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Hi there,

I had ambitions to write more this weekend, but I've gone head first into the world of Web3, Gitcoin, and NFTs. I'm a fellow in the latest block of Kernel, which kicked off Friday. I chipped in to join the DAO Masters community to build a public good on the inner-workings of DAOs. And I'm learning to mint my first NFT through Buildspace. Each of these projects is pioneering a new model of working, learning, and credentialing for a Web3 world. I will share more reflections as I actually do more of this work. 

Today's Contents:

  • Weekly Song: Pot Kettle Black
  • Book Review: The Looooong Game by Dorie Clark
  • Good Reads

Weekly Song: Pot Kettle Black


September 18th (last week) was the 10-year anniversary of the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the fourth album by Wilco. Wilco's record label at the time refused to release the album as they felt unhappy about the end result - yet it received widespread acclaim from music critics at release and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 2000s. 



Why was it so successful? The Atlantic explains that "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's triumph was in how it captured a facet of human nature: the way we all send signals, hoping that someone will understand them but also anxious about what happens when someone does. You'll sometimes hear the album get called cryptic, or self-conscious, or difficult. And that's fine. It's really a soundtrack for the ways in which people ask to be misunderstood."

Pot Kettle Black is about not criticizing others for traits that you (we) all have in ourselves. It's a timeless message. 
 

Pot Kettle Black by Wilco
You're tied in a knot
But I'm not gonna get caught
Calling a pot kettle black
Every song's a comeback
Every moment's a little bit later

Lazy locomotives
Wherever you may roll
I think you have no motive
I know you have no home

It's become so obvious
You are so oblivious to yourself

Book Review: The Looooooong Game



Congratulations to DS community member, Dorie Clark, for the launch of her latest book, titled The Looooooong Game: How to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world. Link here for the book. 

I was giddy when Dorie asked me to review her book and sent me an early copy for two reasons:

  1. I vehemently agree with the premise of the book. As you can see, I had enough whitespace in my schedule to read and review the book in a matter of days. That's by design. 
  2. Dorie is an exceptionally clear communicator - it would be a pleasure to read and would contain valuable advice that I could absorb quickly. 
I wasn't let down on either front. 

Dorie's key insight, on which the book is based, is that 97% of senior leaders rated strategic thinking - the ability to focus deliberately on long-term priorities - as key to their success, but in a separate study 96% of respondents claimed they don't have enough time to plan for the long-term. The Looooong Game is a three-step solution to attack that disconnect. She provides thoughtful and practical actions that you can take to free up your time, focus on what's important, and achieve long-term goals. (You'll have to read the book for more!). 

Throughout the book, Dorie provides examples from her life and the careers of others on how to play the long game. Dorie's bio reads like an onslaught of the most prestigious publications and institutions in the world. And that's all important. The most distinctive element of Dorie's story is her commitment to her own creations in artistic fields, such as her persistence in writing a Broadway musical - an in-progress goal. And her tidbit of advice buried in the middle: Optimize for interesting as opposed to trying to optimize for an outcome. Said another way, it's about the journey, not the destination. 

As we come out of Covid, the timing for this book is perfect. The New York Times published an opinion piece today titled "The Future of Work Should Mean Working Less". You can read it here. The author writes that 'We now have space to reimagine how a job fits into a good life'. That should also mean that more people have more time to play the long game. 

I hope this piques your interest. I highly recommend The Long Game.

Sensible Investing: Good Reads


A Labor Movement for the Platform Economy.  Here written by Li Jin in Harvard Business Review.

Apex of a Bubble. Here from the Bireme Capital. The firm had a great Q1 and poor Q2. What will Q3 and Q4 bring? Will there be a switch back to value as Research Affiliates suggests in Institutional Investor?

Great VC Resignation? There was a lot of talk this week after a few luminaries in venture capital announced they were stepping back. 

History's Seductive Beliefs. I always feel that my thinking is a clearer, stronger, and more balanced after reading the latest from Morgan Housel. 

Scaling to $100M. A guide to the definitive metrics (read: ARR) that cloud companies should use. From Bessemer.

Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch. 

Blessings,
Katelyn

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