Damn straight.

And it’s true.  I’m going to kill this dog:

You see, last Friday night in Austin, I spent a nice evening with a special someone.  We took her dog out for a walk around the Capitol building, and just 5 steps from home, a random dog runs out of the alley across the street and starts attacking.

In one second, the night transformed from a pleasant evening out, to breaking up a dog fight.  This random pit bull started tearing into the chocolate lab we were walking…..instinctively going for the jugular.

The pit bull had a dog harness on, but no leash attached.  Whilst he was in full attack mode, I grabbed him by the harness and pulled him off the other dog.

NORMALLY this would be enough to break up a dog fight, but BOTH dogs came with the pull.  This meant the pit bull had latched on so hard, the other dog got dragged by the neck.

I tried my best to break the pit bull off. I tried to choke it, hit it, gouge it’s eyes out…and eventually wrestled it to the ground in a choke-hold with it’s locked-down jaws just inches from my face (in hindsight, that wasn’t smart).

After roughly 45 seconds of watching this pit bull randomly started attacking our dog, we got it to briefly let go and got our dog out of his grip…..but the next thing I know MY hand is fully in his mouth!

I recall him chomping down for about 5 full seconds before somehow getting him off.

Lots of cursing was involved.  Apparently that didn’t help much.

The dogs owner appeared from the same alley, awakened by the quarrel, and got the dog on a leash.

By this time my right hand had a bunch of holes in it, including one where I could see bone through the top of my hand.

I grabbed the camera in my pocket with my left hand, and made damn-sure I got video evidence of what just happened.

Here’s that fucker and his dog:

So immediately an ambulance is called, and within 5 minutes I’m being taken to the hospital.

I could tell the paramedic on duty almost thought my little “doggy bite” was comical compared to what he’s probably seen already on a Friday night.  But my hand felt like it was on fire….and more importantly, I just got bit by a dog that sleeps in an alley and has a homeless owner.

This means potential RABIES (100% fatal once you get it).

At the hospital they cleaned my wounds by shooting saline directly into the wounds and letting it bleed out.  Someone told me, “There’s a realllyyyy small chance this dog has rabies, but there’s a 100% chance it has bacteria on it’s teeth.”

For this reason I couldn’t get stitches on any of the puncture wounds (only one of the punctures actually needed it).  Instead they have to sit open, because animal bites apparently have a HUGE chance of getting infected.

The pressurized saline cleaning hurt like hell, so they drugged me up, and gave me topical anesthetic which was injected directly into my hand around the wounds.

I also got another shot in my arm.  I have no idea what the hell that shot was.

Here’s the main bite hole that I could see my bone through:

The police came and filed a report, the hospital drugged me up with pain meds, anti-biotics and sent me home.  The girlfriend lovingly took care of me and her dog for the next few days since I couldn’t do basic things like tie my shoelaces or put on my watch (not to mention the pain meds made me a useless lazy ass).

Come Sunday I went for a checkup and to get a rabies injection.

LEMME TELL YOU WHY YOU’LL NEVER WANT A FUCKING RABIES INJECTION:

Apparently all you gotta do is “…get a few shots.”

It goes like this:

• 1^st Injection =  1 injection + 1 vial of anti-globulins directly into the wounds.
• 2^nd Injection = 1 injection in arm 3 days after bite.
• 3^rd Injection = 1 injection in arm 7 days after bite.
• 4^th Injection = 1 injection in arm 14 days after bite.

No problem with the followup shots (other than the fact I was gonna be in India for them).  They are regular shots and easy to take.

The main problem was on the 1^st injection day, when the nurse told me, “We just have to give you this…” and she held up a vial of medicine.
Whatever.  No biggie.

But then this lady comes back with FIVE FULL NEEDLES OF MEDICINE.  Apparently “one little vial” fills up five needles.

Then to top it off, this anti-globulin medicine has to be DIRECTLY INJECTED INTO THE WOUNDS.

This means if the bites go into your skin, the medicine has to be injected alllllll around the INSIDE of the wound.

This. Was. Fucking. PAINFUL AS SHIT.

Sorry for all the cursing, but it was nothing compared to what I was yelling as the doctor stuck my (already incredibly sensitive) hand about 10 times with a needle.

It felt like I was being tortured.

