Weekly Intake - 13.25
BLOODBATH. TIME HORIZON FOR GEN Z. WELLNESS RESILIENCE. SALONE DEL MOBILE. THE MAKING OF BRAD PITT’S F1. DE KOONING: ENDLESS PAINTING. PALAZZO CHUPI OPEN FOR EVENTS. AI INNOVATION VS EXPLOITATION.
BLOODBATH
U.S. stocks tallied their worst day since 2020 on Thursday as roughly $3.5 trillion in value evaporated, with a continuation Friday. This is so widely covered its basically all that’s in ink right now dominating headlines and dampening spirits. Bottom line, its a bloodbath.
Since 1952, we’ve seen a 10% two-day drop only four times:
October 1987, November 2008, March 2020, and now April 2025.
The silver lining in this? “Theres always a reason to sell.”
Its hard but I’m holding conviction on the long game. This becomes as a buying opportunity with asset prices in some cases over 50% discounted. However, not every crash is a buying opportunity, post 2008 recovery took years for some sectors.
Don’t watch the s&p, watch the 10 year. all this seems aimed to getting rates down. See: “Is trump crashing the market on purpose” a speculative theory not getting much mainstream coverage but a lot of attention on social media.
Rate cuts could spark a rally, but a deeper recession might delay it.
1987 rebounded in months, 2008 took 5+ years.
“Every past market decline looks like an opportunity, every future decline looks like a risk.”
Remember the essay ‘New York is dead’ (It hasn’t aged well). Hope this applies to America.
Try to have time horizon.
TIME HORIZON FOR GEN Z
The good news is, nearly a third of Gen Z has developed investing habits early and hopefully they’ll leverage that time horizon.
Those aged between 18 and 27 — began investing in capital markets at university age. This is global as well, from a recent survey by the world economic forum (13,000 people across 13 countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, China and India).
Robinhood’s Chief Brokerage Officer on compound and friends has a great conversation (appropriately titled bloodbath) around young investors maturing from meme stocks to real portfolios. Modern tech removed the barriers that used to make investing daunting. Mobile apps that charge little to no commission, new abilities for fractional purchases, the abundance of financial content available online and the overall ease of investing has drastically changed from 20 years ago.
“Time in the market, not timing the market” being the adage, means young people will be able to look back on this hopefully as a blip, as long as they can earn and save…
GEN Z UNEMPLOYMENT
The headlines read Over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless - About 6.3% of the U.S. Gen Z population. What’s driving this surge in NEETs (not in education, employment, or training)?
Not since the generation graduating in 2008 has a cohort been hit with so many factors simultaneously. Prof G markets unpacked this on Tuesday, making points on useless degrees and tech disruption, that was on Tuesday, right before J.P morgan raised their recession odds to 60%.
For a decade, computer science degrees meant Big Tech jobs: learn to code, get well paid. Fintech analyst gigs were another safe bet. Then 2023 hit with hundreds of thousands of tech layoffs.
Enter AI’s exponential rise. “Vibe coding” is coming for that CS degree, with The Pragmatic Engineer reporting a 35% drop in software developer job listings on Indeed since 2020. Salesforce, a tech giant, said in early 2025 it’s holding software engineering headcount flat, thanks to a 30% productivity boost from AI tools.
Tech’s fallout pushed Gen Z toward government jobs for stability. Handshake data shows college seniors’ applications to tech roles fell 19% from 2022 to 2023, while government job applications nearly doubled. NASA and the FBI even outranked Apple and Google for high school internship preferences (Vault 2025). But then DOGE slashed federal hiring—internships vanished, layoffs followed, and young, less-experienced workers took the hit.
This ties into the bigger debate: is a four-year degree worth it, especially for niche majors? Lifelong upskilling is the new norm.
“The current data challenges the traditional assumption that higher education automatically leads to economic security.”
Lewis Maleh, CEO of Bentley Lewis, a staffing and recruitment agency
Where ARE the jobs?
They exist. The U.S. added 228,000 jobs in March - up from 151,000 jobs added in the previous month and while unemployment ticked up to 4.2% , it is historically low.
Excellence Pays: Top coders and creatives will thrive despite AI. Casual effort lands you in the middle; being the best—whether in tech, trades, or arts—stays lucrative. Pick what you’re great at and master it, not just what you “love.”
Healthcare: In the U.S. alone, over a million net new jobs are expected to be created in the next decade among home health aids, registered nurses, and nurse practitioners (BLS 2025 forecast).
The Trades: Electricians, plumbers, and welders are in short supply after decades of trade school stigma. NPR’s “Toolbelt Generation” highlights a 15% enrollment spike in vocational programs since 2023—practical skills with immediate payoff.
Mini private equity: Entrepreneurial Gen Zers are flocking to “search funds,” buying small, profitable businesses like dry cleaners or HVAC firms from retiring Boomers. These often lack modern marketing or tech, offering huge upside for savvy optimizers.
RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING.
Scott Galloway made really good points on the podcast linked above, your network, as always will be one of the largest factors in finding a job. College is perhaps MORE valuable for building that network than for education. If my daughters were looking at schools now, I’d be pushing them to schools that provide a social experience.
Southern schools are booming for this reason (see: Sorry Harvard, everyone wants to go to school in the south), because they provide the traditional ‘Collegie’ experience, social vibe and less polarized scene.
Liberal arts—storytelling, communication—plus a strong network hold value in an AI-augmented world.
It is nuanced and complex, I don’t see this generation as completely lost, MATTE is constantly hiring this cohort and they are some of the most motivated people I’ve met.
WHATS POTENTIALLY RECESSION RESILIENT? WELLNESS
As household discretionary spending retracts overall, Gen Zers and millennials are helping insulate the wellness industry. Retail sales are flat, while fitness centers saw a 7% year over year increase according to Bank Of America.
Gen Z spends 2.8 times the amount that baby boomers do on fitness, while millennials spend around three times as much. Self-care’s a bright spot in an uncertain and stressful macro climate.
EATING OUT
While younger generations are drinking less (Gen Z’s alcohol consumption is down 20% from Millennials, per a 2024 Nielsen report), their still eating out.
Eater’s new survey exploring How Dining Out Differs Across Generations, shows a universal trend that people still eat out at least once a month, with The social aspect of dining out being incredibly important across the age spectrum. 85% of 18-35-year-olds eating out at least monthly—outpacing Boomers (68%)—with 62% citing social connection as the driver. I did find it interesting younger generations are more likely to dine solo, something I love to do.
Jean-Georges’ WSJ profile touches on his desire with Chez Margaux to bring late night dining back to NYC. Its been a huge success, every time I’ve been there its been packed with a crowd ranging 25 to 65, I love that you can get good food LATE again.
SALONE DEL MOBILE AND MILAN’S DESIGN LANDSCAPE
At 2,000 exhibitors and 148 brands, Salone Del Mobile has become the anchor of Milan’s design week as Basel is to Art Week Miami. Marketers should also pay attention to the increase in brand investments in events and overall presence over the past 2 years.
Vans Checkered future, Lachlan Turczan for Google, Drift x Audi, and Prada are just some examples of big brand presence this year.
Yatzer has a great guide covering a wide landscape outside the fair. Some other exhibits inspiring me:
“Library of Light” by Es Devlin.
Pinacoteca di Brera—Cortile d’Onore
Via Brera, 28
April 7–21
Casa Cork by Rockwell Group
An exhibit entirely built out of Cork to showcase the versatility of one of the worlds most sustainable natural materials.
Via Solferino 31
April 8–12
“Aline Asmar d’Amman: The Power of Tenderness”
Spazio Rossana Orlandi
This list could go on and on there is simply so much amazing product and interior design around this week. Galerie is a great place to poke around for more itinerary ideas, or to get inspiration from afar.
THE MAKING & MARKETING OF BRAD PITT’S F1
The Brad Pitt F1 film is reinventing sports marketing and blurring the lines between of entertainment and real life. Winning results from this could re-define how movies and sport play together in the future. Beyond motorsport, we could see films woven into the World Cup, Olympics, Tennis Opens, and a plethora of other big ticket live platforms.
The film spent years embedding into the F1 circuit. The fake APXGP team—garage, cars, and all hit real races (Silverstone 2023-2024), sporting logos from recognizable brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, MSC Cruises, and AMG Mercedes.
These integrations into a team that doesn’t exist is smart marketing as these brands have existing longstanding affiliation to the sport and will now be front and center as it goes mainstream to a much wider audience.
This all shows the film’s unprecedented access to F1’s real-world infrastructure, supported by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, and all 10 teams.
Then you have Lewis Hamilton co-producing to ensure the racing culture is represented truthfully, bringing a level of authenticity to the film with critiques like:
"He said... when he finishes a race, especially like Singapore, where it is very hot, he can barely get out of the car, they lose 10 pounds... and it is not only him, it is all of them. They are just completely exhausted [and] we are going to show what it takes to be an F1 driver.”
Jerry Bruckheimer
Hamilton personally oversaw Pitt’s driving, with the 61 year old actor training in an actual F2 car for 4-5 months, and in the film hitting over 180mph, which is impressive.
The film’s $300 million production budget will mean a healthy marketing run as well. Often ranging from 50% to 100% of the production budget, this film could see $150 spent on marketing.
GAGOSIAN TO EXHIBIT WILLEM DE KOONING: ENDLESS PAINTING
Endless Painting will showcase works from a wider timeline, 1944 through 1986. The Title is in reference to the artists ever evolving process. De Kooning reworked his pieces, painting over and revising old compositions into new works, flipping orientation while preserving shapes he wanted to keep by tracing them onto vellum.
