The $760Bn DIY Market #NFR 13

Juicy Tech News, Niche Trends, Curious Mental Models, Podcast & Book Recommendations

☕️ Morning Coffee:

Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

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🤖Tech News:

Studio Founder Sean Krankel- As the first games studio to join Netflix on this new project, said Krankel, Night School wants to “stretch [its] narrative and design aspirations across distinctive, original games with heart.”

Krankel added, “Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively.”

“Gifting has become a major lever in the world of building business relationships in the last 20 months. With in-person meetings reduced to a trickle, sending a gift to a colleague or business associate has become a more personalized way to reward, curry favor or just keep in touch beyond the basics of pinging each other over a messaging platform, a zoom or an email. Today, Reachdesk — one of the companies that’s riding on the wave of that ever-expanding B2B gifting universe — is announcing that it has raised $43 million, a sign of the momentum in the space at the moment, with Reachdesk’s own business specifically growing 600% in the last year.”

“Rather than helping e-commerce companies do a better job advertising on social media, Joyned enables retailers to offer a collaborative shopping platform experience right from their websites without having to rely on the social media platforms, Abraham said. Now shoppers can stay on a retailer site and bring in friends to check out products with the click of a button.”

“Amazon is launching Astro, its first household robot, powered by its Alexa smart home technology. The company said it can be remote-controlled when not at home, to check on pets, people, or home security. It can also patrol a home automatically and send owners a notification if it detects something unusual.

Amazon said it was more than "Alexa with wheels" and had been programmed with a range of movements and expressions to give it personality. It demonstrated asking Astro to "beatbox" - and the robot bopped its head and made expressions while playing hip-hop beats.”

Tesla delivered a record-breaking 241,300 electric vehicles in the third quarter, blowing past expectations as other U.S. automakers experienced a drop in sales as the result of a global chip shortage.

“Building on its augmented reality offerings, Etsy on Monday debuted the Etsy House, its first interactive, augmented reality experience that lets shoppers tour a digital home decorated with curated items from the marketplace.

The Etsy House features true-to-scale renderings and 360-degree imagery in a virtual home displaying holiday decor and gifts, Etsy Design Award-winning items, furniture, artwork and other goods. If users spot something they like, they can hover over it to view the product information and a purchase link, the company said. “

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📈 Trends Of The Week:

The $760B+ DIY Market Goes Digital

search interest for DIY near me

Source: Google Trends

“The Signal: TikTok’s #DIY hashtag has 116B+ views. The r/DIY subreddit is closing in on 20m members. Searches for “DIY near me” are enjoying all-time highs.

Consumers and investors alike are rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in -- with a new focus on digital platforms.

The Big Picture: Traditionally brick-and-mortar heavy, recent raises and sales data point to DIY’s pivot to ecommerce.

Over the last year, digital DIY platforms have raised serious dough: UK startup Lick with $28m, and France’s ManoMano a cool $355m.”

Few opportunities:

  • Digital only model

  • Niche trends

    • High-end D2C branded products (Lick paint is ~2.5x more expensive than a comparable tin of Dulux)

    • Limited options (paint, wallpaper, and blinds only)

    • A 185k+ strong community of designers and decorators who work with the brand

    • Products aligned with the luxury sustainability trend

  • Used DIY Tools”

“You could combine the thrifting and DIY trends to create an online marketplace -- like a ThredUp for all things DIY.

Demand for used furniture is also growing. Your platform could have a section for used pieces -- with the option to add on the tools, paints, etc. required for refurbishment.”

search interest for used tools

“The “Finish It Yourself” Trend: FIY -- “DIY with a safety net” -- preserves the consumer satisfaction of doing things, but with limited risk of failure.

FIY also taps into the personalisation trend, and can be leveraged in a variety of ways, such as:

  • Bouquet making: French Bergamotte allows you to become a florist in your own home with their self-assemble bouquets

  • Indoor smart gardens: Amazon searches for “AeroGarden seed pods” are up 188% over the last 90 days, per Jungle Scout)

  • Paint your own crockery: Pottery painting is the perfect FIY darling

  • Cake decorating: cake decorating classes are trending, and Amazon searches for “cake decorating kits” are up 126%

  • FIY Fashion: Nike already allows you to customize sneakers”

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🧠 Quotes that make you think:

  • “Encouragement to others is something everyone can give. Somebody needs what you have to give. It may not be your money; it may be your time. It may be your listening ear. It may be your arms to encourage. It may be your smile to uplift. Who knows?” Joel Osteen

  • “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” Joseph Campbell

  • “We pursue external goals to hit an internal emotional target.” Mastin Kipp

  • “Unless you are in mortal danger, fear is a compass showing you where to go.” - Mastin Kipp

  • “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” Maya Angelou

  • “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anaïs Nin

  • “Life is in ourselves and not in the external.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” Shannon L. Alder

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⛓ Mental Model Of The Week:

“Maslow’s Hammer - Named after the psychologist Abraham Maslow.

