Wellspring / Nick Araco
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen (the term is to be wildly applied),
Welcome to those new to Serendipity. As always, the premises of these musings can be found in the provenance email. (In short, just like a useless meeting that could have been an email, this is similarly an email that could have been an unsent draft.)
There is nothing like a few weeks of obnoxious relatives, poor nutritional habits, and frivolous spending to help recharge the battery. The holidays in your mid-life feel like the exact opposite of the rest needed to prepare for a new year.
A powerful and global wave of nostalgia has been swelling over the last few years, and I predict it will continue to rise in 2025. The hit of Christmas in the Banting household was a Walkman for my ten-year-old, Lucy, complete with Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen cassettes. Despite the boxy and awkward Walkman eating batteries every 12 minutes, she now lugs this everywhere. Her orange spongey headphones and dangling cable that gets caught on everything were hurdles I thought the world overcame in 1985. But sure enough, they’re back.
To advertisers, nostalgia has always been a trusted weapon, but this phenomenon seems like the whole world collectively went to its 30th high school reunion and met an old flame. You only have to turn on one of the three hundred paid subscription channels we have now to find a remake of a film or series that is really “not that old.” This engulfing wave is now driving politics and affecting the workplace with RTO mandates. It’s even evident by the fact that global sales of Kellogg Corn Flakes are expected to rise 12.9% by 2029 and have a value of 3.27bn. I mean, who eats cereal anymore for breakfast, let alone the blandest cereal of them all?
Simultaneously, the world of AI, quantum computing, and space exploration (which doesn't include the UFO drone hunters in NJ) is accelerating at a monumental pace. But are these two phenomena connected? Are we facing the future of unknowns so fast that we are grasping onto the things we once knew and loved?
For me, the answer is clear because in the year that the quantum chip came to pass, we spent $100 on a bloody Walkman at Christmas.
Moving on.
This month’s ‘Serendipitous moment’:
Well, that didn't take long. Last month’s feature Gretchen, has already started making an impact with new projects stemming from Serendipity. I hope more will take advantage of her unique ability to come alongside founders and bring their visions to life.
Moving on, on.
In the spirit of nostalgia meeting innovation, I would like to introduce you to a titan who is a wellspring of energy from which the future based on timeless values will be built.
Nick Araco
Nick Araco is the founder and CEO of the CFO Alliance and AchieveNEXT. The CFO Alliance is a network of the brightest SMB CFOs who come together to discuss current challenges and future trends. Therefore, if 99.9% of American businesses fall in this category and Nick knows what the people who hold the purse strings are thinking, there is a good chance he can see into the future!
You only need to spend about 30 seconds with Nick to understand something extremely important about him; his energy and passion for helping people are truly second to none. As a former attorney, he is sharp, but thankfully, his many subsequent years as an entrepreneur have made him kind, wise, and he no longer bills in 15-minute increments for speaking to him. That said, 15 minutes with Nick is like pouring a Red Bull into your morning coffee. His drive is utterly contagious.
If you are looking for a conduit to understand or access the middle market financial leaders, Nick is your man. If you want sales training or performance coaching for your team, his company, AchieveNEXT, can help.
Connect with Nick here.
If you would like a direct email intro, please let me know.
Thank you so much for reading Serendipity. Each month, when I see the names on the list, it makes me smile to know that although it’s not in person over a glass of wine, we got to spend a couple of minutes together.