Strands of Genius is curated lovingly by Rosie & Faris, usually on Mondays & Thursdays, but occasionally you'll find it in your inbox other days too. They're unpredictable like that. They hope you read it, enjoy it, tweet it, share it -- and tell your mom ;)
New Zealand - as there’s a ton of the country I still have yet to explore. The Tourism NZ site has an excellent itinerary creation tool and round up of the most popular itineraries.
CURRENTLY READING
The Border by Don Winslow - The 3rd in The Cartel series and an unbelievable series of novels that chronicle the drug war in the US and Mexico.
(BRIEF BITS OF INBOX INSPIRATION BROUGHT TO YOU BY)
Strands is brought to you by guest curator Reuben Halper.
Hi all, Reuben Halper here. I’m an American expat living in Auckland, NZ (by way of London). I started writing this intro before the horrible terrorist attack in Christchurch and had tritely written ‘I left the US before Trump and the UK before Brexit so either I have Gumpian luck or am the harbinger of things to come in New Zealand.’ Sadly the events of the past few days have dispelled my misconceived notion we are somehow immune to the presence of right wing extremism here in NZ. If you want to know how you can support NZ in the wake of this abhorrent attack, please have a look here.
From a personal perspective, I have called New Zealand home for 3 ½ years. I’ve spent most of the past decade working for Google in a variety of roles and geographies. I’m broadly interested in the fuzzy edges at the intersection of comms, tech and innovation. I met Rosie & Faris a few years back on one of their annual-ish jaunts to NZ (y’all are overdue for a visit so get back down here). I believe that New Zealand is the best place on earth, which has only been reinforced by the reaction of Kiwis as a whole in the wake of this disgusting act of terrorism. Look me up if you happen to make to be in Auckland as I’m always down for a drink and good conversation.
Editor's note: We can confirm that Reuben is a great drinking partner and conversationalist! He also always turns us onto a new TV show or movie that we should have seen. Next time we'll be asking about all the newsletters he cheats on us with ;) Thank you Reuben for guest curating!! (And yes, we promise to come back to NZ soon!)
Those who understand compound interest can make it work for them and those that don’t understand it spend much of life trying to get out from its shackles. When we think of compounding we typically think of finance and positive returns, as in “good compounding.” But compounding just reinforces what’s already happening — good or bad. There is no judgment. And compounding works outside of finance. So while we can compound money positively and negatively, we can compound ourselves as well. -- Farnam Street | Why Small Habits Make A Big Difference
1% Better Every Day
#Not10x #1percent
I just finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. What led me to the book was this excellent post on Farnam Street ‘Why Small Habits Make A Big Difference.’ While the idea of 10x thinking was/is de rigueur (in no small part due to my own organisation), I’ve gone the other direction and become obsessed with the idea that tiny, nearly imperceptible changes can make a huge difference over time, both positively and negatively. From Clear: “Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.” ::FARNAM STREET::
Quit the Newsfeed. Embrace The Newsletter.
#WorthADownload #TheresAnAppForThat
Don’t tell Rosie and Faris, but I’ve been cheating on them with other newsletters. If you’re like me, then I highly recommend checking out the Stoop app which is kind of like a Flipboard but for newsletters. I use it to manage and read all my newsletters in one place but it also has a nice discovery mechanic. Super useful.
::STOOP::
Dropgangs, or the Future of Dark Markets
#wortharead #yoomarcomin
When we talk about market innovation the focus is typically legit companies, eg. Amazon, Uber for X, ignoring that massive changes are taking place in grey or black markets where innovation is driven by market forces AND the desire to stay alive/out of jail. With that in mind, I highly recommend this look at the past, present and future of dark markets. Some seriously interesting/scary combinatorial uses of existing technology to drive darknet sales and distribution. Remember how difficult it was for Baltimore PD to crack the MO of the Barksdale organization in The Wire? How is law enforcement going to deal with end to end encryption, cryptocurrencies, dead drops and decentralised organisations? ::OPAQUE::
The End Of The Beginning
#WorthAWatch #StupidlySmart #WhatGotYouHereWontGetYouThere
Benedict Evans is stupid smart (another newsletter worth signing up for). He gave what I think is one of the most insightful and important presentations at the annual a16z tech conference last November. “The access story is now coming to an end, observes Evans, but the use story is just beginning: Most of the people are now online, but most of the money is still not. If we think we're in a period of disruption right now, how will the next big platform shifts -- like machine learning -- impact huge swathes of retail, manufacturing, marketing, fintech, healthcare, entertainment, and more? Especially as technology begins to tackle bigger problems, in harder markets, at deeper (and more structural) levels?” In short, what we did in the first 20 years of the Internet was eCommerce and advertising, what we’ll do in the next 20 years is everything else. ::YOUTUBE::
A vigil on Takapuna Beach in memory of the victims of the Christchurch Mosque shootings. Photo / Chris Loufte
Feel free to hit me up on LinkedIn | Instagram | (I’m trying to stay off Twitter these days).
-Reuben
HIT REPLY & LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER!
STILL WANT MORE?
In March of 2013, Rosie & Faris left NYC. They've been #OutOfOffice for 5 years and counting. Want more on the nomad lifestyle? Check out Technomadix.co
Want to collaborate with Rosie and Faris? They are a husband and wife team that consult, speak, write, teach, strategize, facilitate & generally play well with others. You should definitely get in touch.