Compared to what injured war veterans go through, or people with true illnesses….this must have been nothing.  But until this point in my life, I can’t recall anything that hurt so god damn bad.

The pain meds wore off the second that needle hit my hand.

SO HERE’S SOMETHING INTERERESTING AND KINDA FU**CKED UP:

1^st hospital visit including ambulance ride = $661. 

Ok…cool….not bad.

2^nd hospital visit for 1^st rabies injection = $7,500 !!!

Now I’m fully health-insurance’d up.  But $7,500 to get some shots??

I asked the lady for a breakdown of costs, and apparently the vial of anti-globulin stuff (they injected directly into the wounds) cost $7,000!!!

Plus I still had to get 3 follow-up shots that cost $315 per shot.

Already this damn dog had cost me $9,000+ …..the dog he attacked had to be treated and put on rabies quarantine (another $1,000+).

And this includes NON of the cost of inconvenience…..including me not finishing a product I could’ve promoted through AppSumo to 700,000+ people before I left for India.

I HATE THAT DOG.

Then it took about 3 days of jumping through hoops, calling doctors, and calling the state health department to find similar medications I could take in India.

GET THIS:

Each followup rabies injection in the U.S.A. cost $315 to get.

In India….the same (but generic brand) vaccine cost me $7, and $3 to have a nurse inject me.

Granted the quality of medical facilities and procedures is different….it’s still shocking to know this 2-week rabies injection series could have been given in India for about $100 vs. $9,000+ over here.

If I didn’t have full coverage, it would’ve made more financial sense to buy a ticket to India, stay here for two weeks and get the injections!

Alright, enough complaining.

But if you’ve been wondering why I haven’t updated or responded to an email in a while, it’s because:

1.) Of this stupid dog + rabies injection stuff. (if you DO get rabies, it’s a 100% fatal disease….so I was taking this pretty seriously).

2.) I’m in India for the whole month.  WiFi is still hard to come by here.

Have a great day, and don’t getting bitten by a homeless guy’s un-tagged, un-vaccinated, aggressive pit bull.

-Neville

P.S. Stupid dog.

P.P.S.  I’m in India where the bathroom situation is a “bit different” than what I’m used to.  Let’s just say I’m right handed, but can only use my left.  I’ll leave it at that and let your imagination do the rest.  Gross.

For the 2nd part of my 30th bday, I went to Cuba (actually Noah planned this whole trip too…..that was damn nice of him eh!)

Cuba was appealing because it’s this weird “time capsule” of a place.  The United States has an embargo against Cuba, so Cuba has very little importing options….not to mention it’s a communist country (well….I guess technically it’s “socialist”).  This means the government can strictly control the imports, exports, the currency….and thus, the people.

For example, for the locals of Cuba:

• …they are not allowed to leave Cuba.
• …they are not allowed to use the internet.
• …they are not supposed to get close with any tourists.
• …they are not allowed to openly talk bad about the government.
• …all sorts of other stuff.

There’s also not a lot of industry going on in Cuba….this means most of the local population is quite poor, many of them making something like $13 to $18 U.S. dollars A MONTH.  That’s right, A MONTH.

A doctor in Cuba, even a surgeon, gets paid only $40 A FREAKIN’ MONTH.

Almost hard to believe.

The way they survive on this small sum of money is because Cuba has two currencies (both of which outside of Cuba are worth nothing).

FIRST CURRENCY is called the Cuban Convertible Peso, and is roughly 1-to-1 with American dollars.  Tourists use this currency, and prices everywhere are pretty decent with this currency.  We could eat a nice lunch, complete with beers, for 6 people, for about $30 to $45.  Not bad.  Unless you’re eating at the really nice tourist-y places, you probably won’t spend a crazy amount on food.

SECOND CURRENCY is the Cuban Peso, and is for locals only.  Tourists aren’t supposed to use it, and the locals aren’t “supposed to” accept it from tourists (notice the “supposed to” in quotes).  This currency is 250 per 1 American dollar.  My friend heard that you could buy things RIDIIIICCCULOUSLY cheap in local areas if you somehow get a hold of this currency.

