Circle Three 55 / Where We Are
Hi all,
Happy Sunday. This week a couple meetings inspired thinking about schedules and business value-adds.
Where will we be as a society in five years’ time? Hyper-efficient? Probably not, but certainly more knowledgable about where we are.
Breaking things down more granularly in the present: I think of each day having three buckets: the must haves, the nice to haves, and the don’t wants.
Content
Lyric: Where We Are
Brain Bites: Psychology
Brain Bites: Business
Brain Bites: Psychology
Team or Cult? Index Ventures’ Erin Price-Wright says good cultures are either teams or cults.
“With both, you’re looking for an output that is greater than the sum of its parts. Cults tend to have a unifying mission that drives everyone but beyond that, they’re often chaotic and lack a formal structure. Machines have a lot more structure, people are motivated by a set of goals and work together with a clear understanding of their role as part of a whole.”
Good context for me as I start to read Cultish: the Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. I expect to be thinking a lot of the cultures I’ve led or participated in.
A Day in My Life. Lex Fridman’s day here. I had no intentions of watching this whole video. But it was worth the watch: Lex is equal parts inspiring and endearingly robotic. It’s impossible to watch the video and not appreciate his perspective on what life is about. Thinking about my own life, I have the must-haves like exercise, focused time, and communication. Then there’s the nice-to-haves: playing piano, watching a movie, or other creative breaks. Then there’s the can’t haves: overuse of social media or too many digital meetings.
Brain Bites: Business
Net Zero Standard? Why Net Zero Should Be the Standard for the E&P Sector here. Kimmeridge outlines how the exploration and production (E&P) industry can get ambitious, consistent, and accountable with its emissions goals. In my opinion, the document is well-timed, as discussions around ESG and energy sector standards have been a common theme recently. In sixteen quick pages, the document recognizes the size and scale of the task at hand and outlines how the industry can take actionable steps now rather than later.
An interesting parallel I noticed when reading is the parallels that can be said of the digital asset industry.
The quotes below pulled from the article are issues that the digital asset industry faces now. These quotes could exist on a report on how to support a comprehensive and inclusive approach to advance the crypto industry:
“Sharing best practices with peers scales the ambition across the industry, supporting a collective drive towards improving the industry’s performance, credibility and cost of capital.
Engaging with policymakers advances the discussion around effective measures to encourage sustainable development.
Collaborating with industry trade groups expands a firm’s reach to a broader group of industry experts, encouraging the exchange of best practices.”
Is one industry better prepared to handle the upcoming changes? Digital asset infrastructure is newer and more nimble, which in my mind could prove advantageous.
Economic Misconceptions within Crypto. Here. This attempts to directly point out errors of two of the most common narratives behind crypto. This is a piece I read to be apprised of the counter-arguments to crypto.
“Misconception 1: Cash is a form of long-term savings. … The idea that cash should rise in value over time. In fact, cash was never meant to be a form of long-term savings.
Misconception 2: Scarcity creates value. Companies can (and do) make their products artificially scarce in order to jack up the price. But this is a bad outcome — it’s a kind of market failure, because it results in the economy producing too little stuff. This is why economists don’t like monopolies.”
I tend to agree with Misconception 1, that bitcoin will not be used as currency any time soon. It is not cash. But is that a bad thing? If it remains a store of value, offline and secure, why does it need to function as a daily currency? Maybe Williams Stanley Jevons’ words on the evolution of money don’t apply to bitcoin and the asset remains a store of value forever.
In Misconception 2 the author presents the economic principles behind restricted supply and elastic demand. And to be sure, I’ve had the thought before: metaverse land is technically infinite, and putting artificial limits is, as he says it, “either economically stupid or economically inefficient.” Shouldn’t the metaverse, whatever shape it takes, be a place for all? To increase the value, rather than artificially limiting supply, we need use cases to organically lift usage (and therefore prices). Also, learned a new term: Veblen goods, which Bored Apes have become.
Brain Bites: Culture
FirstWatch Logo Update. Thread here. We rebranded our logo, including a couple easter eggs.
Buy Things Not Experiences. Article here from Harold Lee. As an urban city dweller, I feel seen. And I just enjoyed a conversation about this topic with family on vacation.
Minimalism is a result of decisions we’ve already made. He beautifully articulates that we can make the most of our material abundance by purchasing thoughtfully chosen material goods. The goods can enable and enrich life, extend health, and build a measure of independence, as he writes:
“So ‘buy experiences, not things’ is less a bold new philosophy than a mere rationalization of life choices that people have already been forced to adopt.
But what this rationalization ignores is the extent to which tools and possessions enable new experiences. A well-appointed kitchen allows you to cook healthy meals for yourself rather than ordering delivery night after night. A toolbox lets you fix things around the house and in the process learn to appreciate how our modern world was made. A spacious living room makes it easy for your friends to come over and catch up on one another’s lives.”
Lyric: Where We Are
I had the pleasure of great conversation over drinks with a friend-turned-life coach this week. What have I built? What needs to pivot? Where are trends moving? Are we in a recession?
Sometimes you just need to listen.
WHERE WE ARE by the Lumineers
Where we are
I don't know where we are
But it will be okay
Where we are
I don't know where we are
But it will be okay
Stay curious,
Dan