Quoted
“On some emotional level, I think we all knew the music was going to stop,” [Redfin CEO Glenn] Kelman said. “I think a lot of CEOs at tech companies felt uncomfortable, at least in part, with what was going on, even though we kept pushing our chips out to the middle of the table.”
Mr. Kelman, who led Redfin into areas such as home-flipping during the pandemic, shut down business lines as the economic situation worsened and interest rates soared. “If I could jump in a time machine and go back even 18 months, I would say that the simplest way to build a profitable company isn’t to come up with amazing ideas for new ways to delight a customer. It is to stop doing stupid stuff.”
Facts & Figures
114x annual recurring revenue — the multiple at which private, venture-capital-backed SaaS companies raised capital in 2021, up from “only” ~15x to 30x a few years prior (Source: Pitchbook/IVP)
76 different healthcare organizations spent at least $2 million each lobbying the government during in 2022 (and that excludes insurance companies and hospitals)
27 on-site massage therapists were among the workers laid off by Google at its California offices
Books
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts — This book was first published in 2007 (I read the revised third edition, published in 2020) and I should have read it a long time ago. It’s a great companion to the standard-bearing work in behavioral psychology, and it’s very readable and memorable. Highly recommended.
Americana: A 400-year History of American Capitalism — I bought this book at last year’s Berkshire meeting, and it’s an impressive feat. It’s kind of a cross between an academic history and something more readable. It does bog down at times, and I still haven’t finished all of it, but it’s well worth some time and effort.
Articles
Fumbling the Crystal Ball: Policymakers Can’t Afford to Spurn the Science of Prediction — Phil Tetlock and a co-author argue that “[b]etter prediction tools have the potential to fundamentally change the way policymakers approach problems at all levels of policy and governance, from the most mundane questions facing local leaders—such as the likelihood that a winter storm could force schools in a particular district to delay opening by an hour or two—to complex, existential threats such as climate change and the use of nuclear weapons.”
What Happened to All of Science’s Big Breakthroughs? — Revisiting the old argument that was kicked into high gear by a book I’d recommend to everyone (The Rise and Fall of American Growth), this article notes that despite some impressive current technologies, there should be far more. “In Nature, a study of millions of scientific papers and patents shows that inventors have made relatively few breakthroughs and innovations compared with the world’s growing mountain of science and technology research. The three analysts found a steady drop from 1945 through 2010 in disruptive finds as a share of the booming venture, suggesting that scientists today are more likely to push ahead incrementally than to make intellectual leaps.”
Robert Caro, Robert Gottlieb and the Art of the Edit — Following up on an old favorite, this article is worth the quick read. I’m also hoping to watch the Apple TV documentary about them soon.
The Digital Workplace Is Designed to Bring You Down — Interesting interview here.
[E]ven minor context shifts [switching focus from the task at hand to a different task] are productivity poison. That’s the foundational message. We used to multitask, and then research came out and said you can’t literally multitask. Your brain can’t have your inbox open next to the memo you’re writing while you’re also on the phone…we didn’t realize that even when you jump over to check the inbox and come right back, it can be just as damaging as multitasking. When you looked at that email inbox for 15 seconds, you initiated a cascade of cognitive changes. (Research has shown that people who work on multiple things concurrently are less able to filter out irrelevancy, have poorer memory and are more easily distracted.) So if you have to work on something that’s cognitively demanding, the rule has to be zero context shifts during that period. Treat it like a dentist appointment. You can’t check your email when you’re having a cavity filled. You have to see it that way.
The Lifelong Power of Close Relationships — The “Harvard happiness study” has been going for 85+ years, and the current directors have a new book out titled “The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.” The book and this article could be distilled into this simple, powerful idea
“[O]ne crucial factor stands out for the consistency and power of its ties to physical health, mental health and longevity. Contrary to what many people might think, it’s not career achievement, or exercise, or a healthy diet. Don’t get us wrong; these things matter. But one thing continuously demonstrates its broad and enduring importance: good relationships. In fact, close personal connections are significant enough that if we had to take all 85 years of the Harvard Study and boil it down to a single principle for living, one life investment that is supported by similar findings across a variety of other studies, it would be this: Good relationships keep us healthier and happier. Period. If you want to make one decision to ensure your own health and happiness, it should be to cultivate warm relationships of all kinds.”
The “long read” feature from The Guardian is a common source for me, and the “best of” list each year is an excellent collection.:
Why it’s time to stop worrying about the decline of the English language — I’m guilty of this…: “People often complain that English is deteriorating under the influence of new technology, adolescent fads and loose grammar. Why does this nonsensical belief persist?”
This is what the author Douglas Adams had to say about technology. Adapted slightly, it could apply to language, too:
– Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
– Anything that’s invented between when you’re 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary.
– Anything invented after you’re 35 is against the natural order of things.