Do what you can
With what you have
Where you are 🧡
Plebs holding their own keys 💪 🧡 🤝
Watch the TardFi professionals learn #Bitcoin
Enjoy the theatre and shenanigans from the sidelines
Be a source of learning for your frens
I feel ya! It’s both 🧡
I’m having such an incredible time here in Madeira.
I’ve been working out every day, eating lots of delicious meat, fish and vegetables and doing 100 pushups a day to $100K.
I have rarely travelled to Bitcoin/Nostr events but that’s about to change.
It’s so great to be surrounded by Bitcoiners. I’m actually coming back from this trip in better shape mentally and physically. I’ve lost 3 lbs of fat while I’ve been here for 8 days and I’ve been waking up at 5-6 am.
I’ve gotten so many positive messages from people I met for the first time at the conference and side events, surprisingly many even listen to my podcast 😅
I’m going to record an episode for the first time in 5 months tomorrow with nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft who really surprised me when he said he was a fan of my pod and encouraged me to record again 😀
Some exciting belly to belly things happening here with FREE Madeira, Sovereign Engineering, lots of bitcoin folks have moved here, and it’s no wonder why.
Plus what a great location it was for the Bitcoin Film Festival & the Startup Pitch Fest which I got to participate in!
I’m lucky to be in a position to have such a close proximity to people like nostr:npub1excellx58e497gan6fcsdnseujkjm7ym5yp3m4rp0ud4j8ss39js2pn72a and nostr:npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8 who I consider close friends and advisors as well as co-investors in great bitcoin companies.
Also got some great 1 on 1 time with people I look up to a lot like nostr:npub1s5yq6wadwrxde4lhfs56gn64hwzuhnfa6r9mj476r5s4hkunzgzqrs6q7z who gave me a great framework of thinking about how to be a good leader and focus on delegation and taking responsibility.
A great cliff side sunset walk with nostr:npub1j8y6tcdfw3q3f3h794s6un0gyc5742s0k5h5s2yqj0r70cpklqeqjavrvg which I’ll never forget, and a protein packed Damus BBQ with nostr:npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s and his family & friends discussing webs of trust and nostr redaction.
I got a great sauna session in with nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr and his son Marko discussing overcoming fears and limiting beliefs, health and the future.
I have missed many opportunities and offers in the past couple of years because I had a “ceiling of complexity” … but because of my new daily health & mental level-up routine, i am choosing nostr:npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sq6eyhe's PICNUF framework to focus on the positive.
I also hired a coach, Dan Martell, and I’m fired up! I was talking to Aleks Svetski and he said he could feel my shifted energy 😀
I’m going to build a team and build my citadel (figuratively for now) and be more proactive about expanding my impact to help lift up my community, my family and as many startup founders and bitcoin culture contributors that I can.
I went through a thought exercise in January- if BTC was at $1 million tomorrow, would I be able to build an actual citadel? The answer was no. So I’ve been making big changes in my life to make sure I am the person who can building a citadel one day.
Who can? Brad Mills Can 😀
I also got a chance to briefly shake hands with (but not yet spend any time with) nostr:npub15dqlghlewk84wz3pkqqvzl2w2w36f97g89ljds8x6c094nlu02vqjllm5m and nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m who have inspired me greatly over the last few years.
Saylor’s “cheerful and constructive” message has been in the back of my mind as a self correcting mechanism for how I interact with bitcoin critics and shitcoiners.
Jacks commitment to right the karmic scales and be a net positive for freedom and free speech has inspired me to invest in many educational and bitcoin tech companies in Africa and Latin America - which surprisingly, Jack followed on to 2 or 3 of them in later rounds, showing I am on to something with my investing strategy.
I shook hands with and/or hugged and spent time with or broke bread with many many awesome people, and a bunch I wish I got to spend more time with.
I have a massive list of selfies with beautiful people and notes on the exciting things they are doing.
I’m going to start going to more of these events so I can develop closer relationships with all of you who are my tribe!
Excited to also be spending time with my wife and daughter while I’m here, because my wife is Portuguese and I’d love for us to get passports!
Thought I would share my positive thoughts as I’m driving to the west side of the island to see 15 foot waves 🌊
It was a pleasure to meet and talk with you Brad - LFG 🔥
Beahahahaaaa .. thankfully not routing through Sydney so they’re not getting my sweet little frens 😍😂
Hmmmm .. and if relays were also mints and AJ’s noodling about protecting the privacy from ⚡️ to (between mints) was a reality, then zaps on nostr could effectively be ecash at both send and receive with privacy preserved?
But will big zaps scale Marty? Isn’t it important to keep the size of zaps small so they remain widely distributed? 🤣
GM #AUStriches
Half of the amount of all the Australian dollars were created in the last 8 years
Please continue:
- stacking sats
- helping frens learn #Bitcoin
- remaining acceptably humble
Have a good one!
Goodbye sweet friends 😋
Atlantis thorts ..
