Links of the week

Links for week ending 03/11/2019

1. Video of the week:

   Honorable mention:

2. Podcast of the week:

   Below the Line with James Beshara - episode 33 with Justin Kan, Philosopher CEO (lots of great non-business advice in this)

   Honorable mention:

   Edward Norton on the Tim Ferris Show

3. Article of the week:

   Sometimes We Flew to the Maldives - this article is Matt Levine at his very finest. Excerpt:

   

   Honorable mention:

   The Making of the World’s Greatest Investor - WSJ

   Excerpt:

   “For a while, Mr. Simons traded like most everyone else, relying on intuition and old-fashioned research. But the ups and downs left him sick to his stomach. Mr. Simons recruited renowned mathematicians and his results improved, but the partnerships eventually crumbled amid sudden losses and unexpected acrimony. Returns at his hedge fund were so awful he had to halt its trading and employees worried he’d close the business. Today, Mr. Simons is considered the most successful money maker in the history of modern finance. Since 1988, his flagship Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66% before charging hefty investor fees—39% after fees—racking up trading gains of more than $100 billion. No one in the investment world comes close. Warren Buffett, George Soros, Peter Lynch, Steve Cohen, and Ray Dalio all fall short.”

4. Statistic of the week:

   “Apple has bought back $283 billion in stock over the past 6 years, which is greater than the market cap of 487 companies in the S&P 500” - Charlie Bilello

   Honorable mention:

   Domestic cat 🐈 population:
   
   1. USA: 74.1 million
   2. China: 53.1 million
   3. Russia: 17.8 million
   4. Brazil: 12.5 million
   5. France: 11.5 million
   6. Germany: 8.2 million
   7. UK: 8.0 million
   8. Italy: 7.4 million
   9. Ukraine: 7.4 million
   10. Japan: 7.3 million
   11. Poland: 5.6 million
   12. Romania: 3.9 million
   13. Spain: 3.4 million
   14. Argentina: 3.0 million

5. Quote I’m reflecting on this week:

   “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.” - Carl Jung

6. Book recommendation of the week:

   Highly recommended (short) read for anyone whose job involves talking to customers/building product features:

   The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you - Rob Flitzpatrick

7. Start-up of the week:

   Zapier - A unicorn-in-waiting (worth at least $500M right now despite having only raised a single $1M seed round). I also recently wrote an article about their potential future strategy

8. Tweet of the week:

   See full thread below:

   David Sacks @DavidSacks

   Some thoughts on the topic du jour in tech right now -- the sudden reappraisal of tech-enabled businesses based on gross margins/unit economics. Here's what founders need to know. The Gross Margin Problem: Lessons for Tech-Enabled Startups

   Honorable mention:

   Dave Collum @DavidBCollum

   "...when you get to low, zero or negative rates, little movements in interest rates mean gigantic price movements. In a recovery that shoots rates up, you could lose 20% or 30% of the value of your portfolio." --@biancoresearch on why I don't buy these bonds

9. Image of the week:

   (The Lost Decade - UK edition)

   

   Honorable mention:

   

10. Question of the week:

    Ask yourselves this:

    “̶W̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶r̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶:̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶s̶e̶-̶s̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶d̶u̶c̶k̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶1̶0̶0̶ ̶d̶u̶c̶k̶-̶s̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶s̶e̶s̶?̶”̶

    “Which would you rather compete with in your industry: one large competitor or 100 small startups?”

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