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In todays world, the villain in our story isnt a person; its our desire for instant gratification. Explosive sales growth? We want it now. An dream angel investor? We want it now. A raise, a promotion, a spot at the top? We want it now. Can you blame us? If we can binge-watch an entire season of a new show on Netflix in a weekend and order restaurant-ready food to our door in less than thirty minutes, that can set us up for unrealistic expectations about getting other things quickly, including in the workplace. The need for speed leaves us rushing and impatientand it shows in the way we speak, too. Our conversations become transactional, our questions become shallow, and our communication prevents us from building trusted relationships with those around us. If you’re nodding your head, I invite you to consider three conversation-killers to avoid. 1. Conversation domination Two words: talk time. If the amount of time youre talking is more than the person youre communicating with, youre dominatingand it can be detrimental. If youre using the precious commodity of time to push your agenda, solution, or unsolicited viewpoint on somebody without solicitation, youre talking at them, not with them. Often, we dont even know were doing it. Plus, when we’re housing nervous energy, we can unknowingly engage in conversation domination as a way to soothe our internal discomfort. The solution? Create a personal practice to ground yourself before every high-stakes conversation so you can experience more clarity, calm and presence. For example, if youre in a season of feeling time-poor, try the physiological sigh. A technique that was discovered in the 1930s to help us rapidly regain control from feelings of stress or anxiety, simply take two deep inhales through your nose and one long exhale through your mouth with pursed lips. Almost instantly, youll experience less tension and a sense of presence. Repeat it a few times if needed. This will help you catch yourself in the act or prevent conversation domination altogether. 2. Trying to be interesting instead of interested Dale Carnegie once said something along the lines of, To be interesting, be interested. Heres how I see it: in any given conversation, your job isnt to make yourself look significant; its to make the person opposite you feel significant. But how do you do it without feeling contrived? Consider conscious questions, which as I define it, are questions that are grounded in positive intentionality. For example, you could walk past your colleague and say, Hey Mark, how are you? Or you could say, Hey Mark, you mentioned the other day that you were stressed because you had to take care of your sick son while preparing for that big keynote. Hows he doing? How was the speech? Do you see the difference? The former lacks depth. The latter is a meaningful question that exhibits intention. Do this right, and youll show others how youre interested in what theyre emotionally invested in. 3. Being attached to an outcome Whether youre in a job interview, a sales call, or a meeting with leadership, the stakes can be high. But if you enter any of these conversations attached to a specific result, youre likely to act inauthentically. Your body language, tone, rate of speech, energy, and more will unconsciously map to your need for an outcome (and often rushing to a specific timeline). That can undermine your communication. Say youve set a professional goal of landing a promotion within the next twelve months. Fast-forward eleven months, and there you are, sitting in a meeting with leadership, discussing a potential promotion. Instead of asking intentional questions, deeply listening, and being truly present, the timeline in your mind has you feeling pressured, impatient and or reactiveand others can tell. You sabotage your own success. Heres an alternate approach: Ask yourself, If I were overflowing with abundance in every area of my life, how would I behave in this moment? Once you remove your attachment to an outcome, you create an openness to receiving what is truly meant for you, even if its not in the time or path you desire. What this means for leaders If an organization wants to build a high-trust culture, increase employee engagement, and create a sense of belonging for their people, it begins with leadership learning how to have conscious conversations. The key lies in embodying the behavior you want others to exhibit. Psychologist Albert Banduras social learning theory (SLT) suggests that people learn new behaviors by observing and imitating others. Simply put: when we observe the consequences of other peoples behavior, were more likely to imitate the actions that are positively rewarded and avoid those that are punished. In turn, this leads to an acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. If leadership embodies conscious, non-transactional communication, and rewards others for following suit, this will create change at scale, and a high-trust culture will diffuse as if through osmosis. The byproduct? Long-term success thats built on the right foundation. In a remote-first world, we can solve problems, build teams, and maintain relationships from behind a screen. But thanks to those very screens, human connection and communication matter more than ever. The leaders who will stand out are those who prioritize them. Adapted from Relationship Currency by Ravi Rajani. All rights reserved.