Hi friends, 

Declarative Statements arrives right before the close of the weekend this time. I've spent the past five days in Colorado for EthDenver, which bills itself as 'the largest and longest running Ethereum event in the world'. Given the conference hosted 15,000 people over 11 days, that statement may in fact be true. 

I had a fantastic time meeting people in real life again (more on that later) while both the equity and crypto markets continued to sell off. 

Today's Contents:

• Good Reads: Sensible Investing
• Review of EthDenver
• Accomplishment Podcast and Helen Zille 
• Weekly Song: Greatest Love Of All 

Good Reads: Sensible Investing

Community prediction markets are at 78% likely that Russia invades Ukraine before 2023. Here. Experts warn of a destabilizing effect for financial markets, and Niall Ferguson declares that investors are often the first casualties of war. Not great news. 

Repository of tokenomics resources. Here from Packy.  

What is a SPV or a Syndicate, and how do they work? by Erik de Stefanis. Good resource here. Increasingly SPVs have been used in venture capital and startup financing.

The Minsky Moment in Venture Capital. Here. TL/DR - the article explains the Minsky principle: in good times, people are encouraged by past success to place larger and larger bets, thinking those bets are less risky than they actually are, when often it's the very existence of these large bets that drives present success and depresses perceived risk. Investors believe the trend will continue indefinitely and become complacent. They invest in lower quality instances of the asset, while increasing their leverage. When the music stops, there can then be large losses. 

The question in the essay is "How could this happen in venture capital?" And the answer seems to be the same way it always happens, but maybe a bit slower and less dynamic given the long funding cycles of private market. 

Beware the FOMO bullies of Technology. TL/DR - it's a critique of web3. Here.

This paragraph below, I agree with and more on that, next. 

The Web3 crowd’s ambitions must be taken seriously: It has the money and the influence and sheer marketing power to make the dream a reality. I believe that Ethereum, the cryptocurrency that powers much of Web3, will be around for a good while. Blockchain technology has attracted so much interest and talent already, and established such a durable culture, that dismissing it out of hand ignores the reality on the ground. Web3 will likely influence the direction of the internet incompletely and unpredictably. But the FOMO-fueled marketing of this technology can still be deeply problematic: It strong-arms people into markets and ideas, attracting grifters, scammers, and the greedy while repelling those who want to build sustainable communities and products.

EthDenver

Accomplishment: Helen Zille

Episode from The Accomplishment Podcast hosted by Sir Michael Barber. Here.

What is the podcast?

The Accomplishment Podcast is based of a book by the same name. In the podcast, Michael (DS community member) discusses his insights on achieving difficult goals and traces the blueprint that can be applied to any area of life with different guests from the worlds of politics, education, sport and music.

Who is Helen Zille?

Helen Zille has been one of the most prominent, and sometimes controversial, figures in South African politics for several decades. The daughter of German Jews who escaped the Holocaust, she has been an activist and campaigned against apartheid her whole career. While working as a journalist in the late 1970s, she helped expose the cover-up of the murder of black activist Steve Biko and has held several different leading political roles in South Africa since.

In this episode of the Accomplishment Podcast, Helen discusses her upbringing, the moral imperative of building a capable state, and the challenges of South African politics.
 

I focus on the Helen Zille episode because I've met her and remember her fondly. 

About six years ago, I found myself leading a small team for an initial consulting assignment to work with the Government of Western Cape in South Africa to build a delivery function.

As is customary, we met with the Premier to kick-off the project. This role was held by Helen Zille (2009-2019). I had arrived on a long-haul flight the day before and made sure I was business professional attire for an 8 am Monday briefing with the Premier. 

We were seated on the long table and arrived early to take our spots. Premier Zille walked in. Her hair looks slightly disheveled, like she had just risen from a nap. She took her seat and pulled out two objects from her purse. First was a comb to run through her hair a few times; then, a tube of bright red lipstick, which she proceeded to apply with precision and without a mirror. 

She remarked, to herself mainly, 'one should always start the day with red lips'.

She then asserted to the room with the faintest hint of impatience 'shall we begin?'

I remember her no-nonsense bravado fondly. 

Weekly Song: Greatest Love Of All 

Happy belated Valentine's Day. I know that it is almost a week delayed, but Whitney's message in this classic song is timeless. 

Greatest Love Of All by Whitney Houston
I decided long ago
Never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me

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

As always,
Katelyn