Curiosity Class

Jeff Albaum
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Education
  • Updated Daily

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. 1d ago

    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

  2. Oct 2

    He Gets Paid to Go to Games: Inside Sports Social Media w/ Mason Platt (Ep #69)

    Here's the part that messes with me: one touchdown video, with a sponsor's logo sitting quietly in the corner of the frame, got turned into a sixty five thousand dollar line item. For one post. Mason Platt has run social media for the San Antonio Spurs, New York Mets, Oakland A's, and Dallas Cowboys (twenty million followers across their platforms), and now leads it for Cal's athletics department.  What you'll take away:  The actual math a sports team uses to tell a sponsor like Pepsi a single touchdown post is worth sixty five thousand dollars, and why the logo in the corner matters more than the play itself Why the exact same clip has to get rebuilt five different ways for X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn, down to the order you post it in The Best Buy parking lot moment that made a broke college kid buy a camera he couldn't afford, and how it accidentally built his entire career  🔗 Links mentioned: Mason’s LinkedIn 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website Interested in sponsoring? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@curiosityclass.co

  3. Sep 25

    Why Chasing Money Made Her Worse At It w/ Gabi Rosen (Ep #68)

    She was closing $25 million deals at Spotify by her mid-twenties. And she'll tell you she was at her worst every time she focused on the money. Gabi Rosen went from the youngest client partner at Spotify to building her own thing, then closed 34 clients in 18 months and joined the founders of the company she now helps run. What you'll take away: The 5 questions she asked friends to test a business idea before building anything (including the one that reveals if they'll actually pay)The anchor move that made a $200-a-month price feel like a giftWhy she thinks about a story about a rock and a locked door every single day 🔗 Links mentioned: Website: heyeocworks.comGabi's email: gabi@eocworks.com 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠curiosityclasspod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

  4. Sep 18

    Why More Views Isn't the Win w/ Josh Stabinsky (Ep #67)

    Every time someone presses play, they hand you an hour of their life they can never get back. Josh Stabinsky thinks about that math for a living, and it changed how he builds. Josh Stabinsky is a data scientist at Spotify who works on podcast and creator growth, and the host of the Unit Economics podcast, which he has grown to 60 episodes in a year without missing a single week. What you'll take away: Why asking someone to press play is a bigger favor than it soundsThe two-episodes-a-week experiment that burned him out, and what he does nowWhy an introvert who felt sick posting on LinkedIn does it anywayThe one question he asks every guest that keeps his lineup full 🔗 Links mentioned: Website: uepod.comInstagram: ue.podLinkedIn: Josh StabinskySubstack: uepod.substack.com 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

  6. Sep 4

    Why Billion-Dollar Companies Will Have 2 Employees w/ David Currant (Ep #65)

    David thinks that within ten years there will be billion-dollar companies run by one or two people. Not a team of 500. Two. David Currant has founded four companies, been through Y Combinator (same batch as DoorDash), sold two, buried one, and is now building MX Pilot, an AI "marketing brain" for small businesses.  What you'll take away:  Why David tells his own kids to skip the normal job entirely, and what he teaches them instead The 15 percent number at Y Combinator that quietly turns a startup into a unicorn in two years How to test a business idea for 1,000 dollars instead of 20 million, even for a product nobody knows they want yet  🔗Links mentioned:  MX Pilot: https://mxpilot.ai Mustard (David's prior company): https://www.mustard.love Reach David: David@mxpilot.ai (reach out for free marketing spend for qualifying CPG / e-commerce brands, or if you’re a tech founder looking for guidance)David’s LinkedIn 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠⁠curiosityclasspod@gmail.com⁠

  7. Aug 28

    Where Does All Your Money Actually Go? (Ep #64)

    I give myself an unlimited budget for books. I also track basically every dollar my wife and I spend. Those two things sound like a contradiction, but they're actually the whole point. This is how we decide what to spend on without an ounce of guilt, and what to cut without feeling deprived. Turns out "budgeting" done right feels less like punishment and more like permission. I'm no financial advisor, just someone who loves this stuff enough to do a whole solo episode on it. This is exactly what works for us. What you'll take away: The "spend ruthlessly, cut ruthlessly" rule that flips budgeting from restriction into permissionWhy you literally cannot fix your spending until you can see all of it in one placeThe forgotten subscription hiding in your statements right now (mine was $20 a month) Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 00:30 The paycheck-to-paycheck stat that includes high earners 02:00 Monarch: putting every account in one dashboard 04:30 Spend ruthlessly on what you value (and my book budget) 06:30 Housing, childcare, and the expenses you can't change 07:30 The counterintuitive grocery move 08:00 Using AI to audit your spending 09:00 What's your biggest line item? (drop a comment) 🔗 Links mentioned: Monarch MoneyI Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠curiosityclasspod@gmail.com⁠

  8. Aug 21

    What's the Cursive of the AI Age? (Ep #63)

    I learned cursive in third grade and used it exactly once - to sign my name. So what's the cursive of the AI age? Which skills should you actually keep learning when the machine can do so much? No guest this week - just me thinking out loud. I'm not a futurist or an AI expert; I'm a curious guy who reads a lot, builds things, and likes chewing on which skills are actually worth your time. What you'll take away: A simple gut-check for which skills survive AI - and which ones quietly became optionalThe one skill I think is wildly underrated right now (and it's not technical)Why understanding how something works matters MORE now that AI can do it for you Chapters: 00:00 What's the cursive of the AI age? 00:40 Algebra, calculators, spreadsheets - fundamentals first 01:00 Skill 1: Understanding the levers (the rental calculator) 03:00 Skill 2: People skills (the one nobody's talking about) 04:40 Bonus: I took a coding class and didn't learn to code 05:10 What would you learn? (tell me) 📬 Follow Curiosity Class: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in sponsoring? ⁠curiosityclasspod@gmail.com⁠

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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.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeff Albaum
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jeff Albaum
  • Show Website
    Curiosity Class