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Zillow economists just published their updated 12-month forecast, projecting that U.S. home pricesas measured by the Zillow Home Value Indexwill rise +0.9% between January 2026 and January 2027. Thats a mild downward revision from its 12-month forecast published last month (+2.1%). At its latest reading, U.S. home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, are up +0.2%. Zillows latest forecast expects prices to remain close to that pace. While Zillows national home price forecast isnt negativeit isnt exactly bullish either. Theyre calling for a soft national housing market in 2026, one where national housing affordability may improve slightly as U.S. income growth outpaces U.S. home price growth. What type of regional variation does Zillow anticipate in 2026? window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Among the 300 largest U.S. metro-area housing markets, Zillow expects the biggest home price increase between January 2026 and January 2027 to occur in these 15 metros: Rockford, IL 5.4% Atlantic City, NJ 4.8% Syracuse, NY 4.4% Knoxville, TN 4.3% Hartford, CT 4.1% Norwich, CT 4.1% Green Bay, WI 4.0% Morristown, TN 4.0% Rochester, NY 3.9% New Haven, CT 3.9% Concord, NH 3.9% Pottsville, PA 3.9% Appleton, WI 3.8% Wausau, WI 3.8% Janesville, WI 3.7% Among the 300 largest U.S. metro-area housing markets, Zillow expects the biggest home price decline between January 2026 and January 2027 to occur in these 15 metros: Houma, LA -6.5% Lake Charles, LA -5.6% New Orleans, LA -4.1% Lafayette, LA -3.0% Alexandria, LA -3.0% Austin, TX -2.9% Chico, CA -2.9% Shreveport, LA -2.8% Beaumont, TX -2.7% San Antonio, TX -2.0% Boulder, CO -2.0% Punta Gorda, FL -2.0% Denver, CO -1.9% Corpus Christi, TX -1.8% Texarkana, TX -1.8% U.S. home prices, as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index, are currently up +0.01% year over year. If Zillows latest 12-month outlook (+2.0%) comes to fruition, it would represent a small acceleration nationally. Below is what the current year-over-year rate of home price growth looks like for single-family and condo home prices. The Sun Belt, in particular Southwest Florida, is currently the epicenter of housing market weakness right now. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); With mortgage rates down slightly from their cycle high, home prices falling in some markets, and incomes continuing to tick up (at least faster than U.S. home prices), housing affordability is a bit less strained heading into spring 2026 than it was heading into spring 2025. Indeed, a new Zillow analysis shows a median-income U.S. household can now afford a $331,483 homean improvement of $30,302 since last year. In addition to improved affordability, that also reflects the continued inventory recovery, with 6% more homes on the market in January than a year earlier. The nearly 447,000 homes a median-income household could afford today represent 40.3% of listingsup from 34.8% a year ago, writes Zillow economist Kara Ng. In markets where home values have fallen, buyers dollars stretch even further in real terms with todays lower mortgage rates.
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E-Commerce
Earlier this year, I had coffee with the chief investment officer of a large public pension fund. His fund doesnt invest directly into venture (they have a fund of funds position instead), so my new CIO friend doesnt usually get pitched directly by VC funds. He doesnt spend a ton of time in tech circles either. When he does dip his toe in VC waters, he gets culture shock. I have trouble understanding VCs, he said. (Im paraphrasing.) By his estimation, people in traditional finance are easier to read. Their goal is to maximize returnsand the progress toward this goal is concrete, transparent, and measurable. Its really easy to understand what an asset managers motivations are when youre across the table from them in a professional capacity. People in politics are also easier to read. Their goal is to build power and wield influence. So when you talk to them, you can assume thats what theyre looking for in the relationship. Of course, both characterizations are limitingI know bankers who care about impact and at least one politician who cares about people (hes my cousin, so I can vouch). But as far as sweeping generalizations go, I can see where CIO is coming from. In sharp contrast to financiers and politicians, VC investors are slippery creatures. CIOs have a hard time decoding our language. Venture capitalists are asset managers, but we talk like superheroes. We speak in hyperbole and aim, unironically, to change the world. We are incessantly crushing it, even though our portfolios are laughably unprofitable. We sit on boards but dress in jeans and sneakers. We are herd animals who claim to be contrarian. Its hard for a CIO to judge how much of it is serious and how much of it is bullshit. And really, can you blame him? We sound like this because of founders I had a good laugh listening to that CIO, seeing this portrait of my industry from the eyes of one of its capital originators. But I do have a theory of where this language comes from, and why its mostly legit. It starts with founders. For most people, founding a companythe kind that scales massivelyis an irrational choice. Its extraordinarily difficult. You could be making way more money and working way fewer hours doing almost anything