This week’s highlights: E-Bikes, We-Work, and the VMAs
Photo by Cflgroup Media on Pexels.com
Issue 343
Best,
David
Food for Thought:
Top Read of the Week: NYT – How an E-Bike Changed My Life
Why It Matters: E-bikes are growing extremely rapidly, and are making cycling more accessible and feasible as a transportation option. “Riding grew harder as I grew older. Then I got an electric bicycle.”
Consider as well:
- QZ – The 15-Minute Weekly Habit That Eased My Work Anxiety and Made My Boss Trust Me More. The skill of managing up is easily as important as managing direct reports.
- NYT – It’s Not Always Excellent to Be Jamie Oliver Twenty years after he vaulted to fame, the brash British chef, TV star and cookbook author has lost his restaurant empire — but not his taste for hard work.
- VP – Why are our children so bored at school, cannot wait, get easily frustrated and have no real friends? – Credit AC
- VF – Diamonds in the Rough. The Thieves Who Stole $37 Million In Jewels From Harry Winston Paris Committed The Perfect Crime. Their Mistake Was Returning For Another, Even Bigger Score. But Did Police Really Solve The Crime, Or Are The Brains Of The Operation Still At Large?
Business/Economics:
Top Read of the Week: Stratechery – The WeWork IPO and ProfGalloway – WeWTF
Why It Matters: The unicorn IPO parade continues with the launch of WeWork’s. Here are two different reflections on the IPO – one that presents a bull case and one that highlights some of the ridiculous corporate governance issues in the filing. Caveat Emptor on this one.
Consider as well:
- Fortune – Big-Box Rebound: How Target Packaged a Turnaround In 2017, the struggling megachain spooked Wall Street and earned mockery in the retail world by committing billions to revamping its stores. Today, more-inviting shopping floors and smoother e-commerce have turned Target into a winner again.
- FastCo – This Is Why Your Startup Will Fail Stop focusing on gaps in the market—they don’t matter. Look instead at your own strengths.
- CNBC – There are now 175 online mattress companies—and you can’t tell them apart
- NYT – A.I. Is Learning From Humans. Many Humans. Artificial intelligence is being taught by thousands of office workers around the world. It is not exactly futuristic work.
Culture/Tech/Science:
Top Read of the Week: WashPo- Taylor & Kanye: How two superstars, four words and 15 seconds of TV influenced a decade of pop culture
Why It Matters: This piece reminded me of the opening sequence of Mission Impossible 2 – “Every search for a hero must begin with something every hero requires, a villain.” Which ever you think falls with each title, you can’t argue how entwined their fates have become.
Consider as well:
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- Endaget – Apple warns against storing its titanium credit card in leather. I love Apple products, but this is classic Apple/Silicon Valley groupthink – designing a credit card that can’t be stored in a traditional wallet.
- NYT – How Medicine Became the Stealth Family-Friendly Profession
- Verge – Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg on what’s next for Tumblr
- Engadget – Researchers create electronic lens that works better than the human eye The technology is likely to revolutionize the lenses used in cameras, VR/AR headsets and eyewear.