On bullshit.
It's been a long time. I shouldn't have left you without a dope newsletter to step to.*
Doesn't quite do it.
Anyway, it's been a few days longer than usual between newsletters. There's no writing from me this week, I've been busy prepping for the launch of 2015 99U Conference ticket sales. As a result, this one is extra full of awesome readings. There's been a bunch of great stuff circling the web, it's almost like summer ended or something.
There's a different between knowing something and knowing how to do something. This is why UFC fighters can kick a black belt's ass. "But fighting is chaotic. It's often unpredictable. It doesn't systemize well and it's difficult to pass on as a body of knowledge." On martial arts and bullshit.
"There are lots of ladies around me, everywhere I go, who hesitate to say what they're thinking and feeling. They go with the flow, they never make waves. And eventually, they don't even seem to know what makes them who they are. They live to serve. They read the books that other people are reading. They say the pleasant things that other people are saying. They never put their needs first, unless it indirectly serves someone else — a manicure, some highlights. They make sure everyone around them is 100 percent satisfied. Like grocery-store managers. Like customer service reps. Like masseuses who also give free happy endings." A bracing response from Ask Polly on having agency in your life. Its written with women in mind, but that didn't stop me from wanting to tape this article to my bathroom mirror.
The Economist raises a prescient question: if we're funding news sites like tech companies, can we expect tech company exits? My guess? I hope so, but probably not.
The U.S. is burnt out on war after the last decade. Is this fatigue actually sabotaging our long-term interests? Related: the best primer on Iraq and ISIS comes from Wait But Why's visit to a refugee camp. Choice excerpt: "Whatever I was holding, it was something bad, and I didn’t want to ask what it was. I asked. He pointed across the tent to a little boy and explained that I was holding part of his skull."
You've heard your grandparents say "when I was young I played outside all day!" Maybe that's because, um, they were allowed to.
When employers say they cant find any qualified workers it's because the companies are cheap and lazy. This is just further proof that taking responsibility for your own career means doing a lot of learning. And increasingly that learning needs to be on your own time and dime. This is why my favorite interview question is: what are your side projects?
We spend a lot of time trying to fill our schedules, our minds, and our wallets. But sometimes, a little nothingness is in order.
A third of all divorce filings in 2011 contained the word "Facebook."
Giga OM: White guys aren't the only ones who start media companies. Mostly. You just have to look.
Goldman Sachs had warehouses full of aluminum. It took that aluminum out, drove it around the block, and somehow made a boatload of money. I hate Goldman Sachs. Related, this is everything you ever wanted to know about the current aluminum markets.
Some cultures have linear concepts of time. Others are cyclic. Different cultures think about the clock differently. So that means, yes, there is such thing as "Italian time." My personal policy: everyone gets to be 10 minutes late, no questions asked. Temple coach Fran Dunphy's policy is "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, you're only thinking about yourself."
There are two irrefutable trends afoot: SF is expensive thanks to a booming tech sector. And that booming tech sector is increasingly designed-focused (designer founders are a real thing). The result: top designers get paaaaiiiddd. Side note: That linked article is by Daniel Burka, a fantastic designer, early Digg employee, an early Milk employee (bought by Google), and now he's a design partner at Google Ventures. He writes about the ways startup founders can get away with paying designers less to increase runway. I have mixed feelings on artificially repressing wages of startup employees. And, after all, the tech world has been through this before.
Startups Anonymous is an organization with one goal: to help depressed and lonely entrepreneurs. This is a bigger issue than we realize. I've spoken with more than one founder or early tech employee that suffered from panic attacks and anxiety due to the stress. Be kind to each other out there.
Why did Amazon raise VC money way back when? Because they were part of a massive land grab and were defining a market. A 2000 blog post by Joel Spolsky asks: when should you bootstrap?
Last week I wrote about how we should kill the job title, and why our job title affects our small talk. My friend Alex Hillman pointed me to his essay on conversation starters that actually facilitate a connection.
You know what's fun? Watching Darren Sproles. You know what's really fun? Watching Darren Sproles set to Mario music.
Time's up. Sorry I kept you.