He found a place that would let him get some, and he decided to change just $20 U.S. Dollars. The lady at the front asked him, “Ummm….are you SURE?”  He agreed, and got a HUGE STACK OF $5,000 IN LOCAL BILLS.  It was like a giant strip-club stack of $20 bills!
Whenever we went to local places that accepted this currency, this is what we spent:

• 4 bowls of ice cream at a sit-down ice cream parlor (4 scoops per bowl) = $0.20 USD total
• Bottle of rum + mixers = $2.90 USD
• Personal pizza =  $0.15 USD

After paying with local currency at every place possible (sometimes convincing is needed), my friend still had $10 USD in local currency left over!

However almost everyone we spoke with about Cuba told us the local currency was useless for tourists.  It worked well for us because 3 of us were brown, and my friend using the currency spoke very fluent Spanish.

However this local currency only worked in certain places, definitely not everywhere.  I still ended up spending about $2,000 in six days (about 20% was skimmed off each money exchange, and much of it was to pay for the big penthouse condo we rented).

BRIBING. 
One of the greatest parts about living in a society that’s “slightly less than 1st world” is bribing (well…presuming you’re rich in that country….otherwise it sucks for you)!

Anytime there’s a long line at the airport, it “can be solved” with some monetary lubrication.
Anytime you need a table at a restaurant with a huge wait…..no problem.

BEST JOBS IN CUBA:
In a perfect society, I’d think doctors, teachers, and businessmen should make the most money…..HOWEVER, in Cuba, we found out one of the best jobs to ever have is a bartender in a touristy spot!

The bartenders sling drinks all day, and get tipped in Cuba Convertible Pesos (about 1-to-1 with American dollars).  This means they can rake in $150+ a day.  And when you consider the average Cuban peasant makes something like $13 to $18 a MONTH, that’s a helluvalot of money.

The next best job is a taxi driver.  The government “owns” the taxis, but the drivers get to keep much of their tips.  Someone shuttling around tourists all day can make decent tips, and support an entire family pretty well on that job.

It was interesting yet kinda sad how a bartender or taxi driver make literally 100x what a doctor makes.

SAFETY:
The country actually felt VERY safe.  I have a reasonably good “Spidey Sense” of what situations will get me into “fake” trouble (ex: security guard telling you to stop doing something), and what will get me into “real” trouble (ex: going to jail in a communist country).

….and I gotta say, Cuba was pretty safe.  Since their criminal justice system is so harsh on crime, there is very little of it.  I heard pickpocketing and petty crimes are reasonably common, but serious crimes are not.

Actually in Mexico and China I’ve felt MUCH stronger security presences than Cuba.  I really expected to see armed guards everywhere around Cuba, but alas hardly saw a single one.  Even the police officers seemed chill and nice, and about 80% didn’t even carry guns.

Pretty much everywhere we went, the vibe of the country was “super chill”.  It was very safe.

GETTING INTO THE COUNTRY FOR U.S. CITIZENS:
Pretty much any other country in the world can openly travel to Cuba with no issue.  However Americans can’t legally go “just like that” because of the embargo we have against Cuba since 1962.  But there are many options to go:

GETTING A VISA:
American Citizens can go to Cuba legally if they have family members there, going for diplomatic reasons, going for foreign aid reasons……and the most common is “cultural” reasons.  This is for students and tourists.  There are many tour companies that will charge you money and get you a “legal” visa to Cuba…..but I’m almost certain some of these are scams, read the next way of entering the country:

GOING QUASI-ILLEGALLY:
U.S. citizens can “try” this little stunt if so chosen:
Get a flight to some country such as Mexico, Belize, Guatemala …wherever.  Then fly to Havana, Cuba from there.  Your passport will get stamped on the way out of the country, however, Cuba stamps only the Cuban visas (which any person can buy at the airport for $25 each).  This visa is just a piece of paper that’s NOT affixed to your passport.

This means for Americans, they stamp the paper on the way into the country, and the way out of the country.  So your passport is untouched.

For example, one could “just hypothetically” do this:

• Go to Cancun, Mexico.
• Buy a flight to Cuba.
• At the airport, find a place to get Cuban visas.  They’re $25 each.
• Fly to Cuba, have a good time.
• Fly back to Cancun.
• Fly back to the U.S.

From what I understand through research and talking to many people who’ve done something similar, the U.S. no longer takes the Cuban embargo ultra-seriously.

