helping them to get out of that solo economic dependency for sure. You had mentioned at one point, or I saw when I was doing some reviews on you, five reasons you should be creative, Pat, you should be creating passive income in raw land. What are those five reasons?

Mark The first reason is, it's just so simple. All you got is a piece of land and a buyer and a seller. So you know, juxtapose that to like, say multifamily, where you've got to raise millions of dollars, you have to get private capital, you have to get investors, you could spend a million dollars just on due diligence alone. So it's just a much simpler way to go. The other issue is there's just no headaches, nobody's calling you up at three in the morning saying my land is leaking. So you get to go to bed every night, knowing that you don't have to deal with the typical headaches of real estate, tenants, termites, toilets, that kind of thing. So you know, another reason would be that it cash flows. So why not have this passive income come in, and get total freedom in life. So you can work when you want, where you want, and with whom you want. I think another reason is just that there's no limit to it. So you can grow as big or, you know, you can get to a point where you kind of like the Mexican fishermen, you have enough type of thing. And then I just think the other reason, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. And it's not building another job for you, yourself if you just automate it. And I think that's great.

Grant Yeah, yeah, that is great. It's interesting that you found this niche. I love how you described it. It's narrow and yet very deep, you become very specialized in this. That's awesome. Mark. Thanks for taking the time with us today. Any final comments or tips you want to share with our listeners?

Mark I always love this quote from Zig Ziglar. If you'll do for the next three to five years, what other people won't do, you'll be able to do for the rest of your life. What other people can't do.

Grant That's a very enabling. I love that for sure. Gosh, that's awesome. Mark. Thanks for taking the time, "The Land Geek". I appreciate you doing this. And everyone thanks for listening to another episode of Financial Investing Radio. And until next time, check out thelandgeek.com

  Check out this episode!

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(NOT) Coping Post 10

I'm so frustrated right now and it probably doesn't help that I've been stewing on it all afternoon....

I feel like this is never going to end. I'm never going to get the help I feel like I need. I feel like I'm having to fight for validation that I'm not feeling okay and the doctors aren't listening.

I had my appointment with my therapist again today. It had to be a phone session this time versus in person due to one of her clients testing positive for Covid. So she is quarantining as a precaution. I didnt make it to work on Wednesday. I had to call off because I just couldn't pull myself out of bed..

Fast forward to today. We discussed my anxiety that was playing a factor that morning besides the depression. She literally asks me to "play the tape". That's a phase she uses often to replay a situation. She wanted me to go over what I was feeling in that moment. Part of my trigger for Wednesday I believe was we had just gotten word Tuesday that we would be reopening our bank lobbies come Tuesday Feb 16th. My station is in the lobby and I'm always slammed as head banker and head teller. It can be extremely overwhelming when I'm firing on all cylinders - which I'm clearly not right now. She asks me, "So, what's the worst that could happen?" I think about it and we talk about. " But, you'll be fine right?"

Yea, I guess....

In those moments I can't tell myself that. That is literally what is the problem right now. If that was the key to fixing me, then I would've done it months ago.

She told me that my fear is what is driving my OCD and that once I realize that nothing bad will happen if I don't do my ritual or repetitive action I'll be fine.

She said I'm in my head too much and need to stay in the present moment.

This isn't helping!! If that was all that I needed again I would've done this months ago. I yell at myself daily at how stupid and irrational I'm being, but it doesn't matter! I still have my anxiety attacks. I still have to do all my OCD things before I can leave the house, dress myself, watch the TV, go to the grocery store. I CANNOT help it! My mind has taken over and I can't break free.

I feel like I'm trapped in a room and can't break free....

I've been solidly at my breaking point ready to tip over the edge for about 4 weeks now and I'm feel like this will never get better.

I've always gotten along with my therapist but today was one day that just made things worse. Tonight I tried finding a psychiatrist that my insurance would take who could maybe specialize in all three of my battles right now and the closest one is 2 to 3 hours away and there's no guarantee my insurance will pay for it. I thought since my general practitioner and psychologist aren't helping I could go the psychiatrist route, but it doesn't look promising. I see my GP on Monday to review my meds which clearly aren't working but I'm not holding out hope.

I'm losing hope that anything is going to work at this point. I'm so tired of feeling this way....

@misssquidtracy

#stayconnectedHUNTSVILLE

This is our home. And even during these crazy times, living and loving local is even more important than ever! We can still support small businesses and community in Huntsville and our surrounding areas! In order to help everyone with this we have pulled some info about local members and our fair city to do just that!

Take care and be well everyone!

xoxo (but with elbow bumps now), Dawn

Updated: Monday, April 14th - 12:27am

Local Info About Our City of Huntsville

Huntsville City Resource and Information page, remember there are live media briefings weekdays at Noon

Huntsville City Council met on Monday, March 16th and unanimously voted for a state of emergency, The State of Alabama has issued a “Stay at Home” Public Health Order requiring individuals to remain in place at home with exceptions for essential work and certain activities such as buying groceries, going for a run, walking the dog, picking up medicine, visiting a doctor and traveling to and from work (if designated as an essential business or operation). 6 feet of social distance is necessary for all activities.

The order is in effect from 5 p.m. April 4 through 5 p.m. April 30, or extended to further contain the spread of COVID-19 in Huntsville and Madison County.

Downtown Huntsville has a great running list of Downtown Huntsville Restaurants & Retail Stores Expanding Delivery Due To Coronavirus Measures

Huntsville Madison County Chamber also has a good list of local restaurants offering take-out and delivery

WLRH has started a running list of How to Help in the TN Valley

Here is a good list of School and College Closings

Randolph School has a really good centralized information resource page

Efforts for collecting food for kiddos who could go without because of school closures can be found here via Native or Not and Touronimo! 

Huntsville Symphony Orchestra has canceled events through the end of March, more info can be found here.

US Space and Rocket Center will be closed till April 3rd.

Update from Progress Bank: Beginning Monday, March 23, our branch lobbies will be accessed by appointment only by calling 888.513.2288. All normal transactions will occur via our drive thru lanes or via curbside service in the absence of a drive-thru. For Business Banking, Private Banking, Mortgage Services and Financial Services, please contact your banker or advisor directly. If you need to access your safe deposit box, please call 888.513.2288. Electronic services: Access Online Banking here, Access Mobile Banking for Apple and Android devices

Burritt on the Mountain is closed until Friday, April 3rd, following the school system closure.

Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment also follows Huntsville City Schools protocol and will be closing the mill to the public starting Monday, March 16 and could re-open on April 4th. They encourage and welcome everyone to explore their website online so you can get to know all their local artists and makers!

Direct from Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theatre:  “All Classes are postponed immediately. We will not have class from March 16, 2020-April 3, 2020. As of now, we will resume class on April 6, 2020. Subject to change based on the CDC and school closures. Spring Break Camp is cancelled and After School Programs are cancelled. If you have questions about camps or classes, please email Candice at [email protected]. All other questions please email [email protected]. We did not make the decision to close camps and classes lightly and understand the burden that it places on families. We hope you take solace in knowing that this act of social distancing will help our city curb the spread of this terrible illness and keep you and your loved ones safer. Despite the significant challenges this crisis poses, we are a resilient, loving community, and we know that we will get through this together. We speak on behalf of all faculty and staff when we say we look forward to the time when our students can return to their classes and we can gather together as a community once again. Until then, thank you as always for your patience and cooperation.” 

Decatur-Morgan Co. Chamber: Approximately 80 percent of your chamber’s membership is small business. It is everything from restaurants to retail to consulting to technology to real estate to the arts and so much more. They are a vital part of our economy and the personality of our community. In light of public health concerns, many of them will be struggling due to social distancing and limited public engagement. So, how can you help? Take a look at this infographic and transition your commerce to both support business and to protect yourself from risk. What are other ways we can support small business? Together, we can do this!

Mark and Ron of In Bloom are offering curb-side pick up from their Five Points location. And they are also making fantastic use of their downtime and started a new all wedding instagram that is already starting to fill up with gorgeous flowers! Be sure and give them a follow on insta! 

Shop & Learn From Home or Curbside

Consider gift certificates and purchasing future classes for later from local places who have either sanitized and stayed open or bravely closed their doors to help flatten the curve.

