America’s 250th Birthday: A Neighborhood Celebration or Another Nextdoor Food Fight?

As America approaches its 250th Independence Day celebration, communities across the country should be preparing for backyard cookouts, parades, fireworks, veterans being honored, and neighbors coming together to celebrate a remarkable milestone in our nation’s history.

Instead, many neighborhood conversations seem destined to become the annual debate we’ve all seen before:

“My dog is scared of fireworks!”

“It’s only one night a year!”

“Think of the veterans!”

“Think of the babies!”

“Someone parked in front of my house!”

“Who left the empty beer cans in the cul-de-sac?”

These discussions aren’t unique to any one platform, but they highlight a broader issue.

For all the talk about connecting neighbors, Nextdoor often seems to amplify unresolved disagreements among people who live only blocks apart. The platform excels at surfacing conflict but struggles to transform it into constructive dialogue.

Ironically, I think Nextdoor should stop pretending otherwise.

Lean into the tabloid nature of neighborhood life. Let people laugh at the leaf blower complaints, HOA disputes, missing packages, rogue fireworks, and parking wars. If engagement is the goal, embrace what users already gravitate toward, grow weekly active users, sell more advertising, and ultimately create profitability that benefits the shareholders who continue to support the company.

Because if the platform isn’t going to unite neighbors, it might as well entertain them.

Hopefully, when America celebrates 250 years of independence, we’ll spend more time waving flags and less time arguing over who left their trash cans out too long.

Happy early 250th, America.

Day #5: Still Waiting for a Study That Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Share

On Monday evening, I requested the complete Home Insurance Insights study that Nextdoor referenced in its blog. I wasn’t looking for a headline—I wanted the methodology, demographics, sample size, and supporting data behind the conclusions.

It’s now Saturday. Day #5.

I haven’t received the study.

I haven’t received an acknowledgment.

I haven’t even received a simple, “We’re looking into it.”

As I’ve said before, this isn’t surprising.

Maybe if I were a major institutional investor, a national advertiser, or an unpaid moderator who never questioned the status quo, my email would have been answered.

Instead, I’m simply a shareholder asking Nextdoor, CEO Nirav Tolia, and Jacob Chavis to follow through on the transparency they promote.

That raises a larger question:

If this is the experience for an investor asking for publicly referenced research, what happens when a local neighborhood advertiser has an issue?

Do they simply take a number like they’re waiting at the DMV? Or like the waiting room in Beetlejuice, hoping their number is eventually called while everyone else stares into the void?

It also made me think about the modern gig economy.

Ride-share companies connect riders and drivers. Food delivery platforms connect restaurants, customers, and couriers. Increasingly, those same companies are investing heavily in automation and AI to reduce reliance on human labor over time.

Nextdoor often speaks about AI as the future, but its value ultimately comes from real neighbors and local businesses creating the content and community that make the platform useful. If those relationships aren’t supported with responsive service and transparency, the “neighborly” vision becomes much harder to believe.

Technology should strengthen human connection—not replace it.

Life Happens… Vegas Will Have to Wait

Earlier this week, what started as a normal Tuesday quickly turned into a family crisis involving my mother. It was one of those moments where priorities become crystal clear in an instant.

There were decisions that had to be made, questions that needed answering, and someone needed to be her advocate. My mother was confused and, because English isn’t her strongest language, communicating with doctors and fully understanding what was happening became even more challenging. I spent the night at the hospital, then headed straight to dialysis the following morning without ever making it home.

As exhausting as it was, there wasn’t another option. Family comes first.

Unfortunately, that also meant making another difficult decision—canceling my trip to Las Vegas.

I was incredibly excited to spend time with my amazing children, hear about school, laugh at their stories, and just enjoy being Dad for a few days. Those moments become more valuable every year, and missing them hurts.

I was also looking forward to attending CCW, hearing about innovation, learning best practices, and connecting with leaders from across the customer experience industry. It’s always energizing to be around people who are passionate about improving the customer journey and sharing new ideas.

But sometimes life tells me that my place is somewhere else.

So, I pivot.

That’s something life has taught me over the past few years. Whether it’s losing a leg, sitting in dialysis three days a week, navigating health challenges, or unexpected family emergencies, I adapt, adjust, and keep moving forward.

Vegas isn’t going anywhere.

CCW will come around again.

Hopefully my children understand that Dad wanted to be there, and hopefully my mother continues to improve.

And for those of you who have been following my ongoing commentary about Nextdoor… don’t worry. I hope someone from Nextdoor still makes it to CCW, picks up Natalie Beckerman’s book When Did You Stop Caring?, and saves us all from the in-person confrontation my followers have apparently been waiting for. I suppose what happens in Vegas should probably stay in Vegas anyway!

For now, my place is exactly where I need to be.

Sometimes the greatest trip I can take is simply showing up for the people who need you most.

I Thought I'd Seen Every Violent Sport... Then I Discovered CarJitsu

There was a time when I thought I had seen every possible way humans could legally beat each other up for entertainment.