else. Chances are that youre going to fail, and youll have a pretty miserable time of it in the process. You have the odds of success of a lottery ticket, except that this particular lottery ticket costs 100% of your time, attention, and resources. Nobody in their right mind would do this for the money. There simply has to be a greater purpose. And for founders, there usually is: a problem they are compelled to solve. A mission they feel called to achieve. A chip on the shoulder and something to prove. Sometimes, they simply cant imagine doing anything else with their lives. Take it from an economist: These are all economically irrational reasons. You literally cannot buy a founders time with stability and a high salary. Its why founders rarely sound like mercenaries or power-hoardersbecause theyre neither. They are motivated by something much greater. And to rational people like the CIO, it all sounds lofty, bordering on ridiculous. Note, however, that this irrational exuberance makes for better, more resilient companies. It inspires angel investors and early employees, who forgo salary and stability for a dream. It keeps founding teams motivated for way longer than money alone does. Sometimes it even attracts customers and builds loyalty. Because a resonant mission takes you places that money alone cannot. In other words: In our industry, irrationality is a feature, not a bug. Venture is not a rational asset class VC investing is also predictably irrational. VC funds are not capital conservation vehiclestheyre long-term illiquid, unpredictable, and alpha-seeking. There are thousands of other, safer ways you could be deploying your capital, so when you choose VC, you do it for the dream. To quote Recast Capital founder and managing partner Courtney Russell McCrae: “Nobody invests in venture to make median returnswere all aiming for the top, plain and simple.” Thats what my CIO friend said, too. He said his company invests (a very tiny portion of its AUM) in venture because it is the only asset class that offers unlimited upside. Its the lottery ticket of finance. Asset managers sell a product to limited partners (LPs). VCs sell a dream. The same dream that founders sell to us. And that is why we all sound a little kooky. Not all VCs are equal Last year, I went viral for saying that megafunds are no longer venture capital funds. My argument is that theyre investing in consensus founders and consensus companiesnot in early-stage, high-risk, contrarian bets. Their largest deployments are into companies that are all but foretold to be winnersliterally too big, with too many giant powerful stakeholders, to fail. The bulk of their assets are being invested later and expected to generate faster and more predictable returns. In finance, they call this type of risk “beta.” Its fundamentally different from the “alpha” risk you underwrite when you invest in day-one, early-stage, non-consensus founders. These days, megafunds are making gobs of money on beta-seeking models. And it begs the question: Why do they still sound like VCs? Why do they want to hold on to the venture capital nomenclature, even when VC is a tiny proportion of their portfolio, just like CIOs? What do they lose if theyre called something else? It occurs to me that these guys fundamentally dont want to be just bankers and stewards of capitalthey want to be visionaries. Certainly, theres a coolness factor, and the influence that comes with investing in the bleeding edge. But also, I bet you can measure the difference between banker and visionary by the size of their management fees. For the record: I run a microfund, a fundamentally different vehicle and strategy than a megafund. I do not believe our funds should be analyzed togetherthey are fundamentally different assets, and warrant separate allocations, where you can compare like with like. If youre an LP, you are making bad decisions if you bucket all types of funds into a single giant VC bag. Youve been warned. Boutique VC is an irrational choice, too Speaking of irrational: Raising an early-stage microfund is an irrational choice, too. When you make all your money in carry, and very little in fees, youre betting completely on the upside, the dream. In the short term, you could be making way more money elsewhere. Thats why I see the same motivation among emerging venture capital fundsor boutique VCs, as the megafunds prefer we call ourselvesthan I do in founders. Nobody chooses to do this for rational reasons. We do it for unlimited upside. We do it for mission or lov of the craft. We do it because the future of technology and the future of humanity are all being written by early-stage startups and scientists and inventors and R&D labs, and we want to have a say in it. I personally do it because it is the purest incarnation of the American dreamthe idea that anyone can be the next founder to change the world, whether theyre consensus or not. This is what drives me. Its why I immigrated to America in the first place. I know now what I sound like when I say this. Maybe my pension fund friend is right to be confused. Maybe we do all sound like were full of shit sometimes. But the reason we sound like thisthe reason we talk about doing good and having impact and changing the world and making a differenceis because some of us founders and VCs actually mean it. And we wouldnt be doing this otherwise. This story was originally published in Leslie Feinzaigs Venture with Leslie newsletter.
