Hey, starter! Read on for…

—Danny (say hi via email, LinkedIn or IG)

👋 For Starters is read by thousands of business-builders, including new subscribers Mario, a brand consultant in California; Yasmine, co-founder of snack brand ForElle; and Andy, who’s growing the London creative agency Close Orbit. Welcome!

1. Normal... Check this out: the Australian indie non-alcoholic craft beer brand Heaps Normal has just swung open the doors to what it’s calling a ‘health club’ — a giant bar, shop, dance hall, venue, R&D brewery, warehouse sort of place in Sydney, with potentially a sauna and bathhouse in the works. It’s what their chief brand officer calls a place for 'wellness through the lens of social connection'. I’m digging it. 🍻

2. And boring... In Santa Monica, California, a group of starters have launched a company called Boring Stuff. So what do cofounders Zack Honarvar, Amanda Marcovitch, Jon Youshaei, and Varun Bhuchar actually do? They’ve got a verrrry particular specialty: they do taxes, bookkeeping, payroll, and other mindnumbingly tedious ‘BS’ for TikTokers, YouTubers, other big-time creators. Brilliant. More here. 🤓

3. Where you pay to work. Meanwhile, there’s a bookshop in Scotland where you can live out your fantasy of owning a shop in a small town by the sea… without all the pesky details like, well, taxes and payroll. The Open Book, in Wigtown, is a bookshop holiday/residency experience in which you live in the apartment above the shop for a week or two, open up in the morning, and sell titles to visitors who must wonder why the proprietor is perpetually confused. 📚

4. And speaking of fantasies, every month, this starter writes a new fantasy story, prints it, seals it in an envelope with a wax seal, and posts it to 600 people in 30 countries around the world. He charges £6.99/month and he’s aiming to grow his audience to 700 by the end of Feb. Why not take a look and sign up? 🦄

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