Welcome! I have been kicking around the idea of starting a newsletter for several months, and in our annual Christmas letter I teased the idea — mostly as a way to hold myself accountable to actually doing it.
Well, I picked a hell of a time to start.
Before jumping in to life updates (which I mostly drafted last week, prior to the events of this weekend), I need to start with something much more important. I can assure you this newsletter will be as unpolitical as possible. Avoiding politics is a key reason that both Heather and I have mostly quit social media, and I’m sure you’re inundated with it elsewhere. But sometimes “politics” is an insufficient word and silence feels like complicity. Over the last couple weeks in my home state of Minnesota, I’ve watched two people be murdered by masked federal agents, and then watched the federal government tell very obvious lies and insist they shouldn’t be held accountable.
All of that is happening in the context of those same masked federal agents terrorizing the entire Minneapolis community (words of many of my Minneapolis friends and family, not me) as well as communities across the United States. I hold beliefs that range across the political spectrum,3 but most importantly I care deeply about America and the values it purports to stand for. Over the past year, and especially over the past few weeks, our federal government has fallen far short of those values in so many ways.
I’m angry and sad. Angry that it’s happening, and angry at the people who have supported this evil we’ve seen. And sad for the victims — Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the latter of whom graduated from the University of Minnesota just two years before I did, and in a different world could have been me. I hope I would have been as brave as he was to step in front of a woman who was being assaulted. And I’m sad for the countless others that have been assaulted, terrorized, disappeared, orphaned, denied due process, etc.
I’m also sad for our country, and for our kids. I desperately want them to grow up in a free, safe, prosperous, diverse country. We seem to be going in the wrong direction on each of those fronts. I pray that changes. But I’m proud of the way Minnesotans have stood up for their neighbors and defended their constitutional rights. They are a model for the rest of us.
If you want to talk, and especially if you disagree with anything I just wrote, feel free to reach out. We can only solve this through civility and truth, and I want to help in any way I can.
Now, on to the life updates…
Life Update #1: We got some bad news
Unfortunately this newsletter is kicking off with even more downer news. No other way to say it. For context, here’s a quick recap of the past 10 or so months:
Last February, my wife Heather had a positive pregnancy test. At her first ultrasound we had the experience that every parent has nightmares about. They didn’t find a living baby. Even worse, they found a large mass, and they weren’t sure what it was. Within hours, Heather was undergoing extensive tests, and two days later we were in an oncologist’s office discussing our options. Less than a week after the ultrasound, Heather was in multiple surgeries to remove the mass in her uterus.
Thankfully, surgeons were able to remove the mass without the complications they were worried about. What followed was weekly and then monthly testing to ensure her numbers stayed normal, since there was a risk it may come back as cancer. Thankfully, she’s had no elevated numbers to date.
This fall, Heather underwent voluntary fertility testing to get an indication of whether the surgeries in March had caused damage. One test showed some worrying imaging, and so on January 6th, Heather had an outpatient procedure to inspect her uterus.
The good news: no cancer. The bad news: her uterus was badly damaged and had significant scar tissue and poor blood supply to about half of it. The prognosis for having another baby is unknown, but likely not good. And it will be high-risk under best case scenarios. So…we wait even more. She’ll redo this same procedure in March to see if things have improved. And in the meantime she’s on a bunch of medications and supplements to promote healing. If you’re the praying type, we would love any prayers you’re willing to share.
Life Update #2: I got laid off!
Because sometimes truth is crazier than fiction… While I was sitting in bed with Heather as she was recovering in the hours after her procedure, I got a meeting request from my boss for the next morning at 9am.
It was titled “Quick Connect”
…and had no description
…and was scheduled for 15 minutes
…in a large conference room
…booked by our department comms leader.
I turned to Heather and said “I think I’m getting fired tomorrow.” And…I was not wrong! Technically “my position was one of several that was eliminated as part of a restructuring”, but same difference.
It’s a weird, surreal experience to be laid off unexpectedly, especially when I’ve been at Cox Enterprises for 9.5 years. I’ve had about 15 jobs in my life, but most of them were either manual labor (if you haven’t picked rock or crossed soybeans, have you really lived?) or retail. Cox was only my second “real” corporate job after I was with PwC for 2.5 years out of college. It’s more or less the only thing I’ve ever known as an adult.
But surprisingly (even to me, if I’m honest), I was pretty okay with getting laid off. And I promise this is not just an elaborate coping mechanism on my part. Let me explain.
