Shiny Object Syndrome & Wasted Time
Good morning.
If you forgot who I am, that’s on me. I ghosted you for two weeks.**(Which, in newsletter years, is like seven presidential terms.)
Anyway…hi. I’m Art Parmann. Degenerate gambler. Aspiring builder. And a guy who keeps starting new things because everything looks like a shiny treasure chest right before it becomes a second job**.
So welcome back to Rounders To Founders. My public diary of business ideas, experiments, and existential crises…all from the perspective of someone who used to think a “career plan” was hitting a flush on the river.
The Truth I Don’t Want to Admit
I have a disease.
It’s called “Starting Too Many Things™.”
New project?**Brain lights up like Times Square.
Execution? Suddenly I’m that kid in PE pretending to tie my shoe so I don’t get picked.
So today I’m doing something painful but necessary:
I’m auditing every project I’m working on and how many hours it actually eats from my week.**
Why?
Because most people think they work 40 hours.**But when you run your own stuff, you can quietly end up working 70…while telling yourself you’re “basically part-time.”
Let’s see what’s real.
Project #1: Table 1 Vegas
Our media EMPIRE (ok, it’s just a podcast).
A cash game, a podcast, and a small but increasingly profitable media machine.
This is the main quest line. Everything else is DLC.
Table 1 is the dream: Build the most fun, accessible, story-worthy poker ecosystem in Vegas…while also making it the best game to actually play in.
And honestly? Talking into a microphone with gamblers about life and degeneracy is the highlight of my week.
Time Audit
Game Planning:** ~1 hour/day (texting, scheduling, nudging VIPs). → 5 hrs
Podcast Booking + Coordination: ~30 min/week → 0.5 hrs
Recording: ~1.5 hrs/episode → 1.5 hrs
Editing + Thumbnails + Clips: ~3 hours/episode → **3 hrs(I should delegate this. At this point it's basically self-harm.)
Playing:** High variance. But average? ~3 sessions/week × 7 hours each → 21 hrsTotal for Table 1: 31 hours/week
Takeaway: This is the engine. But also…I’m the engine. And the mechanic. And the pit crew.
Project #2: SeatJumper.com
“What if front-row tickets worked like loot boxes?”
This idea hit me while editing Brian Green’s episode. He was filming himself using one of those “mystery vending machines.” And I thought:
**“What’s gambling…but without the guilt?”
Turns out: Unboxing. People LOVE paying $50 for a box with a 2% chance of something baller and a 98% chance of something that goes straight to Goodwill.
So what if events worked the same way?
Going to Taylor Swift for $20k? Or…spend $550 and maybe unbox it?
It’s stupid. It’s brilliant. It’s probably illegal in three countries. So obviously I have to build it.
Time Audit
Coding, rebuilding, yelling at AI agents:** ~10 hrs/week
Money spent: $1k–$2k/month
Progress: MVP is close-ish.
Confidence: Also close-ish.
Total: 10 hours/week
Takeaway: Fun idea. But right now it’s eating my time like a golden retriever with a bag of flour.
PS: If someone wants to help with the coding portion of this endeavor, hit me up!
Project #3: Rounders To Founders (this newsletter)
Originally this was supposed to be a whole movement. A community. A rebellion against the “Big Beautiful Bill” that’s about to make professional gambling unlivable for anyone who’s not cheating on Uncle Sam.
It still can be.
But also…writing five days a week was melting my brain.** So we’re taking the less is more approach:
Write once a week. Make it good. Hit publish. Move on.**
Time Audit
- Writing: ~2 hours/week
Total: 2 hours/week
Project #4: SlotMaps.com
A micro-SaaS about beating slot machines, built by a guy who probably shouldn’t have this knowledge.
This one’s cool.
I dumped everything I know about AP slots & video poker into a chatbot.**Then people…started paying for it.
Without me doing anything.
It’s like a little digital raccoon that brings me gas money every month.
Time Audit
- Maintenance + updates:** ~1 hr/week
Total: 1 hour/week
The Final Scorecard
Total hours across all projects: 44 hours/week
What’s green (delegate-able)?
Podcast editing → 3 hours
Podcast booking/admin → 0.5 hours
Poker game management → ~5 hours
Reclaimable: 8.5 hours/week
What’s red (must be Me in the seat)?
Playing the poker game
Being the personality
Being the host
Being the founder
Writing this newsletter
Making the hard decisions
The “Art” part of all this
You can’t outsource being yourself.**(Though AI is getting a little too close for comfort.)
The Lesson: Focus & Leverage
Poker taught me to chase EV.
Entrepreneurship is teaching me something harder:
EV doesn’t matter if you don’t have the hours to capture it.**
Right now the podcast is the flywheel.**The game is the product. And SeatJumper + SlotMaps are the experiments that might become real companies.
But none of it grows if I’m drowning in tasks someone else could do for $20/hour.
So my actual job this week is simple:
Goals
Write out my podcast editing SOP (step-by-step).**
Hire someone to own it.
Test them for the next 3 episodes.
Give myself back 3 hours for higher-leverage moves.
Because I didn’t get into poker to work full-time hours for part-time income.
And with the right delegation, I won’t have to.
More next week.
-Art There be free podcast editing at the bottom of this here glass!