Sean
*Listen to the entire Paid in Full album here. Thank me later.
Doesn't quite do it.
Anyway, it's been a few days longer than usual between newsletters. There's no writing from me this week, I've been busy prepping for the launch of 2015 99U Conference ticket sales. As a result, this one is extra full of awesome readings. There's been a bunch of great stuff circling the web, it's almost like summer ended or something.
There's a different between knowing something and knowing how to do something. This is why UFC fighters can kick a black belt's ass. "But fighting is chaotic. It's often unpredictable. It doesn't systemize well and it's difficult to pass on as a body of knowledge." On martial arts and bullshit.
"There are lots of ladies around me, everywhere I go, who hesitate to say what they're thinking and feeling. They go with the flow, they never make waves. And eventually, they don't even seem to know what makes them who they are. They live to serve. They read the books that other people are reading. They say the pleasant things that other people are saying. They never put their needs first, unless it indirectly serves someone else — a manicure, some highlights. They make sure everyone around them is 100 percent satisfied. Like grocery-store managers. Like customer service reps. Like masseuses who also give free happy endings." A bracing response from Ask Polly on having agency in your life. Its written with women in mind, but that didn't stop me from wanting to tape this article to my bathroom mirror.
The Economist raises a prescient question: if we're funding news sites like tech companies, can we expect tech company exits? My guess? I hope so, but probably not.
The U.S. is burnt out on war after the last decade. Is this fatigue actually sabotaging our long-term interests? Related: the best primer on Iraq and ISIS comes from Wait But Why's visit to a refugee camp. Choice excerpt: "Whatever I was holding, it was something bad, and I didn’t want to ask what it was. I asked. He pointed across the tent to a little boy and explained that I was holding part of his skull."
You've heard your grandparents say "when I was young I played outside all day!" Maybe that's because, um, they were allowed to.
When employers say they cant find any qualified workers it's because the companies are cheap and lazy. This is just further proof that taking responsibility for your own career means doing a lot of learning. And increasingly that learning needs to be on your own time and dime. This is why my favorite interview question is: what are your side projects?
We spend a lot of time trying to fill our schedules, our minds, and our wallets. But sometimes, a little nothingness is in order.
A third of all divorce filings in 2011 contained the word "Facebook."
Giga OM: White guys aren't the only ones who start media companies. Mostly. You just have to look.
Goldman Sachs had warehouses full of aluminum. It took that aluminum out, drove it around the block, and somehow made a boatload of money. I hate Goldman Sachs. Related, this is everything you ever wanted to know about the current aluminum markets.
Some cultures have linear concepts of time. Others are cyclic. Different cultures think about the clock differently. So that means, yes, there is such thing as "Italian time." My personal policy: everyone gets to be 10 minutes late, no questions asked. Temple coach Fran Dunphy's policy is "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, you're only thinking about yourself."
There are two irrefutable trends afoot: SF is expensive thanks to a booming tech sector. And that booming tech sector is increasingly designed-focused (designer founders are a real thing). The result: top designers get paaaaiiiddd. Side note: That linked article is by Daniel Burka, a fantastic designer, early Digg employee, an early Milk employee (bought by Google), and now he's a design partner at Google Ventures. He writes about the ways startup founders can get away with paying designers less to increase runway. I have mixed feelings on artificially repressing wages of startup employees. And, after all, the tech world has been through this before.
Startups Anonymous is an organization with one goal: to help depressed and lonely entrepreneurs. This is a bigger issue than we realize. I've spoken with more than one founder or early tech employee that suffered from panic attacks and anxiety due to the stress. Be kind to each other out there.
Why did Amazon raise VC money way back when? Because they were part of a massive land grab and were defining a market. A 2000 blog post by Joel Spolsky asks: when should you bootstrap?
Last week I wrote about how we should kill the job title, and why our job title affects our small talk. My friend Alex Hillman pointed me to his essay on conversation starters that actually facilitate a connection.
You know what's fun? Watching Darren Sproles. You know what's really fun? Watching Darren Sproles set to Mario music.
Time's up. Sorry I kept you.
Sean
*Listen to the entire Paid in Full album here. Thank me later.
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