Playful Passage n.5

The last two weeks have been really intense. The OMR Festival was coming up and our aim was to take the latest prototype 3.4 there. At the same time, Daniel had his birthday (it was absolutely marvellous with beautiful weather, mountains, pizza and a harmonious group of friends 💚) and started his new job as a psychologist in a psychosomatic clinic. At the last minute and by joining forces, the prototype was cut out on the festival site and conjured into our reality. We are super proud of how the game now feels! Rounded, thick, varied and fantastic symbol cards in a sturdy magnetic box with minimalist, catchy texts.

Findings from the OMR festival. OMR stands for ‘online marketing rockstars’ and the line-up was indeed pretty awesome. Rick Rubin, Tim Ferris, Christian Lindner and Kim Kardashian. The first two in particular really delivered and shared the essence of their work in podcast formats on stage. You can find videos on YouTube. Below I share a transcript of the Ferris Talk, which is based on my notes and was chased through Chat-GPT 4:

1. Finding the uncrowded channel
   Tim Ferriss emphasises the importance of less crowded communication channels and the importance of finding a unique way to connect with your audience.
   The competition should be chosen carefully. It is better to create your own category than to compete in already established areas.
2. Positive energy and fun
   Projects and experiments should be fun and generate positive energy. This helps to stay motivated in the long term and to develop new ideas.
   Experimenting with different formats and parameters is key to pursuing your own interests, fears and topics.
3. Feedback and learning
   Ferriss relies on expert reviews of transcripts of his work to recognise missed opportunities and develop further.
   Groupthink should be avoided. Ferriss' team penalises him when he imitates others.
   Educating yourself and then teaching others greatly improves your own learning and teaching skills.
4. Experiments and assumption testing
   Experiments are used to test and disprove assumptions. Ferriss advises creating a list of 20 (business) assumptions and disproving them with experiments.
   As ‘Chief Assumption Tester’, Ferriss encourages testing everything: ‘Test, test, test!’
5. No long-term plans
   Ferriss rarely plans more than 6-12 months in advance as he loves experiments and ‘firsts’ and considers projects acceptable to fail.
   Early-stage investments work best over 7-12 years, but this is a long time for projects that are meant to be fun.
6. See yourself as an audience
   If you think of yourself as an ‘audience’ and do projects that you enjoy yourself, you are likely to have a profound impact on others.
   The questions ‘What could be easy?’ and ‘How can I make it more enjoyable?’ help to optimise the process.
7. Positioning and niche strategy
   Positioning in the market and a clear niche strategy are crucial. Social media is secondary and just a tool to get the right message across.
   It's not about luck, it's about making things successful on a small scale before they go viral and become public.
8. Product as marketing
   The product should be designed to market itself. Tim Ferriss' book “The 4-Hour Workweek” stayed at #1 for four years without any elaborate marketing campaigns.
   Paid acquisition strategies are often overrun. Ferriss favours organic growth.
9. Outliers and skills
   Ferriss recommends studying outliers because they use certain skills, not just attributes, to be successful.
   What do you find easier to do than other people? What could you do all day and still have energy left over?
10. Personal motivation and energy
    Ferriss concentrates on the things that give him the most energy. Personally, he finds it more fulfilling to be the only one rather than the best.
    Drunk dialling is an example of something that has brought him success by experimenting in new formats and having fun doing it.

Summary
In his talk, Tim Ferriss emphasises the importance of experimentation, positive energy and striving for uniqueness. The ability to experiment, test assumptions and see yourself as an ‘audience’ are crucial elements for success. In addition, clear positioning in an uncrowded channel is a key factor in standing out in the market.

Future Forge. Otherwise, our next fixed star is the games festival in Vienna on 16 June. If we're in a good mood and everything is flowing well, we'll have a few beta test games for sale there. So that would really be the very first opportunity to get your hands on an Insighttopia game. In any case, we are looking forward to connecting with you and having a good time.

Playful practice 😜: Corner punches are worthwhile
The tactile feel of a punched card with rounded corners makes you happy. Corners can pick and crease. Rounding an edge, sanding a surface, clearing up a misunderstanding may require an extra step, but it contributes significantly to the smoothest flow of a project and life.
Sometimes we are only a small step away from a round thing. Investing in a specialist tool, in an expert to finalise a process can free up additional energy. What is your personal corner puncher?

All the love to you and yours 💜,

Daniel

Playtipus’ Playful Passage 🌈

In this passage I tell you how we realize a playful life and career.
💤 If you missed a passage or want to re-read one, you can find them here https://blog.playtipus.de/
🌬️ If you enjoy this passage, please share it with friends! Every share and chit-chat-chity helps us tremendously and produces a whole lot of goog karma points.
✨ Did you know that our first game "Insighttopia" will be launched in the upcoming months? We are thrilled to announce a beta tester presale for our readers and earliest birds soon!

P.S. For those of you who are curious, here is a transcript of the Galloway Talk that a close friend made for me. Enjoy!

Predictions in the business and social media sector for 2024
Speaker: Scott Galloway, Professor of Business and Marketing

1. TikTok / ByteDance share

The influence of TikTok and ByteDance continues to grow and is becoming an increasingly attractive investment opportunity for 2024.
TikTok could displace both Spotify and Netflix in the coming year as TikTok's algorithm is unrivalled and knows in advance what consumers want to watch.
People are increasingly overwhelmed by the number of choices they have to make. TikTok's algorithm presents them with content that perfectly matches their interests without them having to actively search for it themselves. This is a decisive advantage over other platforms.

2. Insights are the new oil

Data alone is no longer enough. The ability to gain relevant insights and derive strategic decisions from them is becoming the decisive competitive advantage.
Companies that utilise their data effectively will be able to react better to market changes.

3. Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is seen as a kind of time machine that makes it possible to save a huge amount of time. It enables people to complete tasks more efficiently and reduce wasted time.
People who are good at using AI will replace others in the future. It will not be AI itself that replaces jobs, but those who use it competently.
OpenAI, as a division of Microsoft, will continue to play a leading role. Investments in Google, TikTok and Microsoft could pay off.

4. Loneliness as a friend of AI

Loneliness is AI's greatest friend. AI is primarily driven by the increasing isolation of people. The lonelier a person is, the more they will use AI to compensate for social needs.
Interpersonal communities and personal connections are essential to counteract loneliness. AI should not be seen as a substitute for human relationships, but as a tool to improve life.

5. GLP-1 and Ozempic: The next big trend

GLP-1 is the next big trend and is considered the ‘new GPT-4’ as it has the potential to fight the addiction epidemic and pandemic worldwide.Lukas, a friend of the speaker, has detailed information about this development as an employee of Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer and patent holder of the GLP-1 drug Ozempic.The trend towards GLP-1 inhibitors such as Ozempic will continue to grow in 2024, and a major revolution in the healthcare sector could be imminent.

6. WhatsApp as a community platform

WhatsApp is developing beyond a pure messaging platform into a community platform.
The platform is not yet fully commercialised, although it hosts most communication.
WhatsApp will be heavily pushed by Meta in the coming year, while Meta itself seems overvalued.

7. Social challenges and self-reflection

‘Nothing wonderful will happen on your screen!’ Everything beautiful and valuable in life happens in real life and requires challenges, obstacles and struggle.
It is encouraged to step out of the screen more, make mistakes, learn from them and embrace the hard life.
The biggest threat in 2024 will be loneliness. People should seek more opportunities to engage in real life.