It is always good to connect and re-connect with bitcoiners 🧡
Steel sharpens steel: talking with and listening to others makes me realise I need to lift my game, sharpen my skills and focus again
There is much to do .. so much .. and whilst Bitcoin is the longest lever upon which to push to make meaningful change in the world, more of us are needed to push in so many different ways
Many are meaningfully contributing in quiet and impactful ways and fostering these are as important as those who are loud and public
Bitcoiners arrive from all walks of life, all places, and all professions .. meetups, bush bashes, and conferences provide a melting pot to connect with others you share skills and insights with .. these can become meaningful for Bitcoin in unexpected ways. Foster these.
So grateful to all who came, presented, shared, discussed and listened and made this last week so special 🤝 🤗 🧡
nostr:npub1tdc9um9kqfp9cqvjqtwswzsvqzdsgzkpn9swamed3286kfwpaljsrr8r0y and his team did an awesome job creating Atlantis - the first one is the hardest - they get easier from here and I look forward to seeing this conference grow and prosper
Madeira is a special place - rugged and beautiful in it's own unique way like my homeland of Australia is also .. will definitely return
Lastly, I loved the chaos of streets and hills and tunnels and roads and houses and hillsides and scenery and nature in Madeira .. like Bitcoin, it appears to be chaotic, but in reality it is thriving with life
Where’s nostr:npub1j8y6tcdfw3q3f3h794s6un0gyc5742s0k5h5s2yqj0r70cpklqeqjavrvg haven’t seen him around here?
Was he at Atlantis?
Yes
Every US state credit card delinquency rate is ABOVE 10%
.. just think about that for a moment ..
Credit cards are the most expensive forms of credit you can get and the last you would choose to use .. and over 10% of all card holders everywhere in the US aren't making their minimum payments
Data from Q3, 2023 .. so maybe things have improved huh?
Sauce 🫙
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/credit-card-delinquency-rates-us-by-state/
Yep .. air travel is basically queuing on steroids .. standing to get through ‘security’ .. to get onboard .. sitting in the plane waiting to get delivered .. queuing for luggage .. i hear ya 🤝
As Sovereign Engineering comes to a close, I'd like to take some time to reflect on the past few months. It feels like it was yesterday when I was sitting in a Panera Bread in NYC listening to a Nostrovia episode when these guys nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft and nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc mentioned a crazy idea to bring a bunch of hackers to an island in the middle of the Atlantic to work on Nostr stuff for two months. At this point I had only recently heard about Nostr, in fact, I was still debating between building on Farcaster vs Nostr 😅. By the end of that podcast I was hooked, I knew I had to find a way to get myself into the Cohort and start contributing to the future of the web. So I started working on a client, learning all about the intricacies of the protocol as I did. A constant flow of Nostr podcasts streamed into my ears, fueling the next few weeks as I put together what eventually became Flockstr. (Funny enough, Flockstr was originally supposed to be a Patreon/Substack client where users could subscribe to creators and consume long-form content). Once my MVP was done I sent DMs to a bunch of the big names on Nostr to get some feedback. Luckily, despite not having much cred to my name at the time, I got some awesome encouragement from nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn & Pablo which pushed me to keep going. Fast forward 4 months and now I find myself sitting in a cafe in Madeira, writing this retrospective as I get ready to return home tomorrow.
In that time I've:
1. Turned Flockstr into the first Nostr Calendar events client
2. Built Flare.pub the first YouTube/Video sharing app on Nostr
3. Built Find Me On Nostr a fun little game to spread the word about Nostr and share some sats
4. Contributed to the Nips repo
5. Visited Bitcoin Park in Nashville to meet a bunch of Nostriches like nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx, nostr:npub18ams6ewn5aj2n3wt2qawzglx9mr4nzksxhvrdc4gzrecw7n5tvjqctp424, nostr:npub1yaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgs3tvjmf, nostr:npub1atn7mlwt08erz4ap47gef92xfey65a4z9ed9vec53u5kc9v94pusl6h4x3, nostr:npub1j8y6tcdfw3q3f3h794s6un0gyc5742s0k5h5s2yqj0r70cpklqeqjavrvg, and others
6. Joined SEC-01 in Madeira where I got to work with some of the most capable developers in the space and discuss the future of the web (I could gloat more about my time in nostr:npub1s0veng2gvfwr62acrxhnqexq76sj6ldg3a5t935jy8e6w3shr5vsnwrmq5 but this is a kind 1 after all so let's keep it somewhat brief 😂)
7. Created Seeker, an Events app for Bitcoiners built on Nostr ready to onboard the next generation of Nostriches.
8. Presented at Bitcoin Atlantis where I was able to meet some incredible people like nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m, nostr:npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8, nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr, nostr:npub1zuuajd7u3sx8xu92yav9jwxpr839cs0kc3q6t56vd5u9q033xmhsk6c2uc, nostr:npub1jpvsahpy0vgq7gu8nfqjkeskce0gwjk8jpss590xkvjh5xxe4epsruqgsz, nostr:npub1zjx3xe49u3njkyep4hcqxgth37r2ydc6f0d7nyfn72xlpv7n97ss73pvrl, and so many more.
All of that in just a few months. I was just checking my GitHub, and my first ever Nostr commit was Oct 5th, 2023 marking tomorrow my 5-month Nostr-anniversary. It's amazing how much can happen in such a short time. Thanks to all who I've had the pleasure of meeting so far in this journey, I can't wait to see what the next 5 months have in store. 🧡
Awesome read, incredible results 🤝🧡