Herro, Perro! w.7

Dear Friends,

Great week. Fantastic week. Couldn’t-be-better week.  A calm week of perfect routines and solid progress. Fall is in the air and no sign is clearer than the bustle and hustle in the village that is NYU move-in week. Maybe the resident advisor in me will never die, but something about the excited buzz of college freshman makes me giddy. Welcome to the neighborhood, babies! We’re cool as long as you don’t scream under my window at 3am… 

Arts & Culture

+Left in awe: Someday I’ll write a full feature on how to plan the perfect visit to the Faroe Islands (hint: first you need to get your reservation at Koks, Jan 2nd 2020 at 10am - mark your calendar!). In the meantime, watch this stunningly beautiful short documentary about a trail-running Faroese pastor. That landscape, the music, the whole thing… just watch.  (he starts singing at 6:24 - that is great sequence if your attention span is short) 

+Deep thoughts on paper: School supplies have always made my heart beat a little faster.  Since I started writing freehand everyday I’ve allowed for an indulgence in craft paper and notebooks. The traditionalists who still make the bindings by hand and use paper that feels like butter or feathers or crisp cotton. I will review a few of the best in the coming weeks. But for now, I’ll just leave you with the best paper store in the village, McNally Jackson: Goods for the Study on 8th street. The website is a joke compared to going to the store proper. Remember this and make the pilgrimage when you can.  

+Get on your Knees: Yeah, it’s a comedy act with the central thread on giving blow jobs. I read about it in the New Yorker, thought about it a bit and then plugged the trigger a few weeks ago. And I didn’t regret it. There were some relatable moments and it’s great that there is smart female comedians out there. I was extra proud when the week following Neil was networking with a Chief Medical Officer in Houston who has season tickets to the theater and saw the show a week prior (can't say I don't carry my weight here! :)). The initial run was sold out but it been extended to Sept 21st, if you’re interested.  It’s also presented by Natasha Lyonne who was mesmerizing in Russian Doll (Netflix, also highly recommend). 

+New York does sushi so well you don’t need to go to Tokyo. The world-class options are incredible. But also at matching prices. So, what do you do everyday? Two recommendations: Marumi has an amazing lunch/early dinner special for $14. I do this at least once a month. If you more feeling super high quality fish, I’d go to Tomoe. Sushi and Sashimi like you’d find in Tokyo. Only take cash and Amex. Often a line out the door if you go late. 

Investing & Economics
+One persons freedom fighter is another's terrorist. The Vanity Fair piece by the credible Bethany Mclean makes a tough argument on Elon and, particularly, on the bamboozle for New York taxpayers, a category I reluctantly belong. Here's a quote I included because 'willing the universe' is my central theme:

Musk’s believers argue that the details of his ventures don’t matter: It’s the grand vision that counts. “The guy has a will to make stuff happen that is extraordinary,” says someone who worked closely with Musk. “He willed Tesla to happen. And in willing a reality into existence, he might not stick to the facts.” But in the case of SolarCity, Musk’s penchant for making promises he can’t deliver on turned out to matter a great deal—and could even pose a threat to his entire empire.

+Love him or hate him, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation between Elon and Jack Ma. I always find Jack Ma hilarious and provides insight into a worldview I don't pretend to grasp.

+Another binary! Peloton's S1 dropped and I thought the numbers would be much better given the investor hype I've heard. I'm a Peloton skeptic (are you surprised?). Statements like this make me want to run the other way: ‘We create engaging-to-the-point-of-addictive original fitness and wellness content in an authentic live environment that is immersive, motivating, and encourages a sense of community. We combine high production value content with a broad catalogue of music to create a truly unique fitness experience our Members love.’  Now, I'll freely admit that I have never used a Peloton or attended a class. Ditto for Soul Cycle. My winning fitness routine consists of running on the west side highway and going to free community yoga from 1:30-2:45pm daily at my local studio. This week we were serenaded by a teacher-in-training, Amir, who played a harp while instructing poses. FOR FREE! How can anything be more authentic than that? Good karma to you, Amir. Anyhow, I’ve already had this rant in vivo several times and when I paused for a breath I either get total agreement or “well, I love my Peloton!” FUCK. But here is the virtual take of someone saying the same thing. So, maybe I'm wrong.