I have been thinking for at least 18 months about making a change. It started with almost buying two different businesses in late 2024 / early 2025 1. Then I got promoted to Senior Director at Cox almost exactly a year ago, and the second business purchase fell through. So I spent the first half of 2025 going back to “just keep swimming” mode.
But over the past 6 months, two major thoughts took hold:
My job was non-stop meetings and 2-3 days in the office, and I could feel time slipping away. I badly wanted to make some sort of change that could unchain me from being beholden to someone else’s schedule.
I’ve felt an incredible desire for exploration. I’ve always wanted to do my own thing, or at least try something that isn’t giant corporate. And I’ve been having a blast “vibe coding”2 lots of apps, sites, and ideas over the past 6-9 months, and it’s opened my eyes to what’s possible, and how fast things are changing.
Frankly, if I don’t finally take the plunge when I’m literally being paid to leave my corporate job, then I’m never actually going to give up the golden handcuffs, and I need to stop lying to myself.
Needless to say, I’m not planning to seek out another role at Cox. Or at any other company. So what am I going to do now?
Let’s start with what I will NOT be doing:
Going back to Corporate America™
I need a break from the corporate grind. Probably a permanent one. With that said, I’m not going to hate on it. After all, I was very successful in that environment, and that success got me to where I am right now. But increasingly, I was cynical about the entire thing, and I felt more and more disconnected from the people and culture that had previously made me excited to go to work. And I felt exhilarated by everything I was doing on the side, in a way I hadn’t felt at work in years, and I want to embrace that passion.
Working 40 hours a week
I was 14 years old the last time I didn’t have a W2 job, with only a couple of months-long exceptions during school. So I’m looking to detox. What will that look like? At minimum, it will mean not going to an office 2-3 days a week and being on meetings 30+ hours per week. But I hope it will also mean at least attempting to not jump right back into working on something (which I’m already failing at…), and actually giving myself a break.
Freaking out about money
We are incredibly privileged to be in a financial position where losing my job is not a financial issue for us. But that’s not an accident. Heather and I have been pursuing financial independence since basically the day we met, which has meant saving 50-70% of what we earn, tax optimizing like crazy, investing in boring stuff very aggressively, and avoiding lifestyle inflation at all costs. Be on the lookout for a standalone newsletter about financial independence. I love teaching and helping people understand their money better. It’s an incredible unlock to freedom.
How do I plan to spend my time?
Maximize time with our kids
Ask literally any parent of older kids, and they will tell you the same thing.
“It goes by so fast.”
“Some day you won’t be their favorite person anymore, and you’ll wish you enjoyed it more.”
We’ve already been doing our best to cherish every moment and have strong boundaries, but I was inherently limited by all the meetings and in-office days. Now I will truly have control over my time, for the first time in my adult life, and I plan to use that time to spend as much uninterrupted time with Heather and our two kids as possible.
Focus on my health
This is another area where my habits have improved in the last year, and I want to build on that momentum, especially as I start to wake up with aches and pains that 35 years of life plus way too much time sitting at a desk will inflict on a person.
Since I’ll no longer be using the Cox gym, I already got a membership to a Crunch Fitness around the corner, and I plan to make a daily workout stop after preschool dropoff. If I stick to it, this will be the most consistency I’ve ever had in taking care of my body, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results on my mind and overall health.
Try out the builder life
I have been having a blast the past couple of months taking my vibe coding and learning to the next level. That includes building several products, one of which I’m excited to pursue for real (more to come soon). I also built BrandonArentson.com in a couple hours (not a flex, just the reality of AI coding tools) and had a lot of fun doing it. Obviously I need to prove that I can do more than just build a prototype, but I’m excited to continue learning and building.
Also, not to sound like a hype guy, but I strongly feel we’re entering a pretty significant new era of business creation, especially in software. The model used to be “I need to leave my job, build a team, spend $100-200k minimum to get to a v1 product, and then I can figure out if this is a real, viable business”. Vibe coding and AI cuts out (no exaggeration) 99% of the time and money before the “Is this a viable business?” question, putting almost anyone in the position to build out any of their ideas as a “real” business. I’m hoping to both take advantage of this paradigm shift and help others jump in as well.
Partner with friends
On that note, if I structure my time the way I’m hoping to, I’m about to become a “time millionaire”. Without a high-pressure 9-5 sucking up the majority of my days, I hope to be the guy that can meet up in the middle of the day, help people get their ideas off the ground, dedicate time to research and build a business structure, or whatever else.