Elitaire Boutique has a great website to shop from! If you have sizing questions Kayla suggests calling one of their stylist - and they are even offering curb-side pick up or delivery straight to your door (within a 10 mile radius). They are also offering free shipping for the next two weeks! And now you can book a private shopping appointment with us! This way you and up to two of your best girlfriends can grab your favorite items at a discount in a clean, safe (and fun!) stress-free environment. Call for your appointment: 256.947.0618

Carriage House will porch deliver & pick up at no charge. You can call them at 256.355.4349 & they will put a box of Spring styles together for you. You won’t even have to leave the house!

Personal Couture is starting front porch, contactless drop offs and pick ups for purchases and consignment!

Direct from Vertical House Records: “Ok y'all. Wednesday will be the last day you will be able to access Vertical House Records unless the Mill figures out a way to keep the gates open. So if you wanna stock up before we all go into hiding, swing through on Wednesday. After that, Andy and I will be trying to brainstorm ways to get music to all of you fine folks. Since our 25,000 albums don't have barcodes, it's a bit tough to get our inventory online quickly. Therefore, we will be accepting lists of your "apocalypse albums" and doing the digging for you. If we have it, we can generate an invoice on paypal and once it's been paid, we can deliver or ship it out to yas! We also have gift certificates available should you want to buy one now and save it for when you can come dig yourself! You are welcome to paypal [email protected] and note "gift certificate" and you will have instant credit with us woo!! We have and always will appreciate you fine Huntsvillians! Thanks so much for your continued support throughout the years. May we all come out of this safe and sound! We love you all! <3″

Jill’s Studio of Dance  - TBD

The Topiary Tree  - TBD

Eat Out, At Home

GrubSouth has a little bit of everything! If you want a huge variety of great local food delivered straight to your door take a peek at their menus - and now you can select a no-contact delivery option where they will leave it at your door!

Domaine South has closed their doors for two weeks as of March 20th.

Church Street Family is still available for carry-out - this includes: Pourhouse and Mazzara’s  Purveyor, Church Street Wine Shoppe

Straight to Ale is available through GrubSouth for our delivery food options, or come pick up a take out order! We’ve got crowlers, growlers, spirits, and food! Open 12-8pm daily.

Sweet City Micros delivers! You can order each week by Thursday for Friday delivery. 

Piper and Leaf  Shop updates as of Monday, March 16: - P&L x Constitution Park curbside, pickup, and delivery. - P&L x Strong Station curbside, pickup, and delivery. - P&L x Pizitz food Hall pickup, and delivery. - P&L x Lowe Mill curbside, pickup, and delivery. And they have amplified sanitation procedures greatly

We discovered this great reference list for local vendors from Lindsey Keane for The Market at MidCity and wanted to be sure all our awesome local supporters knew about it! There are local eggs, veggies, fruit, honey, meats, breads and microgreens from Sweet City Micros all available with a phone call or email! 

Specifically for Ledges Members - Beginning Tuesday, 3/17/2020, The Ledges will offer meals to-go in two formats: Take-Out Meals where Members can order from our dining menus, and our staff will prepare the meals and have them ready for pick up & Pre-Prepared Meals - A daily special will be advertised to the membership. These will be pre-prepared, fully cooked meals the members can then take home and heat with the provided instructions.  

Coronavirus Information and Updates

Centers for Disease Control

World Health Organization

Hudson Alpha Sharable Science

How Suddenly-precious Cobalt that Powers ‘Teslas and iPhones’ also Fuels ‘Child Labor’ in Africa & Armed Heists in Europe

An artisanal miner carries raw ore at Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine, outside of Kolwezi, the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

It’s an unwanted side-effect of the world’s growing desire for environmentally friendly vehicles: rare metals that are key components of electric cars are becoming prime targets for criminals, as demand sends their values soaring.

How to steal $10 million

On a sunny July weekend in Rotterdam last year, a gang of men pull up in trucks at an unremarkable bonded warehouse situated among an industrial landscape of cranes, shipping containers and depots that sprawls 25 miles along the banks of Europe’s biggest port.

Having purloined the secure codes that give them access through the warehouse’s main gates, they make their way inside and head first to the building’s security unit, punch in the number that disables the alarms and quickly remove the recording unit for the cameras that are aimed at the doors and windows.

Satisfied they are no longer being spied on, they head to a section towards the back of the warehouse and cut the padlock on its sliding door to reveal hundreds of orange and blue drums piled four-high on pallets. All are stuffed full with the prize the men are after: cobalt, a formerly obscure, unwanted metal that, thanks to the electric vehicle revolution, has become a highly desirable commodity nicknamed “blue gold”.

Five or six hours later, the last of the pallets stowed on board their trucks, the gang drives away with 112 tonnes of cobalt, worth around US$10 million. The Dutch police who will investigate when the heist is discovered on the Monday morning spend months failing to catch anyone for the crime or recover any of the stolen goods.

A conveyor belt carries chunks of Raw cobalt after a first transformation at a plant in Lubumbash

Electrifying demand

Cobalt has become of particular interest to organised crime since its price rocketed by 250 percent between 2016 and 2018 (from about US$26,000 a tonne to more than US$90,000) thanks to demand from electric car manufacturers such as Tesla, Volvo, Ford and Volkswagen, and smartphone makers like Apple.

Its unique qualities prevent lithium-ion batteries in mobiles and electric cars from overheating and going up in flames. More than 50 percent of all cobalt demand is now for battery use, and the EU and the US both class it as a critical raw material.

As electric vehicle production gears up - manufacturers worldwide are investing US$300 billion over the next few years so as to build 35 million electric cars and trucks annually by 2030 - experts believe that the price of cobalt will rise again and make it even more attractive to criminals. According to the prediction of one American cobalt investor: “A wave of demand for copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt is coming that almost no one - miner, investor or banker alike - has anticipated or planned for.”

‘The new gasoline’ fuels abuse

The value of cobalt, which takes its name from the German kobold, or “goblin”, derives from its novel properties and relatively short supply. It is an element that does not occur in a "free" form, but is gathered during the mining of copper or nickel and needs to be chemically prised from them using acids and heat.

For hundreds of years, it was used to impart a distinctive blue tint to glass or ceramics, but in the 20th century scientists discovered it to have qualities crucial to our most advanced technologies. Combined with other metals, it produces alloys that are extremely strong, stable under high temperatures and anti-corrosive for use in aircraft engines, rockets, nuclear power stations, turbines and cutting tools.

However, it is the demand created by its critical role in batteries for electric cars that is not only producing the unwanted attention of criminals, but is also fuelling a human rights crisis involving exploited child labour in one of the world’s poorest countries in Africa.

Around 70 percent of the world’s supplies come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has been beset by decades of war, corruption and unrest. The country is described as being to cobalt what Saudia Arabia is to oil - Goldman Sachs, the merchant bank, has called cobalt “the new gasoline".

Every day, tens of thousands of desperate Congolese, including children as young as four, illegally mine cobalt by hand in horrendous conditions. Unicef estimates that there are 40,000 children working in mines across southern DRC, earning as little as 8p a day to crawl through discarded mines, some more than 100 meters deep, to scavenge for rocks containing cobalt in the discarded by-products.

Reports from Amnesty International and others catalogue frequent injuries and deaths, prompting television and newspaper reports detailing the dreadful human cost. One headline in a British newspaper states: “Child miners aged four living a hell on Earth so you can drive an electric car.”

Campaigners estimate that hundreds of miners die every year or have their health seriously damaged. The hazards include mine collapses such as the one in June this year that killed more than 40 miners working illegally on a site in Lualaba province in south-east DR; asphyxiation due to inadequate ventilation; and illnesses such as the respiratory disease cobalt lung, a pneumonia which can cause permanent incapacity or death.

A man digs through some mine waste searching for left over cobalt in a mine between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi

It’s feared that thousands more children will be sucked into the hellish trade, particularly now that many countries have pledged to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars between 2025 and 2040.

Such damaging reports and headlines have forced companies like Apple, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo to try to find ways to ensure that the metal they buy is not “conflict cobalt” produced using child labour. One avenue being explored is the use of blockchain technology, the cryptographic tech behind digital currencies like Bitcoin, to ensure traceability.

Thriving black market

It may be difficult to enforce. The rocks that the children find are sold on cheaply to traders, mostly Chinese middle-men who, in turn, ship the cobalt back to their country to be made untraceable; it is smelted down before joining the supply chain that feeds the needs of giant multinationals, and whets the appetite of organised crime gangs in Europe.