Entrepreneurial Pursuits

+Corporate purpose - I spent a lot of time here this week and still am learning and reading more. So please send the best reading my way. I’ve put a ramble of thoughts and some quotes in the google doc. I'll edit and refine and then share. Jay Larson shared this podcast of Michael Munger and Russ Roberts  on 'crony capitalism.'  By the end they got to what I’ve come to believe is the root of the problem. Powerful stuff. Summarized by Munger here:

Yes, you are saying we have to have no fraud. You are saying 'No fraud.' And what you mean by 'fraud' is the legal pursuit of means that many people accept as legitimate. But you are saying, 'I think people won't do it because it's wrong.' It's just morally wrong. It's not illegal.

What I'm trying to argue is that culture and norms matter a lot. If you have a world where people don't have a moral compass, I'm not sure any system works well. Right? I also believe that certain systems enhance a moral compass, and some destroy it. I think in a--in the Soviet Union--you were a sucker if you played by the rules, because no one did. You know, one of my, I have a lot of favorite jokes--it's not good English, but one of my favorite jokes of the Soviet Union is, which I heard from someone who grew up there, is, 'We pretended to work, and they pretended to pay us.'

Adam Smith argued, as you know, that capitalism does the opposite. It forces you to put yourself in the shoes of other people and figure out what they want. It forces you to imagine being empathetic about their desires and about their needs. And I think it--I'm not going to--I don't want to be naive. I don't want to be Pollyannaish, and I don't want to pretend--I don't want to suggest it's easy to fix this: we just need to change norms and culture.’

'This is the problem that we have. It involves character and norms.' I worry that economics has abandoned the position of emphasizing character, norms, and morality. And, one of the reasons that I'm a political scientist and philosopher rather than an economist in terms of my academic affiliation, is precisely that I'm worried about the structure of preferences and the sustainability of the willingness of people to try to act in the right way, even if it may be illegal. And let me emphasize: The real problem here is the ability of rational state actors to restructure the legal rules in ways that over time could corrupt moral character that might otherwise prevent a move in this direction. So, the real problem is we have to take the public choice objection seriously. 

'No, no. Markets are a better system.' They make a Consequentialist argument. And, we need to say, 'No; it's actually a better moral system, too. Because it rewards virtue and hard work; and here's the evidence for it.' I think, unless we can do that, we're ultimately going to lose the debate, because we're conceding the notions of character to the Left. Whereas, in fact, we actually have a good position.

+Non-zero Outcomes in the Information Age This one is also highly worth your time. Puts in economic terms how we could begin thinking about how corporate objectives go beyond shareholder primary and fiduciary duty. Asking the central question are we creating more value for our constituents than for ourselves? I'm not going to summarize further, you should just read the detail. 

+LTSE raised $40M. I don’t usually write about specific venture financing activities. I suggest following StrictlyVC for a catch all. But I mention LTSE because it’s clearly where the world of technology companies is going. As the point made in the NZO article, in order for any company to create tremendous value for itself and the ecosystem it will need a long-term thinking and acting.   

+I CAN STILL DO MATH!   A new edtech company launched called Outlier launched this week. They offer online courses for college credit in-conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh. It looks like a simple and cost effective model - one I have often described to people as being viable and powerful. Separately, I have a lingering view that I was and am better at Math than I ever gave myself credit for or paid attention to. There was always some distraction, something more interesting. I couldn’t muster the focus. So, I know it’s a small step, but I was posited to myself how will I do on the pre-test for Calculus I? And yes, I took AP Calc in high school but probably forgot everything! And, friends, I got 100%! I did some equations on paper and it was fun. This might be the biggest high of the week. There is something so nice and clear about objective achievement. Thought for another time (and why this is under entrepreneurial pursuits) is I’m a huge believer in the power of B2C opt-in competency-based assessments and credentials. 