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E-Commerce
Networking as a solopreneur can feel impossible. LinkedIn is full of the sort of hustle-culture aficionados who think yoga at 4 a.m. is something to brag about and who want you to buy their online course. Joining a networking referral group often costs money and can require a big time commitment without a guarantee of new leads. Asking friends and family to make referrals for you gives you flashbacks to that one summer in college when you got roped into selling Cutco knives. But solo businesses are already nontraditional, so you might as well embrace quirky networking opportunities. Some of my best freelancing leads have come from Tumblr, carpooling, and on one memorable occasion, the ladies room at a Nick Cave concert. If youre struggling with how to grow your network as a solopreneur, here are some unexpected strategies you can use. Invite yourself in When consultant Garima Verma wanted to break into the entertainment industry as a student at UCLA, she found that going to networking events and applying to every opportunity got her nowhere. So she decided she needed to get herself into the same room with the people she wanted to work for. There was an event that NBCUniversal was sponsoring, Verma says. I wasnt invited to it and I had nothing to do with it, but I volunteered to help set up and clean up the chairs. That meant she was there with the representatives at the end of the event and could get some one-on-one time with them. I was cleaning up and ended up talking toa little bit corneringa couple of reps, she says. Its how I got my first job in entertainment. Verma has carried that same energy throughout her career. In 2020, she realized she wanted to do more in the world and got really deep into the volunteer infrastructure of the Biden-Harris campaign. I just DM’d a million people on Twitter and told them to talk to me and give me an interview for a job, she says. That’s how I got my first job in politics. These days, Verma works for herself as a strategic advisor and consultant, but she continues to open her own doors. I don’t tend to get invited in the same way others might, and at a certain point I decided I’m going to invite myself in. Ditch the elevator pitch Author and speaker Jason Vitug talks about the networking anxiety that occurs in business environments. When youre expected to schmooze and impress other people, rather than simply connect, it puts too much pressure on every conversation. You might as well imagine Alec Baldwin telling you that coffee is for closers. Thats why Vitug was able to feel comfortable chatting with someone at what could have been a disastrous book signing. No one showed up, and his new contact wandered over to ask why Vitug was sitting there. The two men enjoyed a spirited conversation that landed Vitug a speaking gig. The bookstore environment allowed for a casual conversation, Vitug says. So my advice is to always be open to a conversation because theres a good chance if youre in the same place you have something in common. While Vitug certainly offered his new patron some form of his elevator pitch during their long talk, he didnt lead with it. Instead, he was open to making a real and friendly connection to someone who was curious about him. Immerse yourself in community Charlotte Baker provides full-service payroll for small businesses in Jacksonville, Florida, with her new solo business, Easy Pay. When she was getting the solo enterprise off the ground two years ago, she heard about a community of local businesswomen that she wanted to join. Women Business Owners of North Florida is an independent group, Baker says. Its not like a franchise or a paid networking group. Its a group of about 150 women whove all joined the organization to support and encourage each other. Unlike the traditional group networking model, Bakers community does not expect members to bring referrals each week. Instead, the group offers weekly get-togethers that foster personal and supportive relationshipswhich Baker has found to be invaluable both emotionally and professionally. Most of the women in the group don’t need my services, Baker says. But Ive built close friendships with these women, which has made my life a hundred times better as a business owner. And at least 60% of my revenue I can trace directly to recommendations from that group. Becoming part of a supportive community makes networking much less onerous, since your friends will recommend your business, just as you will recommend theirs. When networking looks like fun Networking as a solopreneur only feels agonizing if you assume it has to follow the corporate rulebook. Theres no reason you have to post performative dreck on LinkedIn, show up at networking events in powersuits, or stumble through memorized lines about your solo business to expand your network. Start by inviting yourself in. Whether you find a way to volunteer for an event that will put you proximity with someone youd like to talk to, or you keep knocking on doors (or sending DMs or emails) until you find someone willing to chat, remember that you can be friendly and persistentas long as youre willing to graciously take no for an answer. Then ditch your elevator pitch. Remember that youre just a person who can have casual conversations with other people. Leading with curiosity and interest rather than a business agenda is more likely to end with a new contact. Its also much less nerve-wracking than self-consciously trying to network. Finally, immerse yourself in your community. A large and supportive community will help do your networking for you, since people who care about you and believe in your business will naturally recommend you when they meet others who need your services. Doing all of that makes networking something you can enjoy rather than something you have to suffer through.
