TikTok Star Bright Emily Shows Off Her New Bus, Patrick Mahomes Ankle Investigation & There's Babe Ruth Trading Card Drama
What's the best business decision you've ever made?
I've spent a few hours this week going down the Twitter biz investment blue checkmark rabbit hole and it got me thinking about the Screencaps community and the successes some of you have had over your careers. Enough of the blue checkmarks who slap together 20 tweets into a thread (and beg people to sign up for their newsletters) to game the Twitter algorithm, I want to hear from you guys on business success.
I want to know about the best business decisions you've made that changed the trajectory of your life.
My best business decision has been well-documented on here since I brought Screencaps to OutKick.
It came in 2007 when I faced the threat of a lawsuit from the Big Ten Conference over a URL they wanted. That night, I purchased the URL BustedCoverage.com for $10, moved it to the hosting site where I was using a shared server for like $10 a month and I was in business. The software -- WordPress -- was free.
All it took after that initial $10 was elbow grease and the best decision I ever made -- to create a site built on a simple premise: Entertain guys who are going through divorces, guys who hate their jobs, guys who are losing their jobs (it was 2007!) and give them content that ESPN wouldn't show on SportsCenter.
Hands down, without a doubt, it was the best business decision I ever made. Now, there would be a few more career-defining moments to come after that, but the confluence of spending $10 and turning it into a life-changing career is top of the obituary material.
Now give me your best business decision moment. Remember, because this is Screencaps, "business decision" can have multiple meanings. Perhaps you got out of an engagement that was going to eventually cost you half of your 401k. That's a "best business decision" moment contender.
Maybe you decided on the right place to buy a lottery ticket and now you're retired and living on the beach. That's a "best business decision" moment.
Try me.
(And if you have questions about my trajectory in this business, fire away. I was a know-nothing loser with ZERO industry connections when I started, by the way. I never took investment dollars and never ran a deficit. Suck it, Big Daddy Gov.)
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Coming Soon: An all-electric Harley-Davidson
In a recent interview, Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz announced that the end of the Hog as you know it will change to an all-electric motorcycle and it'll take place over the next "decades."
Now, that gives Zeitz and the H-D brand time for most of us reading this to hit an age where we're not riding Hogs. This is a change aimed at Gen Z when it's to that age when it wants to drop a few Bitcoins on a new ride to take the old lady out to grab a beer.
"If you look at the past 120 years, the company has always evolved, never stood still," Zeitz told Dezeen. "Now, like the founders did at the time by trying to reinvent or invent something unique, that's obviously something that we as a company brand need to do as well."
"What we're doing is celebrating our past but also evolving the brand at the same time," he continued. "It's a natural evolution that needed to happen."
This is like Playboy announcing it would no longer be in the bare boobs business.
"The brand is not just for inspiring for those who buy motorcycles, it's inspiring for others, which is why we're making such made such a big effort on apparel and accessories to really bring the brand to broader customer bases," he added.
Ah, there it is. This is all about future branding. Licensing. Like Playboy. Get ready to see Gen Z wearing leather (faux leather or maybe like a cauliflower leather) H-D jackets while they're gaming in their living rooms.
Screencaps thoughts from the readers...the state of the union in 2023
• Nat C. writes:
Thanks as always for putting out such great content. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write some comments on what the community has been discussing. You have created the most sensible, down-to-earth, and fun community in media. It feels as if we are in a huge bar for several brief minutes during the day. Being in the People’s Republic of California, I really appreciate the chance to hang with the non-woke.
A few comments about recent, or not-so-recent conversations (I apologize for not being timely):
Thanks so much for keeping us so well-informed and entertained.
Kinsey:
Great email.
If you have interest in a fantasy NASCAR league, I'll gladly forward your messages to Nat C.
Personally, I will watch the first 3-4 races with great interest because I LOVE the energy from seeing bright sunshine in Daytona in the middle of February while sitting here in gloomy Ohio. It tells me spring isn't too far off and life will soon be brighter.
AFC title game emails
• Harvey D. in the 419 slid into the email inbox late last night:
As you and I being long-suffering Bungal fans. I need some insight on the signing of a Chefs player off the waiver wire. It's about time Pumpkin and crew get inside some heads, or an overtly cocky move? Love me some party crashing, and they still got to play us.
Getting my Toussaint on and WHO DEY!!
Kinsey:
While the conspiracy types might think Chris Lammons (played 75% of the Chiefs' special teams snaps in 2022) will be taken into an interrogation room to gain intelligence on what Andy Reid has on the restaurant menu he holds on the sideline, this probably has more to do with Lammons being a nice piece to add to the 2023 puzzle. The roster move doesn't become official until after the Super Bowl.
Remember, the Bengals are 3-0 against the Chiefs since the end of the 2021 season. They have the gameplan in place, it's just a matter of executing against Mahomes.
Surprise birthday parties
• Mike in Milwaukee has a story to share about attending a surprise party:
Quick story. My wife and went to surprise 75th birthday party over the holidays. It was my wife's friend who invited us and we really didn't know anyone, buy hey, free food and drinks. I'm in. So we get there and most of the crowd is older ( as you would expect) and there are some family members who are younger.
One in particular caught my wife's eyes. One of the neice's (age 24) decided that a very low cut top with no bra was appropriate attire. I must be slacking. I am admittedly a boob guy, but it was my wife who had to point her out to me. (i know, man card in jeopardy) Anyway, we spent the next hour watching her (boobs) walk around the room and almost fall out multiple times.
The voodoo that women use to keep body parts in place defies physics. Did I mention free drinks. I was in heaven. Watch boobs, drinking, laughing with my wife. Best party in a long while.
Kinsey:
That gets the GREAT EMAIL stamp of approval. Well done, Mike.
Antibes, France harbor
• Mike T. went looking for boats to show the Screencaps community while tooling around Antibes. Looks like he found a couple of rides that would look amazing at Put-In-Bay this summer.
And here's the beer selection at the grocery store in town where Mike T. and Cindy T. have been buying groceries. I don't see Busch Light. SMH. I do see Bud heavy down to the left.
And with that, let's roll. The snow is coming down here as we're under a Winter Storm Warning. That's fine, I'm working from home today.
Have a great day. Go work hard. Think about spring. Get those best business decision emails into the inbox.
Take care.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com