Sep 23, 2016

Friends newsletter: Cold showers

By Nick Gray • Issue #9 • View online

New stuff this week: Video from the Judd Foundation in NYC, why I take cold showers, hang with me in Brooklyn next weekend, and more.

That’s me in the white shirt up there, Nick Gray! This is my Friends Newsletter. I send it to my friends on LinkedIn, people I’ve met recently, and friends I want to keep in touch with. Feel free to unsubscribe at the bottom and I won’t be offended.

Great biz book: Shoe Dog

Best business book I’ve read recently: “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight about the very early days of founding Nike.

Reading this book made me feel like an insider, as if I was getting to see “behind the scenes” of the creation of something very special.

In the early 1960’s, Knight started Blue Ribbon Sports which would eventually become Nike. The book provides a great narrative of the company’s early days when they acted as a distributor for Japan’s Onitsuka Tiger Company and then started making their own shoes.

Some of my key takeaways: (read more on my blog)

Knight was 24 when he founded Blue Ribbon Sports. He continued to work full-time as an Accountant during the first few years, paying others but relying on his salary to help pay bills and fund the business.
Knight wasn’t afraid to play with his cash flows, sometimes dangerously so. It was interesting to read about some of the run-ins he had with his bankers. He was a lot more willing to take risks with his cash flows than I am at Museum Hack, and more than one time it caused him major problems.
Nike’s name was the creation of Jeff Johnson, the company’s first employee. I saw a bit of myself in Jeff, who could be a bit crazy and paid an obsessive amount of attention to detail. He also had a tendency to skip drinking and partying with the team in favor of reading a book in his hotel room, which made sense to me as someone who isn’t very good at staying up late.

The writing style was just so good: real, raw, honest. Recommended book! more books on my blog

4 Interesting Articles I Read

Selling the Museum Experience… to Millenials | Philanthropy Daily

My company Museum Hack gets some great recognition in this article. “What Museum Hack is really selling, though, is what so few young people manage to get on their own: A fun and informative afternoon at some of America’s top galleries.”

www.philanthropydaily.com • Share

In Praise of Chosen Family

New favorite quote: “Become a fierce talent scout of amazing friends. Make your crew your finest act of curatorial courage.”

www.onbeing.org • Share

Benefits of Cold Showers: 7 Reasons Why Taking Cool Showers Is Good For Your Health

I’ve been taking cold showers now every single day since the new year. Start with cold, then do hot, then finish with cold. Sometimes I hate them, but other times THEY ARE AMAZING. From the article: “Taking cold showers instead of hot showers provides surprising health benefits — from burning fat to depression relief — for our skin and body.”

www.medicaldaily.com • Share

The Man Who Wants to Make NY’s Art World Obsolete

Former director of the Dia Art Foundation. Now LACMA director. I like his perspective.

observer.com • Share

Hang next weekend in Brooklyn?

Sunday, October 2nd 2016 at 11am

I’ll be with a bunch of the Museum Hack team celebrating our friend Nina Simon for her new book launch in NYC. Come hang out! The cost is $9. It will be very cool.

Article: ZeroChaos: The Huge Company With 100,000+ Employees That You’ve Never Heard Of

For business nerds: ZeroChaos is little-known company that I’ve become interested in. They provide contract employees (or “contingent workforce solutions”) for Google, IBM, and many other large companies.

I heard about them because Museum Hack started to receive a lot of applicants for our remote positions from people who had previously worked for ZeroChaos.

I wrote up this post to collect my notes and links here. Email me if you have any intel on them!

New video: HUGE Judd House in SoHo

Last weekend I got to explore this 5-story home-museum. It is the only single-use cast iron building in Manhattan.

Watch: YouTube on my site
Watch: Video on my Facebook.

My favorite room: Judd's bedroom (click image for video)

Me laying down in the Judd couch (click image for video)