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Dear <<First Name>>,
With September ending next week, I'll most likely publish a Q3 2020 Habits & Goals Report Card next week. I didn't do one in Q2 but writing my Q1 Habits & Goals Report Card helped me stay motivated especially as we were thick in the scariest parts of the pandemic.
One thing I've enjoyed is mixing up my workouts in the past few weeks. In addition to my strength, yoga, and jump-roping workouts, I've been able to add rowing and biking to the rotation, which gives me more options and less likely to skip a day of working out. Rowing was unavailable for nearly 6 months as our building's gym was closed during the pandemic and only recently opened up again.
My hope is to that as I close out my thirties and enter my forties (just a few years away!), I can have a robust foundation for continuing to build strength, push aerobic limits, and maintain (or even improve) mobility and flexibility even as I age. Of course, this will be a function of putting in the work week in and week out.
Last week's newsletter got a 64.7% open rate. The most clicked link was my post, Personal Finance Stack 2020: 6 Months Later. The most clicked link not by me was Our remote work future is going to suck by Sean Blanda.
Consumed
The Mike Speiser Incubation Playbook by Kevin Kwok (blog post)
Mike Speiser of Sutter Hill Ventures recently cashed in big-time with the IPO of cloud computing company Snowflake (likely $12 billion in returns). Kwok does a deep dive into the unique model that Spesier takes in incubating companies, being the founding investor as well as the interim CEO and how this has given Speiser a 20% hit rate in an industry that sees success in the single digit rate.
Seeing Like an Algorithm by Eugene Wei (blog post)
Fascinating post on how TikTok's ability "to see" has been turbocharged by its ability to feed itself an ever-growing amount of data. The user experience of paginated 1-video-at-a-time (which is counter to the endless scroll of other social apps) has also benefitted the algorithm's ability to capture data and show even more engaging content.
I've never downloaded TikTok and have only heard stories from friends and employees on how easy it is to get sucked into watching hours of videos daily. The algorithm-powered addiction machine is incredibly powerful and Wei does a nice job of detailing how TikTok has harnessed this to grow as a platform.
What is the Measure of a Good Company by Michael Williams (blog post)
Mens fashion blogger Michael Williams comments on the bankruptcy of Brooks Brothers and how their attempts to scale as a business was ultimately their undoing.
"Why is bigger better? Why does multibillion in sales make your company great? Why is that the goal when you are already rich? Even if I had a few hundred million invested in a business I would feel a lot better about the unlikelihood of doubling it if I were just making great things. If I knew I had the best store in the world at a historic address. If I was defying the odds and continuing to run factories across the U.S. when no one had the balls to do it anymore. But what do I know? I don’t have a few hundred million, I’m just a blogger. I hope Brooks Brothers sees this as a wake-up call and changes course."
Created
Netflix Culture Deck: 7 Slides to Remember
I recently picked up No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. It's supposed to be an expanded version of the famous Netflix Culture Deck. I wrote a blog post on the deck nearly 3 years ago and picked out 7 slides that I thought were most applicable and memorable for me at the time. Looking forward to reading the book.
Cheers,
Peter
P.S. Check out my Reading List of books and my Stock Investing page for a peek at some of my stock holdings.
If you like what you've read, please share with your friends. They can sign up for the list here. Also, I always welcome recommendations of any kind–books, podcasts, movies, etc.
About me: Peter Kang is co-founder of Barrel, a digital agency in New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, son, and dog.
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