There are several variations of the Maslow’s Hammer quote, but a common one goes like this: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

In other words, if you only have a few tools or mental models, you will be prone to viewing situations through a very narrow lens—attempting to make each situation fit your model.”

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🎤 Podcasts I listened to:

“Mastin Kipp went from the rock and roll lifestyle to becoming one of the most sought-after thought leaders today. In this episode, he’ll share how you can transform your life through Functional Life Coaching, a scientific approach to helping people work through trauma and find their real purpose in life.”

“In today’s podcast I am joined by my brother, Erick Godsey. A few years ago, Erick was working at Chipotle, wondering what the hell “guacamole is extra” had to do with his purpose. Then he took a leap of faith and decided to take the course, Go For Your Win, which he credits as the catalyst for living the life of his dreams today. A week ago I was restless, and wavering between anxiety and depression. Without being fully aware of what I was doing, I went back to the map provided by Go For Your Win. I found my mission again, and everything changed. This podcast tells the story of how to discover your purpose in these trying times, and the immense sacrifice that comes with changing your mind. If any of you are frustrated with friends or family that think differently from you, this podcast is essential.”

“Do you feel like you have all the knowledge, yet you’re “stuck” in the same patterns? Destructive habits like addiction, self-sabotage, low self-worth, or even “communications problems” in relationships are all tied to one thing: conditioned behavior practiced since childhood. Childhood trauma is nothing you overcome just because you grow up. But there are ways to heal what happened in the past to create an entirely different future. In this episode of Impact Theory, Tom Bilyeu is joined by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nicole LePera. Her practical tips led to a community of 3,2 million Self-Healers on Instagram.”

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📚 Book I'm Reading:

Link to book summary (Here)

Up next week:

Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth

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⏰ Timeless Insight:

"Nothing can satisfy greed, but even a small measure satisfies nature. So it is what the poverty of an exile brings no misfortune, for no place of exile is so barren as not to produce ample support for a person.

- Seneca

“It can be beneficial to reflect on what you used to accept as normal. Consider your first pay check - how big it seemed. Or your first apartment with it’s own bedroom and bathroom and the ramen you gladly scarfed down in the kitchen. Today, as you’ve become more successful, these conditions would hardly feel sufficient. In fact you probably want even more than what you have right now. Yet just a few years ago those paltry conditions were not only enough, they felt great.

When we become successful, we forget how strong we used to be. We are so used to what we have, we half believe we’d die without it. Of course, this is just the comfort talking. In the days of the world wars, our parents and grandparents made do with the rationed gas, butter and electricity. They were fine, just as you have been fine when you had less.

Remember today that you’d be OK if things suddenly went wrong.

Your actual needs are small. There is very little that could happen that would truly threaten your survival. Think about that, and adjust your worries and fears accordingly”

Source:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseverance-translations/dp/1781257655

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☠️ Facing Death:

I’m going to be super surprised if you’ve made it this far and can be bothered to read this next passage but it stopped me dead in my tracks and thought I had to share it.

By pure chance a video started auto playing on my You Tube.

It was titled “A 97-Year-Old Philosopher Faces His Own Death”

Link to video here (here)

The most popular comment on the video has 15k likes and is a very emotional story from an 87 year old man at the end of his life and I know life can be busy but if you have a spare few minutes i’d give it a skim.

Here it is ⬇️

“I'm now 87 years old. My wife passed several years ago and my children and grandchildren are all grown up, very busy and getting on with life. I'm still fairly mobile and have a circle of old guys as friends.

We do community projects by building things like outdoor benches for the local park, wheelchair ramps, bird houses, vegetable garden boxes, fix kids bikes, serve lunch at the local public school, etc. It feels great to give back to the community and regain a sense of worth.

I really enjoy the camaraderie with my friends. The Dalai Lama was once asked if he feared death. "No, he replied, I don't fear death, I'm afraid of dying!" And I have to agree with him. One of my friends died in his sleep a few months age. The response from the fellows? "Lucky bastard!" A slow lingering death has to be at the top of the worst things list.

I enjoyed Herbert's sudden observation of trees, the wind and birds, etc. This is happening to me as I slowly turn inwards and begin to pay attention to small happenings around me. I'm like a 5 year old, laying on my back in the grass and watching clouds go by, finding faces in the white fluffy stuff; hearing and watching birds and small animals scurrying through the underbrush. And of course the guilt and remorse of suddenly realizing that what I'm doing now, what I'm paying attention to now, is something I should have been doing all my life. I don't know if I'm afraid of death or not.

I've thought about it lately and don't have an answer. I really don't want to pass on because I love and enjoy my children and grandchildren so very much. I have regrets about what could have been and realize I won't be around when all the new science and discoveries become a reality. But then I realize what the Buddhists say about ego. Dropping the ego and staying in the moment is the secret of life. Do no harm to ALL living creatures and be kind to others.

As you can see, the video of Herbert Fingarette has had an impact on me, so had to put my feelings in print. May all of you stay safe and may all of you have happiness.”

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🏁 Happy Existing