THE TIME-CAPSULE EFFECT:
One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Cuba right now, is the “time-capsule” effect the American embargo has on the country.  Essentially they have a bunch of old cars from the 50′s rolling around, no internet and very limited cell phone use.

I can go to a rural farm in India, and the farmer will be text messaging his kids.  However in Cuba I hardly saw ANY locals with a phone.  The only phones I saw being used were carried by hustlers, tourists, or students.

It was also almost wholly “brand-less” when driving around.  No billboards, no overt advertisements except inside the actual establishments.

LANGUAGE BARRIER:
You’ll definitely need to know some Spanish if you visit.  However you can make it around the tourist-y areas ok without it. All 6 of us on the trip spoke and understood at least A LITTLE Spanish.  Two people with us spoke damn-near fluent, so that helped a ton for using local currency, getting information, and exploring areas where tourists don’t go.

CULTURE & MIS-INFORMATION:
Initially I thought we’d see propaganda everywhere, kind of like I’ve seen in China….but to my surprise it was shockingly little.  Instead the people are left relatively ignorant of the outside world through not being able to leave the country, no internet, and mainly: Very little access to outside information.

Their bookstores only sold American literature if it was something like an old classic novel (Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway etc).  There were a lot of books about Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.  But completely absent were any new releases.

Almost no Cubans have ever left the country.  Almost no information about the outside world is easily seen.

THE CONTINGENCY PLAN:
After researching Cuba, it turns out things were pretty safe.  So here’s how I rationalized it:

• 98% chance things would all work out completely fine and we’d all get home safe.
• 1% chance of us getting stopped for questioning….perhaps get a small fine.
• 1% chance that I somehow end up in a Cuban jail with no way out.

In the REALLY OFF CHANCE that I (or someone in the group) were to end up in some really deep-shit trouble whilst in Cuba, I made a small document called “The Contingency Plan.”  

I sent the document to two close friends who I trust, and also know my family & friends well enough to get things in motion.

The document contained certain contact information, and also instructions on where to find a small envelope which contained some bank account information. This bank account had immediately access to $200k in cash…..so if by some REMOTE CHANCE I didn’t arrive back home from Cuba…..the contingency plan would kick into gear and be well funded.

After going on the trip and seeing how safe the country actually was, I probably wouldn’t deem a Contingency Plan necessary for the next trip……but it was nice to know I had backups coming for us in case something happened.

SCREW ALL THIS WRITING, HERE’S SOME PICTURES! 

Here’s some video highlights of the trip (me and my brother bought a $60 guitar in Cuba and made VERY good use of it)!

http://youtu.be/-eRVn5Kib5s

Got this email sent to Noah and I recently from Rohan V:

To the Brothers,

Thank you, sincerely. Let me explain. I’m currently trying to deliver free education to 20 million people in Sri Lanka and I’ve learnt a ton from both of you, as well as acquired a metric shit ton of awesome knowledge via the ongoing @appsumo deals which will hopefully directly translate into both meaningful and lasting change for an entire nation within my lifetime.

I just wanted to reach out and scribble these sentiments down because sometimes it really is the simplest things that matter the most.

To the hustle compadres!

-
Rohan Vimalachandran

P.S – Had the attached done, hope you get a kick out of it!

He then attached this drawing he had made of us….HA!

It’s a flight where you get on an airplane (a full-sized 727) and do parabola maneuvers that make you weightless for 30 seconds at a time.

It was kind of like skydiving, I always knew I wanted to do it.

Basically the plane does maneuvers like this:

Now the VERY FIRST THING everyone wants to know is “HOW MUCH DID IT COST??”

Well, here’s the after-tax price on my credit card statement:

$5,197.00 total cost. 

So yes…..this wasn’t a cheap little adventure (you can take a whole family on a vacation for that much money)…..but it was a “once in a lifetime” unique thing.  Plus when I go to space, I’ll have some experience :-)

So I’ll describe the whole day with words & pictures:

At 8:30am me and two friends (Steve and John) went to a Marriott where the ZeroG people were holding an orientation.  They have Dramamine and some other anti-nausea medications freely available (after all, this thing is nicknamed “The Vomit Comet”)!

After watching some videos and a light breakfast, they tell you to use the bathroom since there’s no bathroom on the plane (since regular airplane bathrooms tend to “spill over” when you do weird parabola maneuvers in them).  Gross.

