The Liquidity Event | Money and Finance with Shane and Ally Jane

Our hosts are extra silly this week in Palm Springs. They've got GameStop entering the NFT space and SpaceX satellites blowing up in space due to geothermal storms. Also in the news is the housing crisis. Shane thinks AJ is making a foolish real estate purchase and he might be right. Speaking of foolish purchases, Frontier Airlines will buy Spirit Airlines. Just kidding, that's not necessarily a foolish purchase but if you've ever flown Spirit, you know you get what you pay for. This one should probably be deleted.

Links

GameStop taps Immutable X for NFT marketplace

VC funding for HR tech soars amid focus on diversity, remote work | PitchBook

HR tech startup PayFit becomes Europe's first unicorn of 2022 | PitchBook

Frontier to Buy Spirit Airlines in Cash-and-Stock Deal

$10,000 Life Works Here Talent Incentive | Northwest Arkansas

Unqualified therapists exploiting vulnerable patients - BBC News

The New Benefits Employers Could Offer to Make You Stay

Pay Me More or I Quit: Workers Play Risky Game With Their Bosses

There's Never Been a Worse Time to Buy a Home in a Poll of U.S. Households

Proptech Startup Rhino Lays Off 57 Employees

NASA plans to retire the International Space Station by 2031 by crashing it into the Pacific Ocean

Welp, the good news is that the US economy is going strong but the rest of the story isn't so rosy. Our hosts are hung up on taxation in the metaverse and how sales tax will impact the buying and selling of NFTs, aka things that don't exist. AJ is bummed that Glossier laid off a third of its workforce and Shane is incredulous that there's a restaurant in Los Angeles that caters to pets. It's in Silver Lake. Marc Andreesen tweeted about how awesome Calendly is but some idiots didn't get the sarcasm and piled on. Shane and AJ are team Calendly. Remember: taxation is coming to the Metaverse so grab your favorite accountant and snuggle up.

Links

U.S. Economy Grew 1.7% in 4th Quarter, Capping a Strong Year

Did PetSmart Wait Too Long To Pursue A SPAC Deal?

Glossier just laid off one-third of its corporate employees, mostly in tech – TechCrunch

Notice with immediate effect: Anyone who disregards my Calendly links will be permabanned from raising venture capital in Silicon Valley.

Some U.S. child tax credit letters showed wrong payment data, IRS says

Taxation of the Metaverse is Coming

Your Hotel Concierge Is Probably a Texting Robot. Srsly.

On this week's show, our hosts are unphased by market volatility. Of course it's concerning and scary but AJ and Shane urge you to keep your head on your shoulders. There's been some scary talk with rising interest rates and some pullback on outsized IPO valuations. Yeesh. We've also got the news that Acorns is getting into the Robinhood business of making it very easy for retail investors to trade individual stocks. In other news, Shane would like everyone to know he is not moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma even though the tax breaks are wonderful. And finally, we get to nerd out about the incredible James Webb telescope. This one is out of this world.

Links

Acorns finalizes plans to offer individual stock trades

The erosion of the IPO lock-up

Cities in Illinois and Oklahoma are latest to lure remote workers with free land, cash

IRS will soon require a selfie to access some of its online tools and applications

World's Biggest Crypto Fortune Began With a Friendly Poker Game

After Million-Mile Journey, James Webb Telescope Reaches Destination

On this week's episode of the Liquidity Event we've got like five different stories about Microsoft. The 46-year old tech company recently acquired Activision Blizzard and plans to expand further in the gaming space. Microsoft is also losing its augmented reality talent to Meta (FKA Facebook). Shane is a gamer at heart and you can see the tears of joy in his eyes as he looks at how dope the near future of gaming in the Metaverse could be. AJ is excited about two S-1 filings this week: one for digital media company The Area Group and the other for Turo, the carsharing platform that she's never actually tried out herself. Our hosts are jacked about a New York Times article on the wildly frothy start-up market, where VC firms are acting like Alphafa in The Little Rascals, desperate for a piece of the pie. Our hosts are sorry for swearing so much.

Links

Cyber prodigy figures out how to hack Teslas

Microsoft will buy Activision Blizzard for $70 billion

Take-Two will acquire Zynga

Microsoft virtual reality talent is leaving for Facebook

A WILD New York Times article about the current flood of money into start-ups

If you like mattress puns, this is the episode for you. MattressFirm, the 34-year-old retailer is finally going public. The rest of the IPO market is kinda soft though as we saw with the postponement of the Justworks IPO. In other news, Shane is excited about beyond meat nuggets at KFC but AJ won't shut up about a superior fake meat product called Nuggs. We've got Kim Kardashian in trouble for saying some misleading shit about a crypto token and in other crypto news, Coinbase wants to be sure you have what it takes before you accept a job there. Our hosts also share their favorite IRS criminal cases and their favorite tech gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Show. Don't sleep on this one.

Links

Best tech gadgets from CES

Mattress Firm is going public, remember the conspiracy?

KFC launches fake meat nuggets

But Nuggs are the best fake meat

Tech stocks tumble

Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather

Coinbase is unapologetic about their culture

After a one-episode hiatus, your boy Shane is back in the saddle. On this week's episode, our hosts are hung up on the Elizabeth Holmes verdict. She's guilty by the way. AJ is also guilty of enjoying Eric Wareheim's canned natural wine from Mendocino county. Shane drops some tax knowledge surrounding a strange recommendation that you actually do in fact need to report stolen property as income on your tax return. US Covid cases hit the terrifying milestone of one million cases in a single day, so that's fucking horrifying. In other very sad news, a financial services company that backed loans to taxi drivers in NYC to purchase medallions goes under with some criminal charges thrown in. This one is a little sloppy.

