Iteration After a Violent Government Intervention

Were you forwarded this email? [Sign-up to Rude Awakening here.]( [Unsubscribe]( [The Rude Awakening] It’s come to our attention that you might be missing out on extra benefits exclusively for Rude Awakening subscribers. Check out our website where you can find archives, updates, and everything else included in your subscription. You can access it by [clicking here now](. Iteration After a Violent Government Intervention - Russian writers are leaving SubscribeStar and Patreon. - Thanks to sanctions, the writers can’t get paid on those platforms anymore. - Of course, they’ve figured out a solution already. Recommended Link [Breaking: Ex-Pentagon Insider’s Disturbing Message for America]( [Click here for more...]( He warned about the 2008 financial crisis a full two years in advance. He’s predicted everything from the coronavirus crash, the election of Donald Trump, Brexit, and more. And he just went live with a disturbing new warning for America. One that could have devastating consequences for anyone that’s still holding stocks, cryptocurrencies, or cash. If you have money in the markets, or you are worried about America’s financial future… You need to [heed his message]( now… because once this crisis hits it will already be too late. [Click Here To Learn More]( Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening It’s a glorious Tuesday morning here in the Philippines. I hope the sun shines on you brightly this morning. I’ve been shaking my head at the stupidity of the sanctions the West has imposed on Russia. Like a testosterone-filled teenage jock who’s just dumped his girlfriend, the West doesn’t think Russia will survive this. It’s lunacy to think Russia is going to starve. They’re going to adjust by iteration. I’ve got anecdotal evidence that’s already underway, as there are too many options these days for getting paid. Will there be immediate disruptions to Russian enterprise? Sure. Finding solutions will cost time and money. But once they’re found, Russian companies will have essentially de-risked themselves from the arbitrary Western banking system. And like I’ve said many times before, the only people who’ll get hurt by these idiotic sanctions, in the long run, are Westerners. Let me start by going back in time to a lovely metropolis way up north. Moscow, 2008 When I was a single man living in London, teaching the banking grads every summer, my hand was the first to go up when a foreign assignment came up. I loved the travel, and I got to teach in San Francisco, New York, Dublin, Paris, Abu Dhabi, and Moscow. Once I got to Asia, I expanded that list to include all the fantastic eastern hemisphere cities like Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Melbourne. I even got to Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria for a couple of trips. Pretty wicked stuff. Most of my colleagues weren’t interested in making the trips. Some disliked travel; some had families they didn’t want to leave for a week or two at a time. Me? I was always up for it. I got to teach in Moscow four times between 2007 and 2008, before the world was about to learn what “Lehman” really meant. My favorite watering hole in Moscow was at the top of the Swissotel at a bar called CityScape. It was the highest bar in Moscow at the time, and it boasted a panoramic view of the city. I loved looking out at the Seven Sisters, a group of skyscrapers built in the best Stalinist style. And my bartender was a gentleman of particular taste. Inevitably, his name was Vladimir, and he taught me the proper way to make a martini. Now, if you want the best martini in the world, you’re probably going to have to rush to the store to get the last bottles of Russian vodka. Most like Russian Standard vodka, but my favorite is Imperia Standard vodka. You’ll never look at vodka the same way after drinking this martini. Ingredients: Imperia Standard Vodka Noilly Prat vermouth Lemon peel Ice First, put ice cubes in your martini glass to chill it. Then fill your mixing glass with ice. If you’ve got a proper American bottle top (the one with the hole in it), this next step will be more straightforward. Pour a twelve-count (or three shots) of Imperia over ice. Then add one drop of Noilly Prat vermouth. To get one drop, hold your finger over the hole of the bottle top, and let the drop fall out. Do NOT rinse the martini glass out with the vermouth. You’ve got ice in right now, and anyway it makes the drink too sweet. You’ll fall over after a few, trust me. Then take your stirring spoon and gently stir the mixture. Real. Slow. Do NOT shake the martini. When Ian Fleming wrote James Bond, he wanted Bond to be imperfect. The shaken martini is a faux pas, not a sign of sophistication. Then, dump the ice out of your now chilled martini glass. Strain your stirred mixture into the martini glass. If you’ve measured correctly and have the right-sized martini glass, you should fill the glass perfectly. Finally, garnish with a lemon peel. (Olives go better with gin.) Et voila! You’ve got the cleanest, simplest, and best cocktail on earth in your hand. Funny that. An American-designed cocktail with Russian and French ingredients. Numero Uno. I ran up an $800 bar tab with my buddy on the martinis and caviar one night in that bar. Vladimir was impressed with my American-born liver. Recommended Link [1992 Book Reveals: The Next Big Tech Obsession]( [Click here for more...]( Silicon Valley insiders have spent the last 30 years passing a “secret playbook” around their inner circles. This “secret playbook” ([which I reveal right here]( has pointed the world’s biggest tech moguls to major breakthroughs that have helped disrupt entire industries... Now, for the first time ever, tech billionaires are set to reveal the “final chapter” of this mysterious book. And I’ve secured you special access to a full rundown of this little-known breakthrough. [Click Here For The Full Story]( Iteration The vodka, seafood, and diamond ban will [cost Russia a grand total of $1 billion.]( I don’t mean to be sarcastic, but most Americans think Absolut and Grey Goose taste good. My God! So those exporters will feel a bit of pain, but it’s more like Dr. Evil’s pain than world-ending pain. And that’s where iteration comes in. My good friend and mentor, Hunter Hastings, runs the Economics For Business podcast. It’s a treasure trove of excellent business advice. And it’s free! [Hunter’s recent podcast with Rory Sutherland]( the Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy UK, is unmissable. I had the honor of being on Hunter’s podcast a few years ago, when we talked about [iteration](. The key point I made was entrepreneurs learn that they’re wrong every day. Every fork can be re-taken. Every initiative can be improved. Every left turn can be re-thought as a right turn. Keep iterating. And that’s what every Russian entrepreneur with international exposure is doing right now. One particular writer I subscribe to proved to me it’s quite easy to do. Club Orlov I discovered Dmitry Orlov on Russia Insider a few years ago, and would read his stuff from time to time. I didn’t realize he had a subscription-based writing business until a month ago. But when I found Club Orlov, I immediately subscribed via SubscribeStar, a platform similar to Patreon. I never liked Patreon, especially when they started deplatforming writers I follow. But any centralized platform is a risk these days. (Is substack next?) Anyway, via Club Orlov, Dmitry sent out a message saying he was leaving both Patreon and SubscribeStar because he can’t get his USD revenue into Russian banks, thanks to the sanctions. So what did this smart writer/entrepreneur do? He left detailed instructions on how to cancel my SubscribeStar subscription and resubscribe via Boosty, a platform I never heard of before. And so I did. Boosty took my credit card just fine, and now I have access to the new [Club Orlov](. Sanctions evaded. Yes, it was *that* simple. Wrap Up If a St. Petersburg-based writer can change directions on a dime, you can bet bigger organizations will figure it out sooner or later. And with China, Iran, and India not playing Washington’s game, there’s going to be much more of this. I know it’s only one anecdote. But if he’s doing this, so are many others. So let’s hope Washington/London/Berlin wake up. The only people who these sanctions will hurt are their own people. In the meantime, get on the [Economics For Business]( podcast, try some [Club Orlov]( and buy some real [vodka]( while you still can! Until tomorrow. Regards, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening To sign up for the Wiggin Sessions, [click here.]( By clicking this link, you will receive a free subscription to Wiggin Sessions and offers from us and our affiliates that we think might interest you. 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