One of the things I blatantly ignored was them discouraging you from bringing a camera.  They said in the air it was “very clumsy” to fiddle with a camera.  I still brought one anyway and put it in my flight suit (which you get to keep)!

They were gonna have a professional photographer onboard, plus a couple of high def video cameras to record all the floating.

Apparently this Marriott had Zero Gravity already!  ;-)

Soon after the orientation, they bused us to the airport:

Everyone on the bus was pretty excited and ready to go floating!

We got down and saw the plane.  It was a full size plane, much like something you’d fly from Austin to New York in:

I naturally had to get my world-wide famous handstand picture pose.  This one was timed pretty well!

Here’s a picture of John, TAKING a picture of him throwing a phone in the air:

Everyone boarding the plane from the cargo entrance (the whole thing is actually a converted cargo airplane):

A group photo of everyone going floating that day. I stuck my tongue out like this  :-P

Me, Steve, and John walking Armageddon style towards the plane:

There were about 40 regular airplane seats in the back, and you can see the main floating area with padding the whole way around:

When we completed the takeoff and got to cruising altitude, they let us hang out in the main floating area.  Sitting like this was MUCH more comfortable than regular old airplane seats!

Since the plane must first do a high-gravity turn before low-gravity, they HIGHLY SUGGEST you lay down and stare at one spot on the ceiling for this part.   We would pull 1.8 G’s on this maneuver, so my 170 lbs body felt 306 lbs.

It just felt like a lot of pressure on your body, but not extremely uncomfortable (although anymore G’s and it would be uncomfortable):

Me jokingly falling asleep:

This is me in Martian gravity.  Our first parabola was “Mars gravity” which is 1/3 your weight on Earth.  The next two parabolas are “Lunar weight” where you weight 1/6th your weight.

This part was really fun!  You could jump & flip…..but when you hit the ground it didn’t hurt. You also would still come back down, whereas in Zero G you never fall back down without a push:

This was my first FULLY WEIGHTLESS picture.  It was fun just rising up off the ground with literally a tap of your finger:

John got these two great pics of him floating an iPhone.  He was actually trying to play Hangtime….a game he developed which got banned from the Apple App store.  You throw your phone high as possible and try to see how long it can “hang” in the air.  This is a CLEAR loophole :-)

These pics are particularly great since John is CEO of Mutual Mobile (a 250+ person company here in Austin):

John playing Hangtime as Steve flies around:

Everyone just flying around the cabin:

Another Superman pic:

Just hanging out in Zero G:

Eating a water bubble.  It seems so nice and spherical in the air….so it looks like a solid.  But don’t be fooled!  If you miss with your mouth, it WILL splash all over your face!

SO before I went onboard the Zero G flight, I thought THIS is what it would be like floating in Zero G for the first time:

However I quickly found out it was more like this the first couple of times we went weightless (30 seconds at a time):

After the 6th zero-g parabola I think it was much better…..but at FIRST you definitely have a difficult time controlling yourself.  Simply pushing off the floor with LAUNCH you upwards towards the ceiling.

Plus you’re often bumping into other people who change your trajectory.

I remember one time I just curled up into a ball and floated around the whole 30 seconds.  I would get bumped, pushed, nudged….around the whole area by other people or the walls.  It was fun to feel like a ping-pong ball!

After the  flight was done, we found out why the plane wasn’t flying in a straight line…..THESE goofballs were driving ;-)

I got one last pic in the plane….of course a full-gravity handstand:

The second thing after the “how much did it cost” questions….is “did you throw up in the vomit comet??”  The answer is: YES!

“THE NICEST VOMIT EVER”
I’m not sure I’ve ever been motion-sick before……but I know if I ever DID get motion sickness, the LAST thing I’d do is start doing flips, handstands, or achieving terminal velocity.  However that’s EXACTLY what I was doing the whole time.

For the last 3 parabolas I could feel a small part of my stomach go further and further up my throat each time.  By the last parabola, I could tell something was gonna give.  I grabbed the little air-sickness pouch they give you (everyone keeps one in their flight suit pocket), and wee bit of vomit came out.

HOWEVER it was the “nicest” vomit I’ve ever had!

Normally if someone vomits, it’s either because you’re violently ill, or very very drunk.  Both are not good feelings.  However, this was rather….dare I say…..pleasant?