Another cobalt heist occurred in 2012 down the coast in Antwerp. Three containers of cobalt had been shipped to a warehouse at the Belgian port. When truckers arrived to pick them up, they discovered that two had already been “collected”; thieves had once again somehow obtained the access codes used for deliveries.

Experts believe that the robberies are being carried out by organised crime gangs who not only know the docks well, but have extensive knowledge of the metal and understand the market for it. “Cobalt is not as fungible a commodity as many believe – this makes it a difficult product to ‘fence’ without a knowledgeable middleman with routes to market,” says George Heppel, a senior cobalt analyst at London-based CRU group, which offers business intelligence on the metals and mining industries.

So what happens to the stolen cobalt? “It is highly unlikely to have made its way into the battery supply chain,” Heppel says. “My best guess is that it was probably sold into the alloy scrap and revert sector to be used in superalloys, speciality steels or diamond tools. It’s more likely to be in a jet engine than a smartphone.”

But whatever the use the black market that exists for scarce and valuable metals like cobalt is thriving. Jan Struijs, the chairman of the Dutch police union and the former head of a criminal investigation squad in Rotterdam, told the business channel Bloomberg that the warehouse robbery there was simply “the tip of the iceberg".

David Weight, the president of the UK-based Cobalt Institute, says: “If something is valuable then it becomes a target. You saw it with copper: when its price was high, people were stealing manhole covers and pulling up electrical cables from the ground - and some were killing themselves doing it. When the price is high, people do the most extraordinary things.”

— By Richard Ellis, freelance journalist in the UK, December 9, 2019

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

— RT

AM:GZ News #10: Fallout 76's Power Armor Helmets Has Health Hazards!

Who knew that the fantasy dangers in Fallout 76 would be brought to the real world! GameStop has recalled the Power Armor Collectible Helmet - Nuka Cola edition due to health hazards. This story and more are part of our news lineup. Let us get into what is happening in the geek and video game world.

  Geek News

  Kevin Feige and Star Wars

Marvel's Kevin Feige is rumored to produce his own Star Wars project. It seems that he will be part of the new wave of projects to be set in the Disney Star Wars Universe. Feige has met with Kathleen Kennedy and studio co-chairman Alan Horn and Alan Bergman. Feige has also declared that he wants Bree Larson to star in the next Star Wars project where he is the producer.

  Wakeen Phoenix's Joker Controversy

Wakeen Phoenix's Joker is just around the corner, and the internet never disappoints in drumming up controversies. Different groups are declaring that the movie will be a rallying cry for different groups to enact violence. Jon and I find the claims ridiculous. This movie is a piece of art and should be allowed to explore important topics. The topics of mental health and how we treat other people are topics that have profound relevance in our society. What pushes a man to the breaking point? What could we do for our neighbors to prevent what happens to Wakeen Phoenix's Joker? These and other questions we should be able to explore in films. 

  Ninja on Masked Singer

On Masked Singer, the ice cream mask is revealed as Ninja! He performed Old Town Road as he rode out on a lawn mover. An impressive performance from the career video game streamer! It amused us that he was introduced as a prominent Twitch streamer. Either this show's recording was before his transition to Mixer, or they improperly said where he currently hosts his channel. It is nothing major but enough to make us chuckle.

  Video Game News

  Mario Kart Tour Microtransactions

Mario Kart Tour has released on mobile devices. It is a time for celebration! Or is it? The game is fun and entertaining, but the microtransactions are steep. The 200cc, the game's fastest mode, will cost the player five dollars a month subscription. The subscription also includes gold gifts by racing in tours and badges from challenges. Mario's name is in the game, so he is one of the main playable characters, right? Wrong! He is behind a paywall. There are two ways the player can acquire Mario. The mobile game has a 20 dollar Mario pack. The pack includes Mario, Mario's kart, and other specialty items. The other method to acquire Mario and other characters is through their premium currency. Their top rupees option at 135 rupees will cost the player 70 dollars. The player then pays with the rupees to utilize the "Warp Pipe" to fire off characters, karts, and other items. One fire cost five rupees, and ten fires cost forty-five rupees. Will this monetization model be able to compete with the other options on the market? Only time will tell.

  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

The next Call of Duty is just around the corner, and it appears that some familiar faces will be greeting us again. This Modern Warfare will be a soft reboot of the 2007 release. The 2019 CoD: Modern Warfare will bring back well-known characters and voices back in the game, but the story will be updated to reflect the times. Every CoD has a core focus on multiplayer, and it looks like the game is here to impress. The developers have put in a new "Realism" mode that removes the HUD. In the match, the player can breach doors for ambushes and utilize night vision goggles on nighttime maps. Two new modes will be coming to this title. A 2v2 mode called Gunfight and Groud Wars, which sets large teams against each other. The developers went out of their way to emphasize that Ground Wars isn't a battle royale and that they had no plans to implement such a mode into the game. As of right now, PlayStation has a year-long exclusive on the Special Ops: Survival Mode.

  Google Play Pass

Apple Arcade made a splash in the mobile market by providing premium quality games for five dollars a month. To our surprise, Google is joining in this mobile model. Google is releasing Google Play Pass. The service will be 5 dollars a month, and it will include a wide selection of games. Part of the game collection includes Stardew Valley, Limbo, Old Man's journey, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. If you are interested in trying this service, then their free trial might be a great deal. They offer a 10 Day Free Trial. Then after the trial, the first year is charged at 2 dollars a month. 

  Hearthstone Pro Caught Playing Two Games At Once

Lihn "Seiko" Nguyen competed in the Grandmasters League match, but he decided to play this game a bit differently. Instead of giving the game his all and demonstrating is real prowess at the game, he tried to play Hearthstone and Auto-Chess at the same time. People on the stream noted that he looked distracted, looking from his lap to the screen regularly. His made a misstep during that game that turned out to be his undoing. He played the Legendary Minion Shirvallah the Tiger which is an excellent source of healing. For the current meta of the game, the proper play is to play Shirvallah and then use the Baleful Banker card to shuffle a copy of Shirvallah back into the deck. He missed this step which sealed his loss. The Hearthstone commentators and communities were upset and outraged that "Seiko" took up a Grandmaster spot from players who would have taken the match seriously. Ultimately, his heart and head weren't where they were supposed to be. The Grandmaster League is the pinnacle of Hearthstone, and it is disrespectful to the Grandmasters, and it is rude to those who want to be in his position. On top of it all, the audience watches these matches to see the top players in the world compete. If Esports is supposed to be taken as seriously as regular sporting events, then these expectations are not out of line. Honestly, at the level, you are a professional and should conduct yourself as such. 

  Showstopper

Fallout 76 is the gift that keeps on giving. However, this time, it doesn't look as if Bethesda is directly responsible for this debacle. A recall issued for the Power Armor Collectible Helmet - Nuka Cola which was sold by GameStop due to the helmet being a health hazard. Reports say that mold can be present on the fabric insert inside the helmet. This mold can lead to respiratory or other infections with compromised immune systems or damaged lungs. At this time, no incidents have been reported. Though the manufacture was Chronicle LLC, of Irving, Texas, the helmet was manufactured in China. If you have this helmet, then go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We will also leave the consumer contact information for GameStop.

Consumer Contact:

GameStop at 800-883-8895 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email at [email protected] with "Product Recall" as the email subject, or online at www.GameStop.com and click on the "Recall" link at the top of the page for more information.

  Thank You For Listening!

  If you have an idea for an episode or a person of note in the video game industry, i.e., a developer, influencer, illustrator, etc. then let us know! Email us at:

  Connect with us on social media:

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  Visit us on our website: https://armstrongsmusings.com 

We appreciate you listening and hope to hear from you. Stay Strong!

Check out this episode!

M A  N   I    A has arrived 🌊

CHURCH VIDEO

Kicking things off tonight with a tale of chaos - watch the video for Church.

Not stopping the madness anytime soon…

WRIGLEY FIELD SHOW

There's a light on in Chicago and I know I should be home… CHICAGO!! We’re coming home on September 8th to play our biggest show yet at Wrigley Field. It’ll be us, Chicago homies Rise Against, Machine Gun Kelly. We’re bringing the M A  N   I    A Experience to you. There will be an Angels and Kings revival, a pop up shop with new exclusive merch (also bringing some classic fob designs back from the dead), & much more. Don’t want to spoil all of the surprises, but we promise it’ll be good.

