Morning Brew Daily

Purchasing artwork by the likes of Picasso, Warhol, or Monet has traditionally been reserved for the same people adding truffles to all of their meals. But that’s beginning to change with the launch of MasterWorks, an investing platform that allows you to buy shares of famous artwork.

We know what you’re thinking: how does one own a piece of a Picasso? Today, Scott Lynn, CEO of MasterWorks, joins us to break it down. He’ll be telling us about the history of art as an asset class, how art differs from other alternative investments, and the similarities and differences between physical art and NFTs.

For most people, wealth management sounds like something that’s only for the uber rich—like private planes and 'add truffles.' Today, Kristin Lemkau, CEO of Wealth Management at JP Morgan Chase, joins the show to dispel that myth. She’s breaking down the ins and outs of wealth management, why it’s right for everyone, and the industry changes she’s seen throughout her 22 years at the company. She’s also sharing her thoughts on retail investing apps and their gamification of the space.

The barrier for entry to being a creator has never been lower, so the amount of people looking to be full time creators has never been higher. Every successful creator’s path to “making it” is different, but the creator economy makes room for all of them. Here to tell us about all the moving parts behind being a full time creator is YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD. 

Marques tells us about how he distinguished himself on his platform, his experience building his audience, and how he delegates to scale his business.

As big name publishing houses continue to consolidate, their influence on which books become bestsellers only grows stronger. The ‘chosen’ books are consistently written by authors in privileged positions, leaving underrepresented authors, including women, people of color, and noncelebrities, off the bookshelves (and Kindles). Some authors have had enough, and they're finding new avenues through which to get themselves published.

Join us today as publisher and writing coach Brooke Warner walks us through the exclusivity of publication and explains how hybrid publishing companies can support underrepresented authors.

The growth of new reading platforms in the past decade drove a ton of growth in the publishing industry, leading to the consolidation of some of the biggest names in the business. While that might be good news for publishers…it’s not so great for authors, editors, and readers. Fewer publication houses means fewer books being promoted, fewer authors being discovered, and fewer stories being read. Today, Cindy Spiegel, the CEO of independent publishing house Spiegel & Grow, joins us to discuss the implications of this consolidation and the importance of indie publishing houses for the future of the industry.

The first wave of the ed-tech revolution was pretty simple. Take school as you know it, and put that online. But to get people excited about lifelong learning, does that work? If you wanted to build a new platform where people would want to learn, and do so in the longterm, what would that look like? MasterClass, maybe.

On this episode, we're going to consider that question alongside the company's founder and CEO, David Rogier.

AI, technology, and automation are changing the skills workers need to find success. Meanwhile, the people involved in driving that change—tech workers—are disproportionately white and male. How can we change that?

Ruben Harris wants to find out. As CEO of CareerKarma, an online platform that matches workers with coding bootcamps and skills training programs, Ruben leads the company that fancies itself the "front door" to the tech industry. In this episode, Ruben tells us about his journey as a founder, his goal to reach a billion people, and his thoughts on the future of work.

Right now, it feels like the entire world is talking about NFTs, or nonfungible tokens. I'm sure you've seen the tweets and the headlines about NFTs and wondered — what the heck are these?

We're finding out from Roham Gharegozlou, the CEO of Dapper Labs. Dapper Labs is the blockchain based entertainment company behind NBA Top Shot, which is one of the most popular and hyped NFT series out there.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are... complicated. That's why we have Sheila Warren, head of blockchain and data policy and member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, to help us break down.

Sheila will walk us through all the basics: What is an NFT? What exactly do you own when you buy an NFT? Is it a good investment?

One year into wide-spread WFH, do you ever end your video call and ask yourself, 'Why are we still using Zoom?'

In 2020, our work style changed. A lot. But our tools have not.

Xiaoyin Qu, founder and CEO of a platform called Run The World, explains how to bring the right tech to virtual gatherings. She’ll offer some much-needed clarity as to technology’s role in our maybe-remote, maybe-IRL future, and predict what large-scale conferences will look like post-pandemic.