I balled up the pouch when done, put it inside another…..and felt ok after that.

I kind of ignored feeling a little sick on the last few parabolas because I didn’t wanna waste my weightless time.  Only 30 seconds each, 16 times total (8 minutes of weightlessness).

If I ever do this again (or go to space), I’m going to take the anti-nausea medication they give.

By the end of the flight, I’d say at LEAST 50 percent of the people felt A LITTLE worn out or nauseous.  Not necessarily throw-up nauseous, but if you think about what your body just endured for the first time, it makes sense:

You were weightless for the first time in your life with NO visible reason why.  You endure 1.8 G’s for 30 seconds at a time, then go weightless and do flips & tricks for 30 seconds…..then you repeat that SIXTEEN TIMES!

By the end, it’s not TOO surprising your body is probably saying, “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!??!?!”

If you’re either going to spend your hard-earned $5,200 on a car down-payment or $5,200 on this…..perhaps the car payment might be better.

However I wouldn’t recommend saving up for years for this.  ONLY if it’s easily affordable AND you really wanna do it….would I recommend.

SOME OF MY VIDEO:

A little side note:
I checked to see which astronauts were currently in space at the time of my Zero G flight (August 18th, 2012).  There were SIX humans in space….all aboard the International Space Station.  I checked their names:

Not a single Indian person…..nevertheless a Zoroastrian……so that means on August 18th, 2012…..from 12pm to 2pm ….

I WAS THE ONLY WEIGHTLESS INDIAN PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE!!

I did a Skype interview for a magazine called Make App Mag which is releasing on the iPad soon…..and they made these images for some of the magazine pages based off the interview:

This was when my blue hair faded out into blonde, and I got a haircut, so I had frosted-douche-bag-tips:

I told the example of 520or90.com and how they validated their idea, and they made this graphic:

Here’s another they made….this time with my Facebook profile picture:

I’m an info-graphic now….I’ve finally made it! :-P

I was born into a culture/religion called Zoroastrianism.

It’s roughly the same as all the other religions…and it’s main tenants are:
Good thoughts, Good words, Good deeds.

It’s a rather simple and elegant motto.

If I ever form a huge company one day, that’s what the motto will be.

But what makes Zoroastrianism really unique is the small number of us.

There’s a bazillion estimates…but from what I gather there’s about 100,000 in the world.

About 75,000 of those are Parsi Zoroastrian (A Zoroastrian from India or Pakistan). My parents are from India, so I am “Parsi”.

About 25,000 of the total population are Zoroastrians from Iran. They speak a different language, practice the religion differently, look different, and most importantly…..eat different foods (GASP!).

Needless to say those two groups don’t get along as well because of all these cultural barriers.

MARRIAGE:
The most common question I get is, “SO do you HHAAVVEE to marry a Parsi girl?”

Since I have smart parents, they’ve never forced this decision on me.
However for myself it’s a strong preference. Not set in stone….yet a strong preference.

I sometimes joke there’s literally less than 20 girls in the world this might be possible with. And I’m kind of not kidding. Let’s do the rough math:

• Total Zoroastrians = 100,000
• -25,000 Iranians = 75,000
• -half the population are women = 37,500
• -80% of the population out of my age range = 7,500
• -90% of the population I will not meet in any significant degree = 750
• -50% of the population that will just be unable to form a relationship = 375
• -80% of the population who won’t like me “like that” = 75
• -80% of the population who I won’t like “like that” = 15

Now I’m not sure EXACTLY how accurate these numbers are…..but the point is I literally can whittle this number down to something almost countable on my fingers.
This seems like a depressing fact to some people, but I think it’s actually pretty damn cool!

You see, there’s a Yin and Yang to EVERYTHING.

“Regular white people” might have two billion+ options….whereas I (presuming I’m only looking for a Parsi female) have few.

The “Regular White Guy” will have his unique set of problems, and I will have my own unique set.
STRONG BOND.
One of the things I really enjoy about coming from such a small group is the extremely strong bond you form with someone….even after meeting them once.

You just KNOW that in some capacity this person will remain in your life.

I have friends I consider to be extremely close….that I’ve met 3 times in my life.  It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s very true.

If you meet a random person on the road, it’s statistically unlikely that interaction will lead to anything much more.

