Curiosity Class

Jeff Albaum

I'm Jeff, and Curiosity Class is pretty much what it sounds like - me getting way too into some topic and then trying to explain it so it actually clicks. One week it's money or real estate. The next it's mindfulness, or AI, or some book I won't shut up about. Sometimes it's just me thinking out loud for 20 minutes. Other times I drag on someone who actually knows what they're talking about and have them walk me through it. Simple, not easy. New episode every Friday.

  1. 3d ago

    Buying Newsletters Instead of Starting From Zero w/ Pranam Lipinski (Ep #73)

    A newsletter with 500 readers could be interesting to an advertiser - if they're the right 500 readers. That was one of several moments in this conversation that made me stop and ask more questions. Pranam Lipinski, co-founder of Email Outreach Company, joined me to explain how newsletters become businesses you can buy, grow, and sell. We talk about finding sponsors, increasing revenue from an existing audience, and why buying a newsletter about something you know nothing about might be a problem. Naturally, my example involved fish tanks. We also get into the work behind cold email, a practical starting point for a first business, and Pranam's nightly habit of checking whether he actually lived his values that day. What you'll take away: How a small, focused newsletter can be relevant to sponsors - and why subscriber count tells only part of the story.Two ways to grow newsletter revenue: reach more readers or improve what you offer the readers already there.Why booking a sales call and closing a customer are separate jobs, and what that means when you hire help with outreach.How to start with something one person will pay for, plus a simple question for reflecting on your day. 🔗 Links mentioned: Pranam’s personal websiteEmail Outreach CompanyLetterTrader.comAcquire.comBizBuySell.com 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ Have a guest suggestion or want to say 👋? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@curiosityclass.co⁠

  2. Oct 23

    I Read $100M Leads by Alex Hormozi (Here's What Actually Works) (Ep #72)

    Three hundred flyers. Zero calls. Easy to conclude that flyers don't work. Then you learn that someone else's starting test is 5,000. That story from Alex Hormozi's $100M Leads stuck with me because I recognize the expectation behind it. I start a project with a number in my head: I'll do this many repetitions, and then something should happen. But where did that number come from? This week, I'm going solo for a short book report. I don't have a marketing background, and I appreciated how Alex made the ideas approachable. I'm sharing the four ways he breaks down getting leads, the lesson that challenged my expectations, and a reading tip that helped me read more consistently. My favorite takeaway? Giving yourself enough attempts to learn can take some of the pressure off getting everything right the first time. What you'll take away: The “core four”: warm outreach, cold outreach, posting free content, and running paid ads.Why the gap between 300 flyers and a 5,000-flyer test changed how I think about effort and expectations.My takeaway from the rule of 100: allow more repetitions before deciding what you've learned.How listening to the audiobook while reading helped me stick with a chapter a day. 🔗 Links mentioned: $100M Offers$100M Leads$100M Money Models 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ Have a guest suggestion? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@curiosityclass.co⁠

  3. Oct 16

    130 Rentals Later, He’d Do It Differently w/ Joe Meares (Ep #71)

    Joe Meares has 130 rental units. If he were starting over, he’d slow down. That got my attention. Joe is a New York City real estate investor and former Wall Street analyst who bought his first rental in Indiana for $50,000 in 2018. We get into that first deal, the team that made long-distance investing possible, and how buying more properties can turn into a whole new job. I also asked him about the part that tends to get skipped: what his finances actually looked like when he left banking. We talk about savings, uneven rental income, and why a growing portfolio doesn’t automatically mean you’re ready to replace a paycheck. Joe was generous with the numbers, the lessons, and what he’d change. If you’re curious about real estate, this is a useful look at the work behind the property count. What you’ll take away: Why Joe would prioritize cash flow per rental over the number of units he owns.The four local team members (aka "Core Four") he relies on to invest from another state.Why he separates long-term property wealth from the income needed to cover life today.Where he tells beginners to start: their own finances, upcoming expenses, and goals. 🔗 Links mentioned: Joe’s LinkedIn 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ Have a guest suggestion? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@curiosityclass.co

  4. Oct 9

    How Grief Became a 600-Store Cookie Empire w/ Brittney Cook (Ep #70)

    She got a grocery retailer to say yes before she had retail packaging ready. Then she and her family figured it out. Brittney Cook is the co-founder and CEO of Something Sweet, a frozen cookie dough company that had grown to more than 600 stores when we recorded this conversation. It started with her mom’s brown butter chocolate chip recipe, hand-scooped dough, and deliveries out of coolers in their cars. But the reason they started is what stayed with me. Brittney, her mom, and her sisters launched Something Sweet on the first anniversary of her dad’s passing, using his favorite cookie to honor him and build something together. What you’ll take away: How persistent outreach landed their first meeting with Nugget Markets, and why hundreds of in-store demos mattered after the yesHow a food product actually gets onto grocery shelves, including the different jobs of buyers and distributorsWhy Brittney saw an opportunity in the frozen dessert aisle when I saw a crowded cookie marketWhat building a company with your family looks like when protecting the relationship matters as much as growing the business 🔗 Links mentioned: Brittney’s LinkedIn⁠Something Sweet Website⁠⁠Something Sweet Instagram⁠⁠Something Sweet TikTok⁠ 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@curiosityclass.co

  5. Sep 11

    Why AI Makes Math More Important, Not Less w/ Chris Roberts (Ep #66)

    Chris Roberts spent 30 years writing software. He says the class that actually trained him for it was not computer science. It was 10th grade geometry, and he did not figure out why until decades later. Chris holds degrees in both math and music education, taught math from the classroom to the college level, spent three decades in software development, and wrote "Math Education in the Age of AI." He now builds free math-fluency tools for students through his nonprofit. What you'll take away: The 10th grade class Chris says trained him for every software project of his career (it was not coding)What "math fluency" actually is, and the exact wall it saved his 120 remedial algebra students from hittingThe 1970s California classroom that let a 2nd grader take 5th grade math, and why almost no school does it nowWhy he wants a multiplication bee to be bigger than a spelling bee, and how one teacher can run one aloneWhat stays valuable when AI can compute any answer instantly 🔗 Links mentioned: Chris’ book: Math Education in the Age of AI Chris’ website: https://classicmathgames.com/Multiplication Game: https://whattimeswhat.com/Chris’ LinkedIn: Chris Roberts 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠⁠⁠curiosityclasspod@gmail.com⁠⁠

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

I'm Jeff, and Curiosity Class is pretty much what it sounds like - me getting way too into some topic and then trying to explain it so it actually clicks. One week it's money or real estate. The next it's mindfulness, or AI, or some book I won't shut up about. Sometimes it's just me thinking out loud for 20 minutes. Other times I drag on someone who actually knows what they're talking about and have them walk me through it. Simple, not easy. New episode every Friday.