Things to Read

Well, if billionaires are talking about it…

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There is a lot of talk about the rapidly widening economic gap between the very very wealthy and the rest of the population. It’s an important conversation and something that needs desperately to be addressed in my opinion. There’s lots of great stuff out there to be read on the subject. One of my favorites is this one from mid-2018 in The Atlantic. Another is this piece from, of all places, Mckinsey & Co, on the impact of the wealth gaps that exist among people of different races in the US. But we’ve reached a whole new level now… because billionaires are talking about.

Two interesting points of view. This interview from Marketwatch with Ray Dalio is interesting. I’m not much of a Ray Dalio fan for a variety of reasons, but he has become an interesting voice in the billionaire wilderness advocating for substantial changes to how the world economy, and capitalism in particular, treats everyone.

Perhaps more interesting though, is this interview with entrepreneur and investor Nick Hanauer. Nick has been flying the inequality flag for some time, but in this episode of The Ted Radio Hour, he speaks about how we begin to rewrite our contracts with each other and with capitalism to the benefit of all. It starts at the 40:15 mark (though this whole episode is great).

It’s my belief that the widening gap between those that have and those that don’t is one of the most challenging we face in the near future. And if billionaires are talking about it…

The Magic Formula

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I frequently get asked some version of the following: “What’s the best way to answer when a venture capitalist asks ____________________?” Depending on my mood that day, I usually start my answer with some version of snark directed at my general profession. But on my more generous days, I refer people to this answer provided by Alex Dunsdon.

When building a rapid growth business – one that is trying to attract venture capital dollars – the reality is chaos. Nearly permanent chaos. Even when things are “going well,” the sheer tonnage of what you don’t know about your customers, about your product, about the five people you just hired, all of whom went through different onboarding (whoops!) is staggering. So you play a magic trick by starting with what you DO know and append to that how the knowledge you’ve earned informs your next actions, thus how you will spend the VC’s money. Provide certainty about your PROCESS because it may be all you’ve got. I don’t care what VCs tell you about how much risk they take or the “big ideas” they love or whatever other BS is being spouted on Twitter, VCs prize anything they can latch on to with confidence. When you have little worth hitching up, this is a path to creating it. As Alex goes on to say…

“This is part of my general thesis that your job as a founder is to present ‘certainty’ where there is none. Hence you create certainty around your process and assumptions…”

-Alex Dunsdon

Like magic…

Today’s reading recommendation is The Storm Before The Storm by Mike Duncan. It’s the story of the 100 years or so before the fall of the Roman Empire. It’s instructive. You’ll recognize some patterns. Patterns worth being aware of. I’m sure you can buy it other places, but I prefer to get my books from bookshop.org. So you can find it here.