Ryan Aylward

Friday🔥01: Space, Deep Work & Milkshakes

Ryan Aylward -

Welcome to the Friday Fire, a NEW weekly newsletter of ideas, learnings and inspirations from the past week.

Start your weekend off right with a little FRIDAY 🔥

Space Stocks?

  • I'm beginning to read up on a few publicly-traded "space" companies which hit the public markets in 2021 thanks in part to the late SPAC boom. Space & satellite businesses are increasingly attracting capital thanks in part to advancement in rocket technologies over the past decade which have radically lowered cost curves and enabled new and exciting commercial use cases.

  • Two names I'm looking at, Planet Labs (PL) and Blacksky Technologies (BKSY), are particularly fascinating. PL & BKSY's businesses are based on the launching of satellites into low-earth orbit, collecting high resolution earth imaging and then selling those images to enterprise and government customers.

  • A few interesting notices so far:

    • PL currently has a constellation of ~120 low orbit satellites which enable the company to image the entire earth's surface in a 24 hr period. The imaging data can be used for emissions tracking, regulatory compliance, natural disaster monitoring, shipping traffic analysis and much more.
    • At the time of writing, PL is generating ~$130mm of recurring revenue with an EV of ~1.6bn (or ~13x revenue). The implied valuation is a bit frothy to a value-oriented guy like me... But, at the same time, this is a business which has a very high margin product (one image sold many times over) with sizeable moats in the form of satellite technology and troves of historical image data going back 5+ years (useful for machine leaning & AI applications).

  • Big learning curve ahead for me to understand the merits & risks of these business models - so stay tuned to learn more as I do. I look forward to developing a view on whether these companies are 'investable' at current prices (or at all).

  • Market Trading Update: S&P / NASDAQ were up 0.5% and 2%, respectively this week, but negative momentum is palpable in the face of higher inflation of 0.6% MoM, and 7.5% YoY

What I'm Reading - Deep Work

  • I'm bouncing around a few books right now, one of which is Deep Work by Cal Newport. The book explores why 'deep work' is increasingly important for the modern knowledge worker and how we can best hope to harness and expand our capacity for this type of work.
  • This passage on 'flow states' struck me:
  • "The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile... Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities, they have built-in goals, feedback rules and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one's work, to concentrate and lose oneself in it. Free time, on the other hand is unstructured, and requires much greater effort to be shaped into something that can be enjoyed."
  • I know this to be true in my own life. While the change of pace and scenery which accompanies 'free time' can be rejuvenating, it is not where I consistently feel the most 'alive' in a given week. I enjoy getting lost in a challenge, perhaps not during the peak of my mental strain, but certainly in the moments and days on the other side of the challenge... knowing that I struggled FOR something and have a new learning to show for it.
  • I wonder what it would look like for us to long for 'deep work' similar to the way we long for a vacation... could our frequent yearning for a vacation actually be a masked desire to escape the monotony of shallow endeavors or shallow work?
  • What would it look like to go 'deep' on something important to you this week? How would that feel? Could it be fun? If you decide to dip your toe into a little 'deep work' next week, shoot me a note, let me know what you find!

Milkshake Study - The Impact of 'Food Mindset' on Our Physiology

  • This week I listened to a Huberman Lab Podcast where Dr. Alia Crum (Professor of Psychology at Stanford University) was interviewed.

  • Dr. Crum discussed a study she conducted years back to understand the physiological impact from our BELIEFS about food.

  • The central question was this: "Does our mindset about food affect the way our body responds to the food we eat?" (holding the food constant)

  • In an experiment, Dr. Crum administered the same tasty milkshake to members of her study, and changed only one variable. For group A, Crum said the milkshake was "indulgent and caloricly dense". For group B, Crum said the shake was "nutrient dense and low calorie" - a healthy shake. In reality, the administered shake was average in calories (~300 cal), fats and sugars.

  • The results were fascinating! When measuring participants who consumed the alleged "indulgent, high calorie" shake, their body's metabolic indicators (i.e., Ghrelin levels) dropped significantly, as would be expected following the consumption of a highly caloric meal. The participants who consumed the alleged 'diet shake' exhibited the inverse reaction (i.e., Ghrelin levels spiked)!

  • The two groups of participants had completely different physiological responses to the same shake based solely on what they believed to be true about the shake!

  • This would suggest that the mindset we bring to the food we eat can physically alter how our bodies respond. Unreal.

  • Of course, the implications here are to be balanced. We can't all of a sudden bring "low calorie" thoughts into a daily appointment with a Big Mac & Fries and expect to get ripped. I'm no scientist, but I'm confident that's not the point.

  • The interesting takeaway here for me is - how can I update my mindset towards foods that are nutritionally good for me? I find my healthy eating habits are most frequently derailed by feeling like I'm "starving" after consuming lower calorie, nutrient rich foods... If I were to upgrade my mindset to portray these healthy foods as perhaps "filling", "yummy", or even "indulgent", would my physiology fall in line? (i.e., less HANGRY (not a typo)).

  • ... Maybe its time I re-visit my beliefs around food

  • Here is a link to the podcast if you'd like to listen for yourself: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ELdxrMTQum8E4ulpMSb2J?si=be7f264908ea4633*

Gratitude

Each week I try to consciously acknowledge a source of gratitude in my life. While its fun to focus on the future, gratitude helps cultivate a sense of joy and appreciation along the way. Gratitude need not be reserved for the big or elaborate happenings in life.

  • This week I'm grateful for two phone calls. One with my Dad and another with a colleague named Pete. These conversations injected perspective, new ideas and inspiration into a week where I was facing some entrepreneurial and emotional roadblocks.

What are you grateful for this week?

Update on Stock Picks:

Weekly performance update below for active stock picks - if only all my future updates could look like this one ;)

HELP WANTED - I NEED YOU!

This is my first (and hopefully worst) newsletter ever! :)

  • What about the above did you find interesting?
  • What would you want to read more or less of?
  • I'm going to be tinkering with the format and content included week to week, I would love to bring your perspective into my process!

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Have a Great Weekend, Ryan ✌️

P.S. - As a bold request of anyone reading... my vision this year is to reach an audience of 5,000 people. If you know anyone who may like this article or if you have advice on strategies to reaching this goal, I'd love your input!