Weekend Briefing - Welcome to the Weekend Briefing

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing

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Below are some of the most popular stories from the Weekend Briefing just to give you a taste of what to expect on Saturday.

Understanding "New Power"

Check out this think piece on how power is changing. Old power works like a currency. It is held by few. Once gained, it is jealously guarded, and the powerful have a substantial store of it to spend. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. It downloads, and it captures. New power operates differently, like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads, and it distributes. Like water or electricity, it’s most forceful when it surges. The goal with new power is not to hoard it but to channel it. Learn more in this Harvard Business Review article (10 minutes) and this TED Talk (15 minutes).

The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups

As a founder of Y Combinator, Paul Graham has seen his fair share of failed startups. But why do startups fail? Broadly startups fail because they don’t give users what they want, but this list of 18 mistakes points a finer point on the answer to that question. Learn more more from Paul Graham (14 minutes).

The Transportation Cloud

It seems inconceivable that Americans born today will never own a car, but given the fact that most cars are only used 3% of the time and the rise of autonomous cars… this seems like the most likely reality - especially for those living in urban areas (currently 54% of global population and will be 66% by 2050). A recent Columbia University study suggested that with a fleet of just 9,000 autonomous cars, Uber could replace every taxi cab in New York City – passengers would wait an average of 36 seconds for a ride that costs about $0.50 per mile. Such convenience and low cost will make car ownership inconceivable, and autonomous, on-demand taxis – the ‘transportation cloud’ – will quickly become dominant form of transportation – displacing far more than just car ownership, it will take the majority of users away from public transportation as well. Read more about the transportation cloud in this well-researched post from Zack Kanter (18 minutes).

Leslie's Law

Leslie’s Law, simply stated is: when small meets large, small almost always wins. When a sleek, small player enters the market, it does so by creating a low-friction, high-fit and finish product that is sold at a low price to a large market. These new products are sold to a portion of the market that cannot access the larger products due to the cost of entry (in dollars and complexity) and the cost of ownership. As a startup then, your objective should be to build something truly great for the low end of the marketplace, solving an important problem with a simple, low-friction product in a segment of the market that's underserved by the incumbents. Read more at First Round Review (16 minutes).

Kickstarter: In Pursuit of Profit & Purpose

Kickstarter – the crowdfunding platform – converted to a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation. The move signifies the strongest legal commitment to protect users data, support artists, contribute philanthropically to the community and create a positive impact on the environment in the operation of their business. I do a lot of work with benefit corporations, but this is one of the boldest commitments I’ve seen from a company. Learn more about the conversion and see what both Chris Sacca and I have to say about it in the New York Times (6 minutes).

How To Live A Life That Really Works

Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, drops some wisdom. 1) Be reliable. Unreliability can cancel out the other virtues. If you’re unreliable it doesn’t matter what your virtues are, you’re going to crater immediately. 2) Concentrate experience and power into the hands of the right people – the wise learning machines. 3) Use setbacks in life as an opportunity to become a bigger and better person. Don’t wallow. Dive deeper at Farnam Street (14 minutes).

How To Pick A Life Partner

People tend to be bad at knowing what they want in a relationship, and society has given us terrible advice. Our biology is not doing us any favors. So, we can easily fall into one of these relational caricatures: Overly Romnantic Ronald, Fear-Driven Frida, Externally-Influenced Ed, Shallow Sharon, or Selfish Stanley. Learn more and check out some cool stick figure diagrams at Wait But Why? (18 minutes).

About the Weekend Briefing

The Weekend Briefing is a selection of this week’s top stories on innovation and society, curated by Kyle Westaway – author of Profit & Purpose and Managing Partner of Westaway.

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