But wait, there’s more!

THE M A  N   I    A TOUR

Later this year The M A  N   I    A Tour is hitting cities across America & we’re bringing Machine Gun Kelly along for the ride along with special guests Gym Class Heroes, Every Time I Die, Against The Current, State Champs, L.I.F.T., and nothing, nowhere playing on select dates TBA. All of the dates can be found below including Wrigley.

Pre-sale tickets and VIP packages for the tour + Wrigley go on sale January 22nd at 10am local. Wrigley will have some special VIP packages not available anywhere else which include a meet and greet (w/ Pete & Andy), hotel for the night & more. Info on all the VIP packages can be found here.

Want first shot at tickets/VIP? Just order any piece of merch in our webstore that comes with M A  N   I    A to get your unique pre-sale code emailed to you. Order by Sunday to make sure your code is delivered in time ahead of the 10am pre-sale on Monday.

If you already pre-ordered the album from the webstore, codes are on the way! Check the email you pre-ordered with originally and if you’re not seeing it, check your spam.

If you don’t want new merch, sign up to our mailing list for free by the 23rd to get the mailing list pre-sale code. Code will get sent out on the 24th for the pre-sale starting on Thursday the 25th at 9am local.

General on sale starts Friday January 26th at 10am local.  

$1 from every ticket sold will go to the Fall Out Boy Fund benefiting charities throughout Chicago 💜

August 29th - Uniondale, NY @ NYCB Live, Home of The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum August 31st - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena September 1st - Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium September 2nd - Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center September 4th - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center September 5th - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena September 6th - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Van Andel Arena September 8th - Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field September 9th - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena September 11th - Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena September 12th - Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center September 14th - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex September 16th - Orlando, FL @ Amway Center September 21st - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center September 22nd - Oklahoma City, OK @ Chesapeake Energy Arena  September 23rd - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center September 25th - El Paso, TX @ UTEP Don Haskins Center September 26th - Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Arena September 28th - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena September 29th - Anaheim, CA @ HONDA Center September 30th - San Jose, CA @ SAP Center October 2nd - Boise, ID @ Taco Bell Arena October 3rd - Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena October 5th - Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena October 6th - Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena October 7th - Indianapolis, IN @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse October 9th - North Little Rock, AR @ Verizon Arena October 10th - New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center

VIP PACKAGES

The 1st Annual Paw Palooza is being hosted in Clinton, MO. Come and visit us!! 😊 Cedar Woods Shopping Center 1717 E Ohio - behind Wendy's. It's fun for the entire family. Give a pet a new lease on life, can't adopt, then sponsor a senior sanctuary animal. Learn about adopting, fostering, and animal rescue transport. Free Health Exam Certificates donated by local veterinary clinics. AnimalKind.org will be presenting services on low cost spay and neuter program and how to qualify. There will be a new Henry Golden Boy 22 Rifle raffle, silent auctions, shopping for pet products not a problem, tents, t-shirts, music, games, snacks, drinks, and a photo booth. If you wish to participate but live to far from the event to attend, you can buy a t-shirt online!!! All donations will be split evenly among all rescues, and shelters attending the event. All donations are tax deductible. IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT, Coldwell Banker Townsend Real Estate is hosting a PET FOOD DRIVE. You can donate every day pet food, treats, collars, leashes there Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:00. Every animal deserves a hand up, and thank you in advance!!!! A special thank you to our sponsors who have made this event possible: Advance America, AnimalKind.org, Banfield Pet Hospital, Bolivar Animal Pound, C.A.R.E. Clinton Animal Shelter, Coldwell Banker Townsend Real Estate, Cricket Wireless, Half Way Home, H&E West MO Vet, Golden Valley Animal Clinic, Hound Lovers, KDKD, Jim Raysik, Petsmart, Pomme De Terre Arms, Primitive Olde Crow Winery, RAVE Rescue, Shoe Sensation, South Port Animal Hospital, Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, Wendy's, Woody Adkins "The Real Deal Country Show", Whispering Willows Senior Dog Sanctuary, Inc. (at Whispering Willows Senior Dog Sanctuary, Inc.) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn2XPO3FrmF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dksqviphqsgz

Build the Backyard of Your Dreams with TV’s Matt Blashaw!

Summer is almost here and it’s time to make your home and garden dreams a reality! The Fort Lauderdale Home Design and Remodeling Show returns to the The Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center, Memorial Day Weekend from May 25th to 28th. Headlining the Show is Matt Blashaw of DIY Network’s Yard Crashers, Money Hunters, Deconstruction and Project Xtreme, and many other shows.

Blashaw will present: Dream it…Build it. Designing the Backyard of Your Dreams.  “The hardest part of renovating a backyard is figuring out where to start,” explains Blashaw. “I will give people my secrets to designing a backyard that is not only beautiful, but will be functional year-round. See many of the amazing transformations from the latest season of “Yard Crashers” and also learn what is trending in landscape design this season.”

Blashaw speaks at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 27th and Monday (Memorial Day) May 28th.

From Traditional to Trendy: Find Thousands of Choices! 

Find everything needed for your home, backyard and office: furniture; fine art and décor; landscaping items, patio furniture and grills; appliances; doors, cabinets and fixtures; flooring; home automation; wall and window treatments; home automation; hurricane protection, pergolas, awnings and much more. Plus, enjoy special savings exclusive to the Show!

Other Show features will include:

Home Style 411: Let the Home Show featured Interior Designers show you what’s new, plus answer your design and décor questions. They’ll each create a beautiful room vignette filled with ideas and inspiration, so that you can get started on the next project. This year’s featured Interior Designers include Julia Alzate of Julia Alzate Design and Tips; Francy Arria of Max Space Design and Décor, and Roberta Black of RB Design.

Lifestyle and Professional Development Seminars: There will be different speakers throughout the weekend at the Ygrene Home Improvement Stage including seminars presented by members of Florida Master Gardeners of Broward County Parks and Recreation and Ygrene.

Broward County Property Appraiser, Marty Kiar will speak about Property Tax Savings Exemptions at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 26th.

Family Day: Sunday is always Family Day at the Home Show and special, kid-friendly activities are designed to encourage creativity. Enjoy Broward County Parks’ Kids Creative Critter Corner where children will be taught to make construction paper models of marine and terrestrial animals and plants. They will learn about how important our oceans, beaches, estuaries, wetlands, and other habitats comprise their natural heritage.

Enjoy $1.00 admission for children 11 and under, the whole weekend! Regular Adult Admission is $10.00 available Online or at the Box Office. Purchase tickets by Thursday, May 24th and SAVE $3.00.

 About the Home Design and Remodeling Show 

For the FIFTH consecutive year, BizBash named the Home Design and Remodeling Show as one of Miami/South Florida's Top 100 Events and placed fourth in the Trade Shows, Expos & Conventions category. The Miami and Fort Lauderdale Home Design and Remodeling Shows have been South Florida’s largest and premier home improvement expos for over forty years. Homeowners can find a diverse range of products and solutions tailored specifically to the Florida housing market. Plus, encounter some of South Florida’s most prominent home designers and home remodeling companies. Because the Home Show features superior vendors, tens of thousands of excited homeowners attend the Home Shows, every year. 

About Matt Blashaw

A native of Orange County, California, Matt Blashaw began his building career at a very young age. His father is an engineer and home builder, so construction is in his blood. Blashaw started developing his skills working in his father’s lumberyard and diving into fix-it projects around his family’s home.  Blashaw’s love for building and the arts led him to Chapman University where he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in film and television production.  He also earned his department’s highest honor, the Filmmaker of the Year Award.  After graduating, Blashaw enjoyed working in many facets of the construction and entertainment industries. In that process, he felt inspired to sell houses, and became a licensed Realtor. In 2006, Blashaw entered a contest for DIY Network called Stud Finder, a search for America’s next top handyman, with the prize being their own show.  Although Matt was a runner-up, the exposure led to a small role on an HGTV show and an audition to be the host of Deconstruction, a new series for DIY Network.  He landed the role, and because of the show’s success, has been a contracted host for DIY Network since.  He has gone on to host several series for DIY Network and HGTV including Yard Crashers, Vacation House For Free, Project Xtreme, Money Hunters, Blog Cabin and Professional Grade, and specials such as Cool Tools Builders Show, Stud Finder 2009, Fright House Secrets Revealed and Worst Kitchen In America.  He has appeared as an expert guest on The Today Show on NBC, CNN’s Newsroom, CNBC’s Squawk Box and multiple Fox News affiliates, and is a recurring personality on CBS’ The Early Show.  Currently, Matt is a Realtor with the Smith Group at Coldwell Banker in Orange County, CA and is hosting the upcoming DIY Network series Ultimate Retreat 2018. 