This constant revision shows creates a dialogue in colors and forms when looking at the work over a period of decades. De Kooning once said he ‘just stops’ rather than finishing works.
“The exhibition will not be focused on one specific period or one specific chronology, it really kind of skips and jumps and creates rhymes, some in different decades.”
- Cecilia Alemani, the shows curator, also the director and chief curator of High Line Art.
This will be the first presentation at the newly renovated Chelsea gallery and the sixth solo exhibition of de Kooning’s work presented by Gagosian.
April 15–June 14, 2025
555 West 24th Street, New York
PALAZZO CHUPI NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EVENTS SPACE
Three floors of Julian Schnabel’s iconic pink, Neo-Mediterranean castle, quietly hit the market as usable event space. Palazzo Chupi as the building is named, is home to Julian, his Son Vito and has had a rotation of interesting tenants (Richard Gere, Madonna, Johnny Depp) over the years.
Schnabel’s interior aesthetic is iconic, it informed Rose Bar (RIP), which was essentially a recreation of living room’s inside the compound. New york magazines 2016 feature on the property provides more color.
Approval is required, with an ability to rent all three floors together or individually.
AI INNOVATION VS EXPLOITATION
A follow up to last weeks exploration of H&M’s ‘Digital Twin’ roll out.
“People will be divided. You know, ‘Is this good? Is this bad?’” said Jörgen Andersson, chief creative officer of the Swedish fast-fashion retailer.
People weren’t as divided as CCO Jorgen Andersson stated, they were more wholly unified this is a BAD thing.
BOF’s instagram post and feature story has Over 10,000 responses overwhelmingly opposed to the action, with a recent survey showing 74% of their audience saying AI models should be banned.
The hard truth is, this isn’t going away, its just the beginning. This is one of the largest companies in fashion deploying over 30 digital models, thats a shot across the bow. From a purely fiscal perspective this is a game changer, basically cutting production costs on content by margins over 50% if not more.
This comes simultaneously with almost every major fashion brand facing a hostile landscape of significantly higher product development costs due to last weeks tariffs.
As the US imports more than 98 percent of its clothing and about 99 percent of shoes, virtually every fashion item sold in the country will be hit with additional duties.
So you have mind boggling tariffs, consumer spending sentiment under pressure and new tech that allows for content generation at almost zero cost, Its a perfect storm to push AI use forward without hesitation.
Another AI exploitation development in the creative space involves fried chicken. First on Linkedin this post by David Blagojevic started popping up all over, its an AI ‘test’ showing really impressive output which is basically campaign level video and 3d animation.
A few days later, the director of the original campaign posted a side by side comparison of the original work. Disputing claims that the ‘test’ was created with storyboards and sketches and imply that it was actually a direct shot for shot rip off of his commercial. The comments are equally alarmed by this as the BOF drop.
The industry fear is this gets done in hours for hundreds of dollars vs the Original commercial which probably had a team of 50 and a $1mm production budget.
In another post, the original director references “120＋ shots, 29 films, 10 actors, 5 sets, all squeezed into 4 intense days” as an example of the level of production that went into the original / real campaign.
The Main rub in AI, its derivative and built off repurposing (stealing) work done by others, often without accreditation or compensation. Its really good at copying source material to output more versions of that source, or to aesthetically turn anything into a copy of a reference point, but its stealing that aesthetic from somewhere.
BOOKS
Just finished: Cryptonomicon (Niel Stephenson).
5/5 - I had been daunted by this book for years, something about it being about cryptography and math turned me off. Its about that yes, but its also about stolen gold and the Asia theatre during WWII, The invention of computers, Manilla in the 90’s as the internet emerged, submarines, business, survival, and perhaps the single best chapter I’ve ever read in any book breaking down the worship of Ares vs Athena..
Finally taking it off my ‘want to read’ shelf, I can say its hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Now Reading: Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner - Hernan Diaz)
Half way through, I picked this before last weeks events and now feel like the writer is mocking me. Its about the rise and fall of fortunes from the late 1800’s through the 1930’s. A time eerily similar to now. It reads fast, has great characters and great breakdowns of how the truly successful make killings during market events.
Most of us prefer to believe we are the active subjects of our victories but only the passive objects of our defeats. We triumph, but it is not really we who fail—we are ruined by forces beyond our control.
A simply beautiful book:
A comprehensive monograph on Frank Lloyd Wright
’Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it.’
— Robert Motherwell
On recommendation from a friend at dinner, I’ll be sharing a painting or update from my studio each week. This week, a new exploration in florals, a departure from my more purely abstract body of work.
This came from an evolution of an older piece, I’ve been painting over pieces in my studio I dont love (constant evolution). This being a surprising result thats inspiring me to make more in this direction. A very De Kooning approach.
I document my life and process here.
- Thats it for this week.
I always enjoy reading these — definitely agree that the future lies in network, community and social skills. It’s a tough world to navigate but those things can help form a robot resistance