Already, I’ve had several conversations with friends along these exact lines. It’s really exciting, and if you’re interested in collaborating on something or taking advantage of my “time millionaire”-ness, please reach out!
Lightning Round
In each of my newsletters, I’ll try to include a few recommendations or life hacks that I come across or am exploring. Please reply or comment to share any of your own!
My favorite recent purchase or investment:
I was badly in need of a new wallet. The crappy old one that I’ve had for years was destroying my cards and wasn’t big enough to fit everything I needed. So I did a bunch of research and decided to go with the SECRID SlimWallet. It feels like a bit of a splurge given the price. But I’m trying to buy fewer things, and when I do make a purchase, I want it to be something quality and meaningful. In this case, it’s made with super nice materials, had amazing reviews, and is manufactured in Holland by people with disabilities. So far, it’s amazing. Looks beautiful and feels extremely well-made.
New tool or software I’m using:
I mentioned vibe coding earlier, and I started out with a tool called Replit about 9 months ago, which is a great way to get your mind blown about the possibilities. But now that I’m trying to build a real, shippable product, I’ve taught myself Cursor and dabbled with Claude Code. Both of those have a steeper learning curve, but my goodness, they are incredible. Hit me up if you’re interested in any of these tools. I’d be happy to point you to some resources and share my workflow to help get you started.
Book to check out:
Project Hail Mary is one of my favorite books of all time — it’s one of the only books I have ever fully re-read, and I recommend it every chance I get. The movie adaptation with Ryan Gosling as star is coming out in March, so check the book out now. Just trust me — you won’t be disappointed.
Movie, show, or video recommendation:
Last Monday morning I was explaining to the kids why preschool was off for MLK Day. I decided to pull up a video of the I Have A Dream speech to show them, and I realized that it’s been years since I watched it in full. The kids understandably lost interest after a couple minutes, but I was literally moved to tears and was completely locked in. I realize it’s not exactly a hot take to say MLK was a remarkable man and insane orator. But good Lord, if you haven’t watched this speech in a while, I highly recommend you spend the 8 minutes.
Before I wrap, a quick brain dump of why I’m writing this at all. I was inspired by a guy named Nick Gray, who talked about how meaningful it had been for him to write a periodic “friends and family” newsletter. I have been in a period of exploration — personally, professionally, all the -ly’s you can think of, as you can probably tell if you’ve gotten this far.
But…
Would anyone other than my parents want to read this? Wait, would my parents even want to read this?
Answer: Please let me know by replying to this post or inviting others to subscribe! Easiest way is to send them to BrandonArentson.com.
Would I have the time to do it?
Answer: It’s certainly more likely today than when I came up with the idea in December (lol)
Do I — a pretty private person — want to be this public?
Answer: Still not sure, but I’m partially thinking of this newsletter as a replacement for social media, which I’ve mostly quit in the past 6-12 months.
Thanks for reading, and I’d love to hear from you!
— Brandon
1 I’ll write an entire newsletter about this experience at some point. I learned a ton and was genuinely not far from going bankrupt because of Trump’s tariffs. Good times!
2 Another topic that definitely deserves its own newsletter at some point soon. Short version: Vibe coding is a somewhat silly name for a whole genre of AI-assisted coding. The name comes from that fact that you can write code without actually writing code. Instead, you give an AI agent the “vibe” of what you want, and it does all of the code writing. Seriously, right now, go to Replit.com and use the prompt box to ask it to build something in your head, like a website or basic app. I promise you will be blown away. Let me know what you build!
3 Including a belief that immigration is an insanely complicated issue, and the most important thing we could do as a country is make our immigration laws much less complex and convoluted. We have many friends that have previously or are actively dealing with the US immigration system, and it is a complete mess. The people we know are brilliant, kind people who badly want to be in the US, and the US would be lucky to have them. But they have to jump through insane hoops, spend endless money on lawyers, and sit around and wait for ages. A lot of people tell on themselves when they talk about “illegal” immigrants as though it’s a bunch of people jumping a border fence. This is by far the minority. Most who are here without legal status have been here for years and either get unlucky or screwed through any number of circumstances. We could start there with solutions, but instead we’re terrorizing black and brown people and causing chaos for everyone else, in tactics that are reminiscent of fascist regimes we learned about in history class. We’re better than this, I hope.