Where, When and Contact Information 

Fort Lauderdale Home Design and Remodeling Show

May 25-28, 2018 (Memorial Day Weekend)

Friday: 4:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Saturday: 12:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Sunday: 12:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Monday: 12:00 pm - 7:30 pm 

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center

1950 Eisenhower Blvd.

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 

$10.00 adults; $1.00 children 11 and under. Online or at the Box Office. Purchase tickets online by Thursday, May 24th and SAVE $3.00. 

www.homeshows.net

Startups Weekly: With Asana, JFrog, Palantir, Snowflake, Sumo and Unity, we’re in peak season for tech IPOs

Editor’s note: Get this free weekly recap of TechCrunch news that any startup can use by email every Saturday morning (7 a.m. PT). Subscribe here.

Pandemic numbers are looking better, it’s still a couple months before U.S. elections and a growing line of tech companies have already ventured out into public markets successfully this summer. Hard to imagine conditions beating the present any time soon, whether you’re traditionally banked, going with a direct listing or getting inside a SPAC vehicle.

We covered the frenzy this week with an eye toward what other startups can learn about the way these companies have arrived at this point. Here are the headlines for each, from Asana to Unity.

But first, consider this special episode of our Equity podcast from Wednesday, where the team reviews the news. And for a faster(ish) read, Extra Crunch subscribers should also check out Alex Wilhelm’s “super-long roundup” of the companies.

The IPOs:

As losses expand, Asana is confident it has the ticket for a successful public listing

Palantir and the great revenue mystery The bullish case for Palantir’s direct listing (EC) Leaked S-1 says Palantir would fight an order demanding its encryption keys Palantir’s S-1 alludes to controversial work with ICE as a risk factor for its business

Unpacking the Sumo Logic S-1 filing (EC)

A quick peek at Snowflake’s IPO filing Industry experts say it’s full speed ahead as Snowflake files S-1

Unity’s IPO numbers look pretty … unreal? Sequoia strikes gold with Unity’s IPO filing

Regarding that last one, EC members should be sure to check out our popular deep dive from last year detailing how Unity came to be a leading gaming engine.

Finally, here’s one last EC headline to get you ready for what is sure to be another week of official S-1s, leaked filing information, rumors of imminent IPO dates, controversies over methods of going public, etc.:

SaaS stocks survive earnings, keeping the market warm for software startups, exits

Image Credits: Getty Images

You don’t know SPACs

Special purpose acquisition companies are an older model of financial vehicle used to take companies public that has become a hot trend in recent years as more tech startups try to figure out liquidity events. Here’s Connie Loizos, who put together a long list of questions and answers about SPACs, concluding that the trend is here for the long-term:

[One] investment banker says he’s seeing less interest from VCs in sponsoring SPACs and more interest from them in selling their portfolio companies to a SPAC. As he notes, “Most venture firms are typically a little earlier stage investors and are private market investors, but there’s an uptick of interest across the board, from PE firms, hedge funds, long-only mutual funds.”

That might change if [A* SPAC founder] Kevin Hartz has anything to do with it. “We’re actually out in the Valley, speaking with all the funds and just looking to educate the venture funds,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of requests in. We think we’re going to convert [famed VC] Bill Gurley  from being a direct listings champion to the SPAC champion very soon.”

In the meantime, asked if his SPAC has a specific target in mind already, Hartz says it does not. He also takes issue with the word “target.”

Says Hartz, “We prefer ‘partner company.’” A target, he adds, “sounds like we’re trying to assassinate somebody.”

Image Credits: Dougal Waters / Getty Images

Inside the nearly 200 companies of Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 demo day

After YC’s first remote-only demo day this spring, the seed-stage venture firm switched from recorded pitches to live ones. The TechCrunch team was on hand to cover the 192 presentations over Monday and Tuesday this week. We’ve written up these two handy guides to help you find your newest competitors, employers or maybe investment:

The 98 companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 Demo Day 1 The 94 companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 Demo Day 2

The staff also picked out their dozen or so favorites from each day, for Extra Crunch subscribers:

Our 11 favorite companies from Y Combinator’s S20 Demo Day: Part 1 Our 12 favorite startups from Y Combinator’s S20 Demo Day: Part 2

(Check out this special demo day edition of Equity for a free audio rundown.)

One company wasn’t in the mix — a startup called Trove, that provides internal compensation SaaS tools, and has just raised a huge new round from Andreessen Horowitz. Natasha Mascarenhas has more.

What investors are saying about startup cities in 2020: Chicago edition

Cities around the world have developed strong tech scenes, but these startup hubs are at the center of potential disruption from pandemic problems plus the possibilities of remote work. We’re surveying investors around the world about what’s next for their home bases. This week, Matt Burns checks in with top Chicago investors about the tech future of the biggest Midwestern city. Here’s Constance Freedman of proptech-oriented fund Moderne Ventures, who is investing in the middle of all these changes:

World-class startups still need world-class feeders, so I don’t expect expansion to reach all that far, but perhaps density or proximity to work becomes less important for those who work there. This may give more cities a change to rise, including Chicago.

So what does this mean for Chicago startup ecosystem? I think Chicago is poised to come out well. The city is affordable to begin with … like 50% more affordable than the West or East Coast hubs. If I live in Chicago I can afford space, I can enjoy my city and I have good transportation if I want to bail out of the city and move to the suburbs. Chicago has a strong ecosystem of universities and capital that can sustain it and may become more appealing to those (tech people and investors) who moved out to go to the coasts in the first place and now realize they don’t need to be there. As people migrate to live where they really want to live, with the lifestyle they want to have, near family they want to be with, they begin to look for more local opportunities and that may bring some great talent back to Chicago and other markets outside of the coasts.

Chicago has long been known for banking, real estate, health care and insurance. I think these sectors and others are poised to do well. The largest opportunity for us (and any major city) is how to close the education gap, which leads to closing the income gap and from there — the sky is the limit!

Meanwhile, Mike Butcher is working on surveys across Europe, and would like to hear from you if you are an investor in Paris or Warsaw.

Around TechCrunch (Disrupt Time)

Conan is coming to Disrupt 2020

Meet the Disrupt 2020 ‘TC10’

Presenting TechCrunch Disrupt’s Asia sessions

Learn how to scale social impact startups at Disrupt with Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and Jessica O. Matthews

Benchmark’s Peter Fenton is joining us at Disrupt

Learn why embedded finance is the future of fintech at Disrupt

Laura Deming, Frederik Groce, Amish Jani, Jessica Verrilli and Vanessa Larco are coming to Disrupt

Carbon Health’s Eren Bali and Color’s Othman Laraki will join us at Disrupt 2020

Black founders can get tactical advice at Disrupt

Five real reasons to attend Disrupt 2020 online

Hear from experienced edtech investors on the market’s overnight boom at Disrupt 2020

Startup Alley exhibitors: Register for VC-led Fundraising & Hiring Best Practices webinar

Here’s how you can get a second shot at Startup Battlefield

Two weeks left on early-bird pricing for TC Sessions: Mobility 2020

Grab your student discount pass for TC Sessions: Mobility 2020

Register for our last pitch-off next week on September 2

Extra Crunch discount now available for military, nonprofits and government employees

Across the week

TechCrunch

The pandemic has probably killed VR arcades for good

Femtech poised for growth beyond fertility

Five proven ways to attract and hire more diverse talent

Will automation eliminate data science positions?

Eduardo Saverin on the ‘world of innovation past Silicon Valley’

The H-1B visa ban is creating nearshore business partnership opportunities

Meet the startups from Brinc’s first online Demo Day

Extra Crunch

What can growth marketers learn from lean product development?

