My three favorite books of 2024, explained.

Last Monday I shared my reading list of 2024, aka all the books that I have read last year, on LinkedIn. I also highlighted the three books that had the most impact on me, now I want to take the time to explain a little bit more why they had such an impact.

📚 Broken Money - Lyn Alden

Probably everyone knows by now that I am a strong blockchain (and certain crypto) believer. I will admit that I entered the world of crypto through an Ethereum lens (aka the 2nd biggest blockchain after Bitcoin) and never really went deep into the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Until I read this book. But, this book is not just about Bitcoin. It is a, very understandable, explanation of the following:

• What is money? Seems like a basic question, but can you answer it?

• How did we end up with our current, global, financial system and how does it work?

• Why our current financial system is broken and why it is an endless downwards spiral.

• What is Bitcoin, how does it work, why it is (practically) perfect and why it could be a solution to our failing financial system.

Why it made an impact? It was fascinating to read how money came to be and what it really means. It also made me an even bigger believer in blockchain and particularly Bitcoin. Learning about both makes me laugh hard when people tell me “but Bitcoin is based on nothing”, because of many reasons 😉.

Please know, this is not a crypto or Bitcoin book. It is about money, our financial system, how printing money works etc. It gives you a clear understanding why having your savings on a bankaccount won’t cut it for you long term.

If you don’t want to read the whole book, at least watch this 30 min video by Lyn Alden where they explain the core ideas of the book in an easy to understand way:

📚 The End of the World is Just the Beginning - Peter Zeihan

A very intense title, I know. I found this book after I listened to a podcast episode of him and Sam Harris (I listen to every episode Sam drops). Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist, speaker, and author.

He discusses everything that is happening in the world at the most “zoomed out” level. The relationships between countries, the effects of change on trade, deglobalization (when countries become less connected, choosing to focus more on their own products and services instead of trading and sharing with other nations) and demographic collapse, the differing fates of China and America, climate change, the war in Ukraine, and other topics.

Why it had a lasting impact on me is because it made me understand, on a certain level, moves that are being made by governments such as the United States, the EU or others. It also taught me that everything is so deeply connected to each other, it is almost impossible to fully grasp.

My key takeaways. From a global perspective:

• The European Union is in trouble and is in a very difficult situation due to lack of self sufficiency and the demographic collapse.

• Growth markets are in APAC and LATAM, fairly young demographics in some of the biggest countries, high adoption of new tech and innovation.

• Indonesia, for example, is one of those major markets that is in a good position globally, compared to many Western giants.

• The United States, with all its troubles is still in a position to thrive, if deglobalization becomes real, because of geographic reasons mostly.

📚 Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself - Dr. Joe Dispenza

Your thoughts are powerful, you might have heard that a million times before. But why? Dr. Joe Dispenza is a legend in many ways and this book again shows why. It explains, in a scientific matter, the way your thoughts can actually influence your life.

I know, this sounds very vague and holistic. Although I already believed in the power of the mind, I am someone who appreciates scientific explanations. Why do prayers work? Why do group chants in sports work? Well…. in come quantum physics.

Dr. Joe Dispenza suggests that, much like particles in quantum physics exist in multiple states until observed, our lives contain multiple potential realities. By focusing our thoughts and emotions on a desired outcome, we can influence which potential becomes our reality.

In very short: Positive thoughts create positive outcomes but this goes both ways, also negative thoughts create negative outcomes. Having such a clear explanation, as presented in the book, made me more aware of my thoughts. Additionally the book gives a practical meditation guide in order to benefit from understanding all of it. I have been meditating daily for about 4+ years now and the power is real, can’t recommend it enough. I will now try to incorporate Dr. Dispenza’s practices as well.

Highly recommend reading it if you want to change your life for the better in 2025!

(If you care to know about quantum physics, I think the below is a good basic explanation. But be prepared, it will break your brain 🤯)

AI needs your creative mastermind to make magic happen - Nike & Travis Scott show how

I heard a quote somewhere that said: don’t try to be better than the machines at machine work, try to be a better human at human work.

A part of that means, be a better human in general. A great 2025 intention 😉.

But what we mean here, with a focus on (creative) work, is more focused on getting to amazing ideas, working with other people and using technology to do things that weren’t possible before, better than other people.

I am a big Travis Scott fan, not just for his music but for the complete brand that he has built. Everything he does is different and feels completely unique to who he is. To me, he is the perfect example of how to build a personal brand in music. It is fantastic, creatively always at a top notch level and always breaking the rules of what can be done.

The latest is a promotional video for his latest sneaker collab with Nike. It not only has a great cameo by Dennis Rodman but is also aesthetically amazing, once again. After the video was released, one of the artist that worked on it named Jak Bannon announced that he used Gen AI in the process and in which ways.

I highly recommend checking out the video. What you see here is how 5000 (!) generated images helped them craft this awesome video. In the video above he shows the original Midjourney images next to the scenes that eventually ended up in the final product.

You can imagine this created quiet the uproar on the web so he later added a great statement:

This is exactly what it is. He basically says that he would not have come up with this style, these scenes and aesthetics without Midjourney as this gave him the possibility to bring so many vibes to life in such a short timeframe (something not possible before).

But it is the combination with an awesome team of people that it eventually turned out the way it did. Gen AI is a tool, it gives creatives superpowers. Don’t fight it. Work with it and see how it can expand your thinking, your creativity.

I posted this on my LinkedIn before, but Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) stated it perfectly:

Go unlock your superpowers in 2025!

Here is the full Travis Scott x Nike video, gotta love it.

Here are some of the latest announcements and other things that I found interesting this week (underscore means clickable!):

• Anyma, an incredible artist, hosted multiple shows in The Sphere on/around NYE. He is known for his incredible visuals which came even more to life in The Sphere of course. Highly recommend watching some of the videos, awesome stuff!!

• Will AI-Agents step over Web3 and unlock a Web4? You probably know by now that I strongly believe AI Agents are the future and that it is all happening right now. If you want to have an overview why, how and what. Read this great article by Bankless: Why AI Agents Matter. If you want to talk about it, hit me up!

• Saw this image on the web, who remembers these days? 🤣 Let it be a reminder that innovation is just awesome haha

  

• Last but not least, don’t start the year with new excuses. Get to work. If you want to change your life, you have to change something. And don’t go for short term success, real change happens over time and takes a lot of consistency. LFG!

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^{Who am I and why you should be here:}

^{Over the years, I’ve navigated industries like advertising, music, sports, and gaming, always chasing what’s next and figuring out how to make it work for brands, businesses, and myself. From strategizing for global companies to experimenting with the latest tech, I’ve been on a constant journey of learning and sharing.}

^{This newsletter is where I’ll bring all of that together—my raw thoughts, ideas, and emotions about AI, blockchain, gaming, Gen Z & Alpha, and life in general. No perfection, just me being as real as it gets.}

^{Every week (or whenever inspiration hits), I’ll share what’s on my mind: whether it’s deep dives into tech, rants about the state of the world, or random experiments that I got myself into. The goal? To keep it valuable, human, and worth your time.}