Links

IRS: Report stolen property as income, unless you return it the same year

SEC Charges Financial Company and Its President with Engaging in Fraudulent Schemes to Boost Stock Price

The NY Times report on the unjust taxi medallion system

Elizabeth Holmes trial: jury finds Theranos founder guilty on four fraud counts

2022 IPO market kicks off with 3 biotechs set to trade on Friday

U.S. Sets Global Daily Record of Over 1 Million Virus Cases

IRS: Report stolen property as income, unless you return it the same year

Shane is glamping somewhere in White Sands national park so we've got a very special guest host today - Mr. John Owens, Brooklyn FI's newly minted director of financial planning. With Shane out of the way, our hosts focus on the things that matter: an electric powerboat company, beef farmers getting shafted, and some heartwarming news about a 3D printed home. John has some commentary on the performance of IPOs in 2021 and AJ has some side-eye for electric powerboat start-up Forza X1. Our hosts are on the fence about a new policy from Door Dash that requires employees at all levels to perform the company's core function: deliver cold takeout food to hungry upper-middle-class stoners. AJ's CEO crush of the week is Amanda Baldwin of Supergoop. This is the last episode of the year so we'll see you in 2022 you filthy animals!

Links

Inside the epicenter of America's Great Resignation: Kentuckians lay out the 4 forces driving the state's labor shortage — and explain why it's here to stay

Zappos Founder Tony Hsieh's Friends, Family Feud Over His $500 Million Estate

A lavish tax scheme allows millionaires to avoid taxes, it's called QSBS

AJ's no brainer electric travel kettle

Habitat for Humanity's first 3D printed home was built in 12 hours

John's no brainer office chair

Thefts of Covid-19 Relief Funds Total at Least $100 Billion, Secret Service Says

BioNTech's mRNA Cancer Vaccine Has Started Phase 2 Clinical Trial

On this week's hot tamale of an episode, our hosts are obsessed with an Olive Garden NFT that has to be a joke. We've also got Justwork's S-1 filing which promises to be one of the more interesting IPOs of early 2022. In the bad actor space, we have JP Morgan employees skirting regulars on WhatsApp and Trump's accountant is in trouble for not disclosing a loan. AJ is excited about the 20th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring and Shane is maybe not too concerned about inflation. Join us for hot takes and double-takes. Sorry for all the swearing.

Links

FastAF Closes Series A Funding at $200 Million Valuation

JPMorgan agrees to $125 million fine for letting employees use WhatsApp to evade regulators' reach

Fed Eyes 3 Rate Increases in 2022; Slows Stimulus as Prices Rise

Millennials Are Supercharging the Housing Market

Worried About Inflation? Here's What That May Reveal About You.

Lord of the Rings cast have unique reunion for 20th anniversary

Trump Fraud Inquiry's Focus: Did He Mislead His Own Accountants?

A Box of Cash, a Secret Donor and a Big Lift for Some N.Y.C. Students

On this week's episode of the Liquidity Event our hosts are excited that Millennials are finally getting some recognition for being highly functional adults, and all it took for the boomers to notice was an uptick in the younger generation wanting to draft their wills. Shane would like you to know that hit a grand slam playing sandlot baseball and AJ has a remedy for sore muscles. Also in the news: a couple gets hefty fines for trying to exploit an IRA loophole, the payment company Stripe is poised to go public but the CEO said something to the contrary, and the SEC is exploring stricter reporting rules for SPACs. This one is spicy!

Links

The S.E.C. Wants to Cut SPACs Down to Size

A huge study of 20 years of global wealth demolishes the myth of 'trickle-down' and shows the rich are taking most of the gains for themselves

Sharing Hard-Won Money Lessons to Build Generational Wealth

Competitive Videogaming Is Having a Senior Moment in Japan

Meet the 15 power players leading $95 billion-valued Stripe, one of Silicon Valley's hottest anticipated listings

Millennials, Feeling Their Mortality During Covid-19, Start Writing Their Wills

A Couple Stored IRA Gold at Home. They Owe the IRS More Than $300,000.

Stripe co-founder says the $95 billion fintech giant is 'very happy' staying private

It's a jam-packed episode of the show this week! The good: our hosts are stoked on the Samsara IPO. The bad: The IRS has seized more than 3.5 billion dollars in crypto assets this year. The ugly: the Better.com CEO fired 900 people over Zoom. Our hosts are excited by some science fiction shit come to life: it's called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART for short. Shane discovers an interesting aspect of the tax code that hurts single people without children. AJ is excited about the intersection of equity compensation and K-pop with the news that members of BTS experienced a healthy liquidity event. Have a great week kids!

Links

Perspective | Amazon, can we have our name back?

Harris was briefly the first woman to be acting U.S. president as Biden underwent colonoscopy

WSJ News Exclusive: White House Considering Richard Cordray as Top Fed Banking Regulator

Three BTS Members Pocket $8.4 Million From Sale of Agency Shares

A leaked video shows Better CEO Vishal Garg explaining laying off hundreds of people before the holidays

Getting Paid By Venmo or PayPal? The IRS Will Know

Childless Adults Are Lone Group Taxed Into Poverty

IRS Sees Crypto Seizures Worth Billions of Dollars Next Year

The Ship's Captain Died at Sea. Six Months Later, His Body Was Still in the Freezer.

NASA Planetary Defense Mission Aims to Push Distant Asteroid Off Its Path

Patagonia Had $10 Million In Sales On Black Friday And Is Donating Every Cent To Save The Planet