I was wrong.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

🥊 Boxing – The Original "Hold My Beer"

Boxing has been around for centuries. Two people climb into a ring, politely touch gloves, and then spend the next twelve rounds trying to rearrange each other's facial features.

Someone once looked at getting punched in the head repeatedly and said, "You know what would make this better? Let's sell tickets."

Millions still tune in, and somehow every heavyweight champion eventually promises they're "bringing boxing back."

🤼 Professional Wrestling – Where Logic Goes to Die

Professional wrestling wasn't just a sport growing up—it was Saturday morning religion.

Back in the days of Mean Gene Okerlund holding the microphone while trying to keep a straight face, the Junkyard Dog dancing to the ring, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper talking trash to anyone with ears, and Hulk Hogan reminding us to say our prayers and eat our vitamins, life was simple.

The villains cheated.

The heroes flexed.

Someone got hit with a folding chair.

The referee somehow missed everything.

Fast forward to today and there are fireworks, cinematic entrances, drones, LED floors, and enough pyrotechnics to invade a small country. The storylines somehow make even less sense than they did in the 1980s, and yet I still stop channel surfing when I hear someone yell, "OH MY GAWD!"

🦵 Kickboxing – The Cool Cousin

Kickboxing exploded in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s thanks to martial arts movies and action heroes that somehow defeated twenty bad guys without getting a scratch.

It combined punches and kicks into one package and made everyone believe they could become Jean-Claude Van Damme after taking six classes at the local strip mall dojo.

Reality usually involved sore hamstrings and a pulled groin.

🥋 MMA – "What If We Didn't Have Rules?"

Mixed Martial Arts started with one simple question:

"What happens if we throw every fighting style into a cage and lock the door?"

The early days looked like someone accidentally scheduled a karate class against a sumo wrestler and forgot to tell security.

Today it's a worldwide phenomenon with elite athletes who train year-round and make things that should be impossible somehow look routine.

It's also the only sport where hearing someone say, "He only got choked unconscious once," is somehow considered encouraging.

👋 Power Slap – Humanity Has Officially Run Out of Ideas

Then came Power Slap.

Apparently someone watched people slap each other in a bar and thought, "This deserves a television contract."

The rules are simple:

Stand there.

Don't move.

Get slapped by another grown adult with the force of a pickup truck hitting a mailbox.

Then try not to fall into next Tuesday.

I'm convinced doctors watch this with both hands covering their faces.

🚗 CarJitsu – Now I've Officially Seen Everything

Then, while doom scrolling through social media, I stumbled onto something called CarJitsu.

At first I thought it was a parody.

It wasn't.

It's literally Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

inside a car.

Two competitors climb into a compact vehicle and proceed to grapple, twist, choke, and fold themselves into positions that would make a chiropractor retire on the spot.

The steering wheel becomes a weapon.

The seatbelt becomes strategy.

The headrest somehow becomes defense.

I watched one clip.

Then another.

Then another.

Because I couldn't believe this was an actual thing.

Somewhere, a guy pitched this idea and another person replied, "Brilliant! Let's film it."

What's next?

Competitive Fighting in an Elevator?

Ultimate Thumb Wrestling?

Extreme Musical Chairs?

If history has taught us anything, someone is already working on it.

The internet remains undefeated at finding new ways for humans to ask, "What if we did this... but dumber?"

And apparently I'll keep watching every ridiculous second of it.

Nextdoor, Pharma, and the Lowest-Hanging Fruit

I came across a pharmaceutical marketing benchmark survey that mentions Nextdoor as part of the media landscape.

One thing stood out to me: Nextdoor didn't even lead the study. It was simply referenced as another channel.

And, by the way, this is now Day #3 since I requested the complete insurance study from Jacob Chavis. Still no report. Still no acknowledgment. At this point, I'm not surprised.

Back to the survey.

My first reaction was that this feels like picking the lowest-hanging fruit.

A census tells us where populations are aging. Local demographic data shows where seniors live. It's hardly groundbreaking to conclude that neighborhoods with older residents will have greater demand for medications that improve quality of life.

Any competent regional pharmaceutical sales team already knows which physicians are prescribing what, which pharmacies are dispensing it, and where the opportunities exist. Compensation plans, quotas, bonuses, and territory strategies have relied on those metrics for years.

And if AI is truly the revolutionary force that Nextdoor leadership frequently promotes, why not simply overlay prescribing trends, demographic data, and ZIP code maps? The opportunities would become obvious without another marketing survey.

My larger concern is perception.

After watching the outstanding miniseries Dopesick, which explored the devastating impact of Purdue Pharma, OxyContin, and the Sackler family's pursuit of profit, I find it disappointing to see neighborhood platforms associated with pharmaceutical marketing studies without acknowledging the broader societal consequences that can accompany profit-driven healthcare initiatives.

Healthcare is essential. Medications save lives.

But when marketing becomes the primary focus without equal discussion of responsibility, history reminds us that communities can pay a heavy price.

In other news, NXDR is up today, but so is much of the broader market. I'm still watching to see whether the recent momentum holds or whether the bottom eventually falls out.

These are my personal opinions and observations and should not be interpreted as investment or medical advice.