Circle Three 63 / Paradise
The start of fall has a nice cadence to it. Warm enough to still gather outside with friends new and old, cold enough to put on a thick flannel on cold mornings. It’s a nice reminder to me of my 1-year anniversary of living in Philly, the people I’ve met, and the changes that have happened.
Contents:
brain bites: Psychology & Health
How to Know When to Stop
brain bites: Business & Investing
Leader, Manager, Operator - Which Are You?
brain bites: Technology
Analyzing Bitcoin’s Network Effect
Metaverse and Money: Decrypting the Future
Lyric: Paradise by Coldplay
brain bites: psychology & health
How to Know When to Stop. Article here on avoiding burnout and establishing balance. Highly recommend taking the time to read Andy Johns’ account and the actionable advice, especially if you’ve ever found yourself saying something like “I have to accept feeling like this since it’s part of the job.” As I learn how to manage stress — and how that stress manifests — this is a key resource.
brain bites: business & investing
Leader, Manager, Operator - Which Are You? Forbes article here from Erika Anderson.
I’ve always been a strong manager and operator. They both focus on doing what the business needs to thrive long-term. One thing I can always improve is understanding the various levers to pull to effect change. I found this framework helpful to frame my strengths and weaknesses. What is your perspective of yourself?
Leadership is primarily about who you are, about being able to envision a possible outcome or destination, then guiding, inspiring and influencing others to reach it with you.
Management is the craft of gathering, allocating and directing resources - people, money, stuff - in the most productive and sustainable way to achieve agreed-upon goals
Operating a business requires seeing the whole business as an organism, understanding the impact different actions will have on that organism, and taking those actions most needed to effect change.
I believe the third one is the hardest to teach. Business schools purport to teach this capability, but I think they simply provide tools, rather than necessarily teaching the underlying skills needed to apply those tools well.
brain bites: technology
Analyzing Bitcoin’s Network Effect. Lyn Alden describes what network effects are and how bitcoin is a network investment. Often I hear about all the successes of network effects, like it’s easily generated. Lyn points out some massive failures as well, reminding me just how hard it is to establish those effects. Bitcoin’s value for an investor largely depends on the network effects they see as most promising. I see more positives around infrastructure network effects like institutional custody and new protocol layers than consumer products like rewards cards. Especially ex-US, the network effects continue to grow undeniably.
“It’s unclear when this pattern will eventually break, but with its strong track record and the ongoing development in the surrounding ecosystem (hardware products, payment apps, security apps, custody solutions, regulatory improvements, and second-layer development), I think bitcoin deserves a consideration for a nonzero allocation in a portfolio.”
Metaverse and Money: Decrypting the Future. Here, the most thorough metaverse deep dive I’ve seen. The metaverse will touch every aspect of our lives by 2030 — everything from manufacturing to advertising to healthcare. However, the article describes the very clear infrastructure and ideological challenges that will need to be addressed before we realize the Ready Player One vision.
Lyric: Paradise by Coldplay
This week I saw that Coldplay is one of only two bands that are in the top 15 most-streamed artists on Spotify. The rest of the list is solo artists. Adam Levine is right to say that bands are a dying breed. Coldplay’s success as a band spans decades and styles is all the more impressive.
When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
So she ran away in her sleep
And dreamed of para-, para-, paradise
Stay Curious,
Dan