Alexa von Tobel: Eliminating risk is the key to building a startup during an economic downturn

As DevOps takes off, site reliability engineers are flying high

How to establish a startup and draw up your first contract

COVID-19 is driving demand for low-code apps

Synthetic biology startups are giving investors an appetite

Funding for mental health-focused startups rises in 2020

Box CEO Aaron Levie says thrifty founders have more control

#EquityPod

From Alex Wilhelm:

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast (now on Twitter!), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

This is the fourth episode of the week, pushing our production calendar to the test. Happily, we’ve managed to hold it together amidst the news deluge that the last few days have brought. It was a good week for our scheduling change, with the main episode of the show coming to you on Thursday afternoon versus Friday morning.

Change is good.

But unchanging this time around was our hosting lineup, with Natasha Mascarenhas and Danny Crichton and myself yammering with Chris Gates on the mix. Here’s what we got into:

The CEO of TikTok is out, bids are swirling and who will wind up owning a piece of all of TikTok’s global operations is not clear. Walmart is in the mix, apparently, which feels very 2020.

The New York Stock Exchange has gotten approval from the SEC for a new type of direct listing, one in which the company going public can sell a bloc of shares during the normal price discovery process. This means that all the banker-faff of setting a price and roadshowing to various investor groups could be going the way of the buffalo.

About time, maybe? That was our take after reading this Bill Gurley note and the latest SEC news.

But while the direct listing world is getting more interesting, the SPAC world is taking flight. Desktop Metal is going public via a SPAC which is all sorts of fascinating. A younger, Boston-based unicorn going public in this manner is eye catching!

And then two funding rounds, the first from Finix, which can’t stop adding to its Series B. And Mural, which raised the largest Series B we can recall.

And with that, we’re all going to bed. We’re tired. No more news, thanks!

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Second on-demand admission this year to go alive on Aug. 3

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Added than 1,400 acceptance will apprehend their names alleged during Purdue University’s summer commencement.

Originally appointed for Aug. 8, the on-demand admission will be acquaint online for graduates and their families to admission starting Aug. 3. This is the additional Purdue’s admission will be offered on-demand due to the all-around COVID-19 pandemic.

Purdue alum Marjorie Magner, a founding affiliate and accomplice of Brysam All-around Partners, will be the keynote speaker.

Magner helped anatomy Brysam, a specialized clandestine disinterestedness close that invests in customer cyberbanking services, in 2006. Before that, she served as armchair and arch controlling administrator of Citigroup’s All-around Customer Group, area she was amenable for confined barter through retail banking, acclaim cards and customer finance. 

Magner accustomed her Bachelor of Science amount in attitude from Brooklyn College and a master’s amount in automated administering from Purdue’s Krannert School of Management. She accustomed an honorary doctorate in administration from Purdue in 2004.

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She was alleged to Fortune’s account of Best Powerful Women in Business from 2001-2004, as able-bodied as Forbes’ account of the World’s Best Powerful Women, and U.S. Banker’s account of the 25 Best Powerful Women in Banking. She becoming the New York Stock Exchange Governance Services’ countdown Leadership Award for a Non-Executive Chairman in 2014.

About 1,412 acceptance are acceptable for degrees, with 450 undergraduates, 959 alum and three able affairs acceptance acceptable to participate in the ceremony. Purdue additionally will present a following Bachelor of Science amount in automated engineering to the ancestors of Trever L. Col.

The on-demand admission additionally will affection a apprentice responder, Aaron B. Benjamin of Haddonfield, New Jersey. He is accepting his doctoral amount in biochemistry from the College of Agriculture. Benjamin was an alive affiliate of the Purdue Alum Apprentice Government, area he was a affiliate of the activity team, broker and adumbrative to the RecWell Advisory Board. He additionally was an administrator to the Biochemistry Alum Apprentice Organization. While in biochemistry, he served as a teaching abettor and coach to three alum and nine undergraduate students. He has had analysis appear in Organic Letters, Biochemistry and the Journal of the American Chemical Society for his assignment on amalgam and clear structures of assorted compounds.

August 2020 graduates will accept a special “commencement in a box” that includes a authority cover, the admission program, any becoming ceremoniousness cords and medals, and some Boilermaker goodies. The box additionally includes advice on how to download the ceremony, which they can watch with their families at a time that works for them. Assembly of the boxes began on Monday (July 13) at the Purdue Armory.

Graduates additionally accustomed admonition to Purdue’s Commencement 2020 website. The armpit contains information, links and videos to abundant aspects for graduates and families to bless the momentous journey. Items that can be accessed on the armpit are agenda downloads of signs and banners, agenda wallpapers and filters, and alive amusing media feeds. The on-demand admission video will be acquaint there and will accommodate appropriate letters from Purdue’s deans.

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Each apprentice will accept their name alleged and accept their authority cover. Graduates are encouraged to booty photos of themselves and their families watching the commemoration or after and column to amusing media application the #PurdueWeDidIt hashtag.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top accessible analysis academy developing applied solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Best Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing analysis and aces discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative apprenticeship to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has arctic charge and best fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling added acceptance than anytime to alum debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the assiduous following of the abutting behemothic bound at purdue.edu.

Writer: Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-586-7496 (cell), [email protected], @mo_oates

Source: Christine DeHahan Pass, chief abettor registrar, [email protected]

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Related Releases

Purdue releases on-demand commencement, celebrates graduates amidst all-around communicable (May 11, 2020)

Purdue All-around admission recognizes added than 1,000 graduates (June 8, 2020)

Note to Journalists: Images of apostle and the admission box are on a Google Drive. Admission coordinators are accessible for interviews via buzz or web-based appointment services.

Journalists visiting campus: Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines:

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2019-11-27

Happy Holigays from TQ! For the first time since sending out the guide v.1, we're going into hibernation for a bit and taking a break! Feel free to email us if you’d like ideas for where to go out, or just check RA! If you'd like to peruse past editions of the guide, they're posted on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Stay in touch, stay warm, and hope to see y’all on the dancefloor in the new year! 💗

How Charlene Incarnate Inherited the Legacy of NYC’s Drag Scene // “That’s what gay people are good at,” she acknowledges, “being audience members and contributing energy.” “We saw the shuttering of every space [queer folks threw] parties in, every space that wasn’t a typical gay dive bar. They’re all gone now.” The artist grieves both her home [Casa Diva] and the community it provided, and the fact that spaces like hers are “even rarer or nonexistent in the neighborhoods that [queer folks are] still occupying.”