Meeting a random Parsi person on the road has a MUCH higher chance of leading to something deeper.

KNOWING WHERE YOU COME FROM:
I’ve started to see a lot of friends around me try to figure out “where they fit in with the world”.  For a lot of people it’s a tough question.

I’m fortunate to come from such a small community that I kind of know where I fit in.

I was born/raised in Houston.
I am a Parsi Zoroastrian.

Simply knowing my “home” makes a HUGE difference.

ZOROASTRIAN CONGRESS:
Now since our numbers are so small, and since we’re all spread out…..there are these things called “Zoroastrian Congresses” where (Zoroastrian) people from around the world come and meetup.

It’s kind of like any conference:

• There’s some sort of hotel-like venue to hold meetings and speeches.
• There’s living accommodations nearby.
• People fly in for a few days, learn stuff, hangout, and meet new people.

Marketing & Business conference are fun, and I come out with lots of new knowledge and connections.

However when I leave these Zoroastrian conferences, I come out emotionally sad & happy at the same time.

I’m happy because I met all these new people, and got to see old friends again.

I’m sad because I have to leave.

Not to mention sheer exhaustion from hanging out with friends till late-night….then waking up early in the morning several days on end.

It’s a unique feeling I get when leaving these……I call it “Congress Withdrawls”.   

One time as I was leaving a congress…..we got this picture at the end of a congress at the airport terminal with a friend.  It sums it all up for me:

I’ve now made over 10 products on AppSumo:

SumoBusinessBlueprint
SumoBusinessBlueprint LIVE: CASE STUDY EDITION
Kopywriting Kourse
Kopywriting Kourse Kase Studies
Autoresponder Kourse
Social Krash Kourse
Sumo Diet Kourse
Course About Building A Course
Behind The Scenes of a Muse

Those are the courses 100% made by me.

I’ve also helped sell (or create) a bunch of AppSumo email template products and even a last-minute-but-well-selling course about hiring with Noah Kagan. And I even did 3 products before all the AppSumo stuff that were sold to someone else.

I’ve also done a bunch of these Sumo Dojo things too.

Now I can easily keep making products, and intend to continue….but there’s a major problem:

I ONLY KNOW SO MUCH SHIT.

It’s one thing to teach about things I know….and am good at, and have a proven track record at doing successfully (like kopywriting), but it’s NOT cool to hastily research a subject then teach about it.

It’s not fun for me.
And it’s a disservice to anyone buying that information.

I think most people would agree they’d rather be taught by someone EXPERIENCED in something.

Now on another note…..I’ve had the opportunity to occasionally “take over” the production of some of our products at AppSumo that were botched in some way or other (poor planning is usually the main reason).

And when I take over, it usually becomes a better product. I say that in a NON-humble way….and am OPENLY bragging.

My obsessions with being on schedule and conveying information in the LEAST painless way (usually by making it FUN) kick in when being in charge of the product.

The interesting thing is, I actually LIKE doing this! I thought the term for this was “directing” …but my video guy told me my role is a “producer”.

Whatever.

I guess I enjoy “producing” ….as much as I enjoy being in front of a camera, being behind it seems almost MORE important (think Steven Spielberg).

I enjoy when someone takes a course of mine and says, “Holy crap….after watching your course in two hours I now…” ….and then they gush about the benefits and actions they got out of it.

I LOVE the feeling of changing a persons life in a small way (plus I even get PAID for it).

So I might move more into producing some of these products, rather than starring in them.

Producing has a few drawbacks and some advantages.

DRAWBACKS OF PRODUCING PRODUCTS:

• I have to find talented and knowledgable people to use as the star of the product.
• I have to share percentages of the product with those people.
• If the product is a flop, I get more blame (before…I was the only one disappointed.  Now other people have chips on the table too).

ADVANTAGES OF PRODUCING PRODUCTS:

• I can crank out products MUCH faster (it normally takes me a full month to do my products….and usually by the end I’m killing myself working too much).
• I can produce products in areas where I’m NOT an expert…..but I know people who are.
• I can bring in people to produce awesome products that help the world….and me, and AppSumo.
• The star of the product makes monthly income for the lifetime of that product and has to do little or no support work to keep it live.
• I can comfortably make 2 products a month…maybe even 4 if I’m feeling ballsy.