Liberal Democracy and Technology 

I avoided adding this topic for so many good reasons but…I’m going to add it. If you are triggered or tired or don’t want to feel some sort of moral outrage. Just skip. 

+ No surprise I agree with the FT verdict on Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament. Seeing this slow train wreak on the other side of the Atlantic, my former home, and birth place of deliverology is no bueno: MPs should back a No confidence motion and head for an election. This maneuver sets a dangerous precedent and is an affront to constitutional democracy.

+I wasn’t going to read, let alone share this article about Silicon Valley getting a conscience.  Not another one.  But, I was curious and when it mentioned Esalen I knew it would hit my orbit it a way I could find humorous.

It had some real gems like this, “The previous summer, Harris had gone to Burning Man, where he practiced vulnerable communication, eye-gazing, and Russian martial arts. Returning to his normal life, he experienced a crisis of conscience.” Yeah, Tristan Harris, the one time google ethicist, now speaker was in my burning man camp!...Our camp is called IDEATE and they gave out wrist bands imprinted with “we are full of shit… until we aren’t”. I guess that’s a good tagline for a lot of things these days. Tesla? WeWork, too? Who is to know where the line between being full of shit and not is?

"To reform the financial system, or the energy sector, you wouldn’t invent a meme, or gather a group of executives to journal about their feelings; you would regulate companies, sue them, or otherwise alter their financial incentives"

Side bar: Of course, these stories are sensationalized. They make people like Harris, who seemed like a slightly off-kilter boy in a leotard, seem like huge 'influencers' and 'personalities'. And, he's just a normal dude working alone in a coffeeshop most of the time. I once was a New Yorker diehard. Cover-to-cover, every week. But over time, the overwritten distain or awe (depending) often produced in these articles became sore I couldn't shake. It was the fawning Elizabeth Holmes piece and then the Silicon Valley reinvents school article (it didn’t, those went bust too) that did me in. So, I share this with you, like I share a viral cat video. 

+Friends support friends to get off Google and Facebook products. NewYorker and Esalen aside, the more we learn of these companies, the less we like. And I have a lot more on privacy and alternatives and tracking but this email is already getting long. So before we talk about Brave and DuckDuckGo, I'll continue to send these emails from my protonmail account. You should get one too, it takes 5 minutes. Why I didn't start this way was pure lazy. 95% of you are on gmail. But, I'll start today. And it's worth reading this piece on all google's excuses on tracking and another comprehensive look into how digital advertising markets work. 

+Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion are two important reads on the subject, particularly when you think about the link between the two. Or listen to a podcast on Surveillance Capitalism. An author Martin called 'the Karl Marx of our generation', another friend purchased the book in cash in a bookstore. I'm almost finished with The Righteous Mind this week. It was published in 2012 and couldn't be more relevant to 2019.

Reflections & Self-awareness

+I've been doing a lot more original writing and I'm excited to at some point share how navigating cognitive dissonance is the most important 21st century skill.  Anyone have any thoughts on that?

+You better love this - I’ve enjoyed reading Morgan Housel lately. This article on loving your work was a fine take but I’d add more nuance. It’s easier to love what you do, if you simultaneously love the process and are happy with your life. For me (and I imagine others in non majority identity groups) there are elements of the modern workplace which make the process of topical work I might greatly enjoy tedious to the point of burn out. I think about the nature of enjoying the process of work and recommend this podcast from none other than Duke hero, J.J. Redick.

I read and wrote a lot this week. The above is just a fraction. But it’s the end of summer and I had the time. Have an amazing Labor Day weekend! I’m off to the U.S. Open.

Thanks for reading, friend. Please always be in touch.

Katelyn