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E-Commerce
We are cooked. That’s the sentence I see with every AI-generated Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube short made with Seedance 2.0. And yes, we are. The walls of reality have finally vanished, sucked in by a black hole of Nvidia chips. So I’m going to Nancy Reagan the hell out of everyone and demand a global public service announcement like that old Just Say No to drugs campaign, which was everywhere when I was growing up. We need Mr. T back to make young and old fools listen up, because the companies printing money with their generative video tech are doing zilch to fix the planetary problem they have created. The message? Everyone should stop believing everything that moves online. Or at least question it all with a critical mind. All the time. It will be hard. Probably impossible. The instant satisfaction of buying into whatever candy social media throws at us, algorithmically tuned to support our preconceived ideas, is too much to resist. We want to believe because dopamine is so yummy. And the digital overlords of Silicon Valley and Beijing know it. Thats why they have officially trampled our already fragile grasp on the truth with the release of models capable of manufacturing clips that are indistinguishable from physical life. AI models like ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 can wolf down up to a dozen reference filesimages, audio tracks, and camera movement samplesto flawlessly synthesize an alternate reality with no uncanny valley. And it costs only pennies do so. We have effectively handed the keys to the multiverse to any basement-dwelling sociopath with a Wi-Fi connection. Tal Hagin, an information warfare analyst, told Euronews exactly where we stand: We are no longer at the stage where it’s six months away. We are already there: unable to identify what’s AI and what’s not. The same computer industry that has destroyed the space-time fabric has failed to deliver its Content Authenticity Initiative, which promised a way to certify and label truly real videos. Imagine that. So someone needs to educate people to doubt everything they see online. If you think Im exaggerating the immediate danger, just look at the circus of Nicolás Maduros capture by U.S. Special Forces in January. There was no Seedance 2.0 then (less than two months ago!), but social media was instantly paralyzed by a flood of highly realistic, completely believable AI-generated images of the ousted Venezuelan leader. Across X, TikTok, and Instagram, synthetic media of Maduro in custody or crowds of Venezuelans celebrating racked up millions of views in mere hours. Millions of peopleincluding the usual politicians and tech billionaires whose thumbs are perpetually superglued to the retweet buttonswallowed the digital slop whole. Primeras imágenes de Nicolás Maduro capturado. pic.twitter.com/d8RjDNC3zm— SheIby (@TommyShelby_30) January 3, 2026 Hagin noted that the moment an information vacuum opened regarding Maduro’s capture, individuals started uploading AI-generated images of Maduro in custody of the U.S. Special Forces in order to fill that gap. The most worrying stuff is not those big news moments, which will get fact-checked promptly. Its the little things, the daily stuff that will have greater impact on our psyches. The local news, the scams, the bullying in school, the gossip about that neighbor everyone hates, the teacher, the office enemy, the ex-partner . . . When reality breaks, replaced by a manufactured one, everyone will suffer. So I’m calling for the Mother of All PSAs right now. We cannot sit around waiting for the tech industry to self-regulate, because history proves its leaders possess the moral compass of a weather vane. We need a massive, impossible-to-ignore, flashing-red-light educational campaign pounded into the retinas of every smartphone user on Earth. We need to grab the public by the lapels and shake them until they finally understand that their own eyes and ears are now compromised enemy combatants. So lets do that. Let’s not assume that people will eventually get it because millions of lives and minds are at stake. For the next year or so, let’s launch a worldwide education campaign where every commercial break, every YouTube pre-roll, and every TikTok swipe features a brutal, relentless reminder that objective reality is officially a relic of the past. Everyone must build up and wear psychological armor like we are living in an MMORPG from hell. This needs to be the 21st-century equivalent of Stop, Drop, and Roll, except instead of being physically on fire, your perception of truth is being incinerated by a server farm in Guangdong. We have to normalize radical skepticism before its too late. But since nobody is going to do that, just remember, kids: Don’t believe everything you see. Love your mama. And don’t do drugs. Or do drugs because realityis not real. Who the hell cares anymore?
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E-Commerce