“Taking drag out of nightlife is like taking it out of queerness,” Charlene says, adding that drag “happens in the spaces that were left to us.” How Papi Juice Became the Most Important Party in New York City // In 2013, Oscar Nuñez and fellow DJ Adam Rhodes were tired of going to parties catering to white, cisgender gay men — and were thus inspired to create a party that centered queer and transgender people of color. “We are part of a legacy of people who have been doing similar work for years,” Rhodes explains. “Seeing colleagues emerge and get bigger has been amazing. I love that there are more parties that are specifically serving our people. They’re creating spaces where we can be celebrated in all of our beauty and diversity.” Rare photos of New York’s iconic club kids // We were able to set an example for the everyday kid who was coming from the outer boroughs, and maybe it would give them permission to be a little more liberated within their own lives and within their own context. This was very valuable. The real tragedy when they closed all of the mega clubs in New York was that a number of creative people lost job opportunities. That’s why New York really suffered culturally when the nightclub industry was targeted and wiped out because all of a sudden people couldn’t pay their rent or sustain their art practices. That was a really sad moment for New York culturally. Masked balls and gay uprisings: Queer Maps is a guide to 150 years of LGBTQ history // The tool launches at a time of growing concern about the disappearance of queer bars in cities across the country – LA’s last remaining lesbian bar closed in 2017. It honors world-famous institutions alongside little-known haunts that quietly thrived during eras when being gay was criminalized and dangerous. Saatchi exhibits and BBC Four docs: why is 2019 so nostalgic for 80s rave? // These events were communal and often lawless. They were not happening with anyone’s permission but instead were reactions to the prevailing currents of their time. Deller’s film analyses rave’s role in the traumatised aftermath of the miners’ strike. Rave, he proposed, was “a death ritual marking the transition of Britain from an industrial to a service economy”. Techno Titan Carl Craig Commissioned for Sound Project at Dia:Beacon, Five Years in the Making // Craig—part of a fabled lineage for a legacy of techno music that was born and bred in Detroit—said he drew connections between his hometown and Dia:Beacon’s setting in a former factory that had been abandoned for years before it was transformed in an art-world destination. More to the floor: the decade the dancefloor was decolonised // Perhaps partly helped by the global panopticon of the internet, DJs and producers combine everything from the weighty syncopations of footwork to the sparse, percussive rolls of gqom and euphoria of hard trance, until the key compounds are almost unrecognisable – and then add their own distinctive local flavour. The result is a simultaneously global and local sound, and cross-continental collaborations are making it even more cosmopolitan. First Floor #13 – Where Have All the Anthems Gone? // More and more, what matters is contextualizing an artist within a larger socioeconomic and sociopolitical backdrop. Writers and editors obviously still consider the music, but they’re now also thinking about stuff like identity, representation, privilege and structural discrimination, and while that rubs some people the wrong way—particularly the “it should just be about the music” crowd—I don’t see it as a problem. Leave Your Body at the Door: How ketamine became the drug of choice for our dissociated moment. // In the 1980s and ’90s, the growth of rave culture brought it onto New York dance floors and it became a staple of the club kid scene, prompting the first wave of ketamine trend pieces. “Whether it’s a gay all-nighter, or at a hard techno rave patronized by young, white out-of-towners, the picture is invariably the same. Come 3 a.m., the dance floor is littered with those wasted on ketamine,” Muzik Magazine wrote in that same 1998 article. But in 2019, once-fringe elements of rave culture have bled into the mainstream. EDM is elevator music, banker bros and leather-daddies share bumps at Bushwick warehouse events, Silicon Valley has invaded Burning Man, and the wellness world has turned the drugs of the ’60s counterculture into productivity boosters for start-ups. As rave culture has rebranded, ketamine has pivoted with it. Today’s K users are bringing the drug beyond the dance floor: to chilled-out bar nights and tech-world salons, New-Age wellness retreats and quiet nights at home. NYC Votes To Ban Flavored Vaping Products // New York became the first major city in the country to ban all flavored vaping products on Tuesday. The ban is expected to take effect in July. The crackdown also comes amid an outbreak of vape-related lung disease that's killed dozens of people nationwide, including at least two New York City residents. Researchers with the Center for Disease Control have linked the sickness to vitamin E acetate, which is commonly used in black market THC vaping products.

Wednesday

11-6 // parka presents Trust Exercise: Courage @ Market Hotel // The theme of the night is Courage as a reminder of the courage it takes to trust and be vulnerable. We forget that not everyone celebrates the holidays the same way and many have had to sacrifice a lot to move away from home.

10-3 // Thanksgiving eve with justin strauss and juan maclean @ Black Flamingo 10-4 // Marcellus Pittman All Night @ Nowadays // The Detroit don is back to bless us with another marathon set. 10-4 // pure immanence XL @ Bossa // 10-11: Pure Immanence, 11-12:20: Night Doll, 12:20-1: perrX (live), 1-3: quest?onmarc, 3-4: Pure Immanence 10-4 // OD: Yurk \ Skyshaker \ WILHELMINA \ Christy @ 444 Club

Thursday

10-4 // ADAM X & MÆDON @ Bossa 10-4 // Bermuda /\ Thanksgiving night @ Venus in Furs

Friday

10 // ELSEWORLD: Juan Atkins, Noncompliant, Lauren Flax & More @ Elsewhere // 🌎🛸 HALL 🛸🌎 Juan Atkins, Noncompliant, Relaxer (live), Lauren Flax 🌎🛸 THE LOFT 🛸🌎 Cultivated Sound and Friends: Maŕa & Chamberlain Zhang, 夜露四苦4649 [ Haruka Salt & Yuri Mizokami], LOKA $5 off presales

10-4 // Room To Live presents sold and DJ Wawa @ Newtown Radio // sold (Chicago, smartbar, Groove Cafe), DJ Wawa, Room To Live residents 10-4 // Soul 2 Seoul Do Black Friday @ Mood Ring // Tag Team, Back Again, Back by unpopular demand, The original Blasian Super Duo. Chung & Turtle All Night 10-4 // Technofeminism @ Bossa // BORED LORD (LA), AKUA 10-4 // Blazej Malinowski [Live] + Mary Yuzovskaya @ Public Records // Polish-born DJ Blazej Malinowski brings his knack for deep + atmospheric techno to the Sound Room for a live performance. Having released records on Semantica, TGP, SIlent Season + many more, expect a tripped out, mesmerizing set with Monday Off founder, Unter regular, and vinyl-only DJ Mary Yuzovskaya kicking things off and closing the room. 10-4 // Working Women and Martyn @ Nowadays // Nowadays resident DJs Nina, Nicely and Voices, aka Working Women, are teaming up with 3024 boss (and Ostgut Ton, Brainfeeder, Ninja Tune, Hyperdub, Warp and Aus Music alum) Martyn. 10-5 // Stenny, rrao, Only Child, Significant Other Plus Lagasta, Jacques Renault, Boys' Shorts @ Good Room // Stenny is an essential producer in driving forward the sound of Ilian Tape. A versatile, adventurous and tough approach allow for constant forward momentum and a truly unrelenting energy on the dancefloor.

Saturday

10-5 // NEW YORK TRAX x VOITAX @ BASEMENT // In partnership with the forward-thinking, Berlin-based, record label Voitax, New York Trax brings 4 massive live acts for its Basement debut. Makaton LIVE, Swarm Intelligence LIVE, Brenecki LIVE, Deflector LIVE, Cressida, Paàl

10-4 // XXxBORED LORD x NYCxXx @ Mood Ring // ୧༼ಠ益ಠ༽୨ bored lord, pauli cakes, phoneg1rl, nk badtz maru ୧༼ಠ益ಠ༽୨ 10-4 // FIT Siegel / DJ Fire / DJ Healthy @ Bossa 10-4 // Soul Summit Music All Night Long @ Black Flamingo 10-5 // Perel, L&L&L + Lost Soul Enterprises with L. Sangre, R Gamble @ Good Room // Perel will be joined by L&L&L Record Club. Lost Soul Enterprises takes over the Bad Room with party residents L.Sangre and R Gamble. LSE is a party and label focused on mutant sounds past and present: wave, electro, body music, and all things in between. 10-5 // Shelter 002: Timmy Regisford, Francis Harris + Special Guests @ Public Records // Crossing generations of fans in New York, Timmy Regisford joins Public Records music director and partner Francis Harris for a monthly affair in the Sound Room with one question in mind: How deep is your love for House? 11 // Occupy the Disco @ Elsewhere (Zone One) 10-7 // Dee Diggs, Posi-Track and DJ Bone @ Nowadays // For this soiree, HalfMoonBK's Dee Diggs is teaming up with Fermented Frequency's Posi-Track and the inimitable DJ Bone. Good luck leaving before daybreak.

Sunday

3-9 // The Carry Nation All Day @ Nowadays // Nita Aviance and Will Automagic have been working together as the Carry Nation for the better part of a decade. During that time, they've lit up clubs, lofts and warehouses the world over and released music on Nervous, Classic Music Company and W&O Street Tracks.

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10 To Watch : Mayor’s Edition 102819

RICK HORROW’S TOP 10 SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 28 : MAYOR’S EDITION

with Jacob Aere

Under Armour and Nike announce CEO shifts on the same day. Last Tuesday, Under Armour announced that founder Kevin Plank was stepping down from his CEO role, just as Nike was letting the world know that Mark Parker, a 40-year Nike veteran, was likewise assuming a different role at the $40 billion company. While Under Armour struggled financially under Plank, Parker oversaw a profitable but controversial period for Nike. In Maryland, Plank will become Under Armour executive chairman and brand chief. The changes come as the company's North American sales are struggling. In Oregon, Parker led Nike through a period of tremendous growth but also saw his leadership challenged by a number of controversies. While Nike earnings are currently ahead of expectations, the company has also been plagued by recent scandals, including a doping accusation that saw Nike shutter its renowned track and field program, and a sexual misconduct and gender discrimination case. Plank will be replaced by COO Patrik Frisk, who will assume the CEO role on January 1. Parker will step down January 13 and be replaced by John Donahoe, CEO of ServiceNow Inc. and chairman of PayPal Holdings.