So as with anything in it’s infancy, I’m not absolutely CERTAIN this will work out well, but it seems to have a shot.

With this course of action in mind, I’ve started going on the hunt for internet-famous people to star in these products. And since I live in Austin, and since I have cool friends who know other cool people……I think my first product might be made with Ryan Deiss as the star of the product.

Ryan’s got a $30,000,000/year company selling digital products (actually….the VERY FIRST QUESTION I asked him when he said he was interested was, “Why the fuck would you wanna make a product with AppSumo and not yourself??)

….his answer was, “To be exposed to a new market.”

I figured in this economy, and with a lot of people hating the sh*t out of their jobs….a lot of people would want to know how Ryan would start from scratch.

Even I’m kinda curious how he’d do it.

….anywhoozle, I’m still wondering what the topic of this new product should be.

Would you mind selecting which topics you’d be MOST curious to have a guy who built a $30,000,000/year digital products company teach you about?

Thank you!

The SumoDietKourse was made not really out of demand for the product (in fact, it’s a huge departure from what AppSumo normally sells)…rather this was made because of the amazing feedback I got from my Six Pack Experiment.

I never intended for that to help that many people, but it really changed some lives (and belly-sizes)  :-)

While I lost a little weight and did my own little Six-Pack experiment….I’m nowhere qualified to talk extensively at help….so I brought in the big guns:

Adam at MyBodyTutor who I filmed all the videos with.  I flew to NYC for a few days to film with him, and I’m actually very proud of what came out!

If you read the Six Pack Experiment you’ll see I mentioned Adam over and over and over and over….so it was cool to actually film this whole thing with him!

One of the other things is…..this was launched today (Dec. 15th) while I’m currently in HAWAII!

Aleks noticed in my Cancun pictures I didn’t have a handstand picture like normal.  Well here’s one fresh off the camera from Hawaii!

That was taken on the battleship where WWII was officially ended.

Anywho…..checkout the sales video thingy and copy I did for the AppSumo landing page:

I was already pretty beached-out from the San Juan trip I took a few days before, but still had a blast!

Lots of relaxing by the pool/beach and massive hot tub:

Attempting to take underwater photos:

Getting 120 people to cut the line at the Coco Bongo:

The Coco Bongo club…..it was a giant tourist destination, and probably the most stunning visual effects system I’ve ever seen:

One of the wedding event areas…..PERFECT warm breeze the entire trip:

The groom riding a (clearly Indian) horse:

Very picturesque wedding overlooking the beach:

Wedding gazebo:

Me sitting on the dance floor.  I don’t know why:

This Q4 2011 travel schedule is starting to get hectic….in one day I’m packing up again and heading to Manhattan to film some videos with Adam of MyBodyTutor for an upcoming product thingy on AppSumo called SumoDietKourse.  Then immediately after that I’m flying off to Hawaii for two weeks (aaawwwww….poor Neville)!!!

The SumoDietKourse we’re doing will combine what Adam already does with the AppSumo crowd.  So the goal is to get fat nerds to lose some weight (and become more productive like I discovered in the six pack experiment).

1.) Signup for guitar lessons (again):

I already play the guitar as you can see:

• http://www.nevblog.com/playing-with-big-amps/
• http://www.nevblog.com/pretending-i-know-how-to-play-the-bass

…..but I wanna get BETTER!  I’ve also become exceedingly spoiled with living downtown and not having to drive much…..so there’s no way in hell I’m going to drive to-and-fro to get lessons.  This means I’ll have a tutor come to my apartment once a week.

The last time I went to guitar lessons I improved dramatically….so hopefully I can do the same, and pickup new styles of guitar too.

2.) The “Write-A-Book-In-Two-Weeks” Experiment.

For some reason I’ve always just wanted to publish a book for no reason other than “I think it’d be cool to say I wrote a book.”

I have no intention to make money off this book, nor do I care if it sells even one copy…..IN FACT this project is likely to just be a big damn waste of time.  The only reason I can think of to spend the time doing this is :

“Cause it sounds cool” :-)

I’ll kick off the project mid-August.  The goal will to “write a full book in 2 weeks” and get a printed copy of it.

I didn’t write it on this goal sheet…..but I also want to start automating HouseOfRave.com a little more.