WORK LESS WEDNESDAY

WLW #158

June 04, 2025

👋 Hey Reader!

This is issue #158 of Work Less Wednesday, where I share with you 5 things you should know about, in 5 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,075 other minutes this week.

🦈 1. New Podcast – Why High Prices CREATE More Value (Art World Proof)

What does a dead shark in a glass tank have to teach you about pricing, branding, and human behavior?

A lot, actually.

In this episode, I break down seven unexpected business lessons from the strange, status-obsessed world of high-end contemporary art:

Brand = Price. Why unknown artists starve while branded ones sell red splotches for millions. And how to use the same principle to raise your rates.
High Price Creates Value. The shark wasn’t valuable so it was expensive. It became valuable because it was expensive. Yes, it’s weird. And yes, you can use this.
Value by Association. How hanging your work next to someone prestigious (literally or metaphorically) triples its perceived worth. Most people never think to do this.
The Agent Gap. If someone else sold your work, they’d charge more. So why aren’t you? Here’s how to become your own hype man – and get paid accordingly.
Network is a Cheat Code. Contemporary art runs on relationships. So does business. Your next opportunity probably isn’t on your to-do list, it’s in your texts.
Scarcity is a Power Tool. One-of-one art pieces command outrageous prices. Your time is just as limited. Are you pricing accordingly?
People Who Pay, Pay Attention. When collectors gave their art away, it got shelved. When they sold it, it got hung on the wall. Same with your clients. Charging more = more buy-in.

This episode isn’t really about art.

It’s about leverage.

And how to build a business that feels more like a masterpiece – and less like mass production.

Watch the full episode here on YouTube.

🧘2. Rick Rubin On AI – “Vibe Coding Is The Punk Rock Of Software”

This week, Rick Rubin surprise dropped a book called “The Way Of Code.”

The Way of Code reimagines the 3,000-year-old Tao Te Ching for the age of artificial intelligence, software, and “vibe coding.”

What began as a viral tweet quickly evolved into a creative manifesto – part book, part tool, part spiritual operating system for the future.

This podcast breaks down the story behind it, how how Rick is thinking about AI.

It’s definitely worth watching but be warned, the VC dudes hosting the podcast are giving some weird vibes.

Here are 3 insights I took from Rick about AI:

“The computer is another tool in the artist’s arsenal. The reason we go to the artists, filmmakers, or writers we go to is for their point of view. AI doesn’t have a point of view.”

“I want to understand what’s possible with AI. Instead of just getting it to do the same thing that everyone else is getting it to do.”

“So many people I know who use AI ask it questions and think that the results that they get back is the answer. It seems like people are more interested in getting an answer that can allow them to stop thinking about the question than really finding out what the real answer is.”

Watch the full podcast here.

🎣3. Business Parable I Love – The Fisherman & The Banker

I thought this was one of those entrepreneur stories that everyone knows.

But I shared it with one of my clients this week – I was shocked they had never heard it.

So I’m sharing for all of you who may have never heard it:

🎣 The Fisherman & 💼 The Banker

An American banker was vacationing in a small Mexican village when he saw a fisherman dock with a few large yellowfin tuna.

“Great catch,” said the banker. “How long did it take?”

“Only a little while,” the fisherman replied.

“Why not stay out longer and catch more?”

“I have enough to support my family.”

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?” the banker asked.

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life.”

The banker scoffed. “I’m a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually have a fleet. Instead of selling to a middleman, you could sell directly to a processor and eventually open your own cannery. You could control the product, processing, and distribution.”

He continued, “Of course, you’d need to leave this small coastal village and move to Mexico City, then LA, then maybe New York City, where you’d run your growing enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “But how long will this all take?”

“Fifteen to twenty years,” the banker replied.

“But then what?”

The banker smiled. “Then you’d sell the company, make millions, and retire. You could move to a small coastal village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and play guitar with your friends…”

💡4. Once In A Lifetime Experience I Did This Week – Blue Ghost Firefly Tour

This week, my wife and I drove an hour from our house at dusk to the Pisgah National Forest to see an event few people ever get to witness in their life: Blue Ghost Fireflies.

“The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to a very unique creature that some say resembles a collection of fairies carrying blue candles through the forest.”

The Blue Ghost Firefly (Phausis reticulata) is a secretive, hard-to-find native insect that only comes out for a few weeks every year, and in only a small handful of forests in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

We ventured onto a darkened path outside of the Cradle Of Forestry site after sundown.

As it got super dark, they began to emerge.

Photos weren’t allowed, but the image above is a good representation.

If you want to check it out, we booked through Blue Ghost Tours, who only offer a very limited number of slots each year, so your next chance is 2026.

🖐 5. More Random Things I’m Into This Week…

🎧 What I’m Listening To – FKJ & Yussef Dayes – Live From The Greenhouse

👾 Game I’m Going To Pickup For My Steamdeck – Elden Ring Nightreign

🤖 Twitter Thread – 10 Takeaways From 340 Page “AI Trends” Report

🎲 Cool Dice I Bought – Liquid Core Dice Set

💬 Quote I’m Pondering…