There’s no shortage of intrigue and excitement surrounding this year’s match up, as the Washington Nationals square off against the Houston Astros in the 115th World Series. As the Series enters its second week with the Astros leading the Nationals 3-2, WalletHub takes a closer look at everything that makes the Series such a special event. For starters, the number 53 marks the combined number of years of the Astros' and Nationals' World Series droughts. While the Astros won the Series in 2017, it's been 51 years since the team formerly known as the Montreal Expos won a championship. Forbes values the two teams at roughly the same number, $1.8 billion, and the two teams have roughly the same team salary allotment, in the $207-$208 million range. The projected ad revenue for FOX for each game beyond the minimum four to win the Series is $45.7 million. And finally, for the eventual winner, the "Commissioner's Trophy" crafted by Tiffany and Company has an estimated physical value of $19,000.

The San Francisco 49ers will include basic food and beverages in the cost of season tickets starting in 2020, marking a major shift in concessions strategy. According to 49ers President Al Guido, the all-inclusive approach will not extend to season tickets resold on the secondary market, or to single-game buyers. The undefeated 49ers have about 60,000 season-ticket holders in a stadium that seats 68,500. In market research, Guido said season-ticket holders “overwhelmingly” reported they are willing to pay more than what the stadium currently makes on each fan to get concessions included. The non-transferability of the food & beverage deal is possible under Ticketmaster’s mobile ticketing system that assigns unique barcodes to every user. Items that will be free include chicken tenders, beef and vegan hot dogs, hot links, nachos, fries, pretzels, popcorn, peanuts candies, water, coffee, and all Pepsi products. The 49ers and concessionaire Levy have reportedly been studying the change since Levy won Levi’s Stadium business in February, 2018. It took more than a year of research to determine whether it could be done without causing prohibitive financial or operational costs. 

The Green Bay Packers and Microsoft raised $25 million for their TitletownTech business innovation fund. The TitletownTech fund reached its goal of $25 million with the addition of a dozen Wisconsin-based investors, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette. The Packers and Microsoft each committed $5 million to the fund, which will invest in high-growth early-stage and existing businesses aligned with industries in northeastern Wisconsin. Other investors in the accelerator program include Boston Bruins alternative governor Jerry Jacobs, Jr. and New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, both of whom sit on the TitletownTech advisory board. TitletownTech, a technology and innovation-focused campus in the Packers' Titletown District development near Lambeau Field, includes an innovation lab, a business solutions space called a venture studio, and the venture fund's headquarters. Moving forward, its work will focus on five business silos: sports, media, and entertainment; digital health; agriculture, water, and environment; advanced manufacturing; and supply chain technology. The Packers-Microsoft partnership is just the latest example of how sports franchises are thinking way outside the mixed-use stadium district development box to benefit their communities. 

NFL Players Coalition, Meek Mill, and others host Philadelphia Town Hall event. On Monday, October 28, global music streaming and entertainment platform, TIDAL will be live streaming, for free, the NFL Players Coalition Town Hall Event in Philadelphia. The event, according to a TIDAL release, will feature rapper Meek Mill, co-founder of Players Coalition/NFL Player Malcolm Jenkins, and other influencers discussing what the city of Philadelphia wants in its next police commissioner. Players Coalition aims to make an impact on social justice and racial equality through advocacy, awareness, education, and allocation of resources. TIDAL’s support of key social justice issues has been a pillar of the streaming service’s mission since its inception, and it is committed to amplifying conversations through the platform that will lead to a better future globally. The Philadelphia town hall meeting, and others like it nationally, are testaments to the NFL’s commitment to support social justice issues important to its players, alumni, and fans. Time will tell if the Players Coalition, with the league’s support, will truly be able to influence grassroots issues in the cities in which its games are played. 

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney and his $9.3 million annual salary have taken over the top spot in the annual USA Today coaches’ salary database. Rounding out the top five are Nick Saban ($8.9 million), Jim Harbaugh ($7.5 million), Jimbo Fisher ($7.5 million), and Kirby Smart ($6.9 million). Notably, the top 83 coaches included in the list of 130 schools earned more than $1 million annually in salary alone. Also, the average total pay for the 122 FBS coaches for whom USA TODAY Sports could obtain compensation figures is $2.67 million, up 9% compared to last season – the increase is the largest in four years. And, for the first time, there is a league in which all of the coaches are making at least $3 million. That league is the 14-school Southeastern Conference, in which the average total pay is $4.95 million. College football coaches have seen salaries sky rocket in the last 10 years, meanwhile college athlete compensation is set to kick off in California come 2023.

The NBA has confirmed that Salt Lake City will host the 2023 NBA All-Star Game. The 72nd   edition of the mid-season exhibition match, which sees teams selected by a combination of fan, player, and media voting, will be staged at Vivint Smart Home Arena, the home of the Utah Jazz, February 19 2023. The event will mark the 30th anniversary of the only previous time Utah’s capital city hosted the All-Star Game in 1993, when the Vivint Smart Home Arena was known as the Delta Center. The NBA’s 2023 All-Star festivities will kick off February 17 that year, featuring additional programming for fans at venues throughout Salt Lake City. The league also plans to run a full schedule of NBA Cares and Diversity & Inclusion events. “Along with a rich basketball tradition, Salt Lake City has proven to be a world-class destination for large-scale events and sports competitions,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “I want to thank the Miller Family and the Utah Jazz organization for their commitment to hosting our All-Star festivities and to developing a program that will leave a lasting impact on the community.” Added Jazz owner Gail Miller, “The memory of John Stockton and Karl Malone sharing MVP honors 30 years ago remains strong.  We are excited to create new memories for this generation of NBA fans.” Next year’s All-Star Game is being held at Chicago’s United Center before heading to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in 2021.

National Women’s Soccer League inks an exclusive deal with Octagon for media rights and marketing consulting. According to Sports Video Group, Octagon will provide comprehensive media rights valuation, sales strategy services, and work directly with NWSL executives to secure and amplify new media distribution opportunities. In addition, Octagon’s Marketing division will assist the league with brand marketing, asset development, sponsorship valuation, and fan engagement insights to help generate increases in overall reach and revenue for the league and its teams. Featuring more than 200 of the world’s best professional soccer players, including U.S. Women’s National Team members and two-time World Cup Champions Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Alex Morgan, as well as international stars Marta, Christine Sinclair, and Sam Kerr, the NWSL is highlighted by 23 current FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions and 58 FIFA Women’s World Cup team members. Budwesier has also launched a campaign focused on finding the NWSL new sponsors as more money is being put into women’s soccer across the globe.

The sports world aims to tackle ocean plastic pollution. According to SportTechie, a research expedition embarked from the southwest coast of the U.K., on a two-year mission to sail westward around the world. The crew aboard the S.V. TravelEdge, a 73-foot floating laboratory, will travel 38,000-nautical-miles and cross all five of the world’s major ocean gyres, regions where rotating currents lead to the accumulation of floating plastic waste. The 300 women joining the all-female rotating team will investigate to find solutions to plastic pollution. The “eXXpedition Round The World” is being organized by sailor Emily Penn, who is among a growing group of athletes and people connected to the sports world that is advocating for and taking action to protect the environment. Another goal of Penn’s journey is to create a global network of ambassadors who can advocate to help solve the problem. She has been working with a larger environmental organization called 11th Hour Racing over the last few years to give talks and run workshops for other sailors to learn how they can play a role in tackling plastic pollution. By having athletes tackle environmental problems head on, they can use their social influence to be advocates for policy and lifestyle change.

Seven NFL dads partner with Pampers to install changing tables in their local communities. According to Business Wire, Pampers’ commitment to install 5,000 changing tables across North America by 2021 secured the help of seven hands-on NFL dads today. In honor of October 26’s National Make a Difference Day, Pampers is leading the installation of changing tables in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Detroit and Charlotte so all parents can #LoveTheChange in public places. The seven players include Sterling Shepard of the New York Giants, Tevin Coleman of the San Francisco 49ers, Marvin Jones Jr. of the Detroit Lions, Brian Westbrook of the Philadelphia Eagles, Derek Wolfe of the Denver Broncos, Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears, and Dontari Poe of the Carolina Panthers. The changing tables help to address the changing table inequality for men who care for babies and by using seven NFL dads the topic will gain more limelight.