Techno, but with analog musical instruments.
“MEUTE is a Techno Marching Band - eleven drummers and horn players from Hamburg / Germany who fulfil the job of a dj with their acoustic instruments.” This is absolutely awesome. ~ learn more
P.S. You Should Know… is the weekly newsletter behind most of it. Each spoke below is one issue.
November 8, 2026
“MEUTE is a Techno Marching Band - eleven drummers and horn players from Hamburg / Germany who fulfil the job of a dj with their acoustic instruments.” This is absolutely awesome. ~ learn more
“42 shifted from mostly boys to mostly girls, while just 12 went the other way.” The data runs across US baby names from 1936 to 2025, and it includes 125 names whose boy girl split moved a lot over time. ~ learn more
Yoni Rechtman talked to 60 people in the data-for-AI market to steer his analysis. “Looked at like a financial market the dislocations are clear: there’s no standardized pricing, there’s no standardized unit of value, the spreads are very wide, the transaction costs are very high.” Rechtman argues the data market feels like a wildly immature financial market today, but it likely evolves into a barbell: “the Walmart of tokens” on…
To my American ears, they sound smart, even when the words aren’t. “Tech critic Ed Zitron exposes the AI bubble, why OpenAI and Anthropic are burning billions, the fake AI boom, and why the crash could wipe out the ENTIRE economy!” ~ learn more
Brooks’ Law says adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. “Adding agents to a project with unclear requirements gets you the wrong answer faster.” A neat take on why AI doesn’t magically remove coordination overhead, it just moves it onto you, the human who has to define “done” and catch hallucinations. ~ learn more
“Internally at Andon Labs, our reaction is more accurately described by the Swedish saying ‘skräckblandad förtjusning’ (a mixture of horror and fascination).” They built Pion after watching models go from looping in sims to running real vending machines profitably, and they want more real-world trials to surface weird, power-seeking behavior early. ~ learn more
“In a lot of ways, texture is one of the most powerful and yet somehow underrated parts of the food experience.” Food companies are chasing “mouthfeel” with things like air-whipped coffee, multi-layer candies, and coatings that keep fries crispy even after delivery. ~ learn more
“it is often much more useful to first think in levels rather than growth rates, and only then to back out the implied growth rate” The authors argue that “double-digit growth” claims hide some crazy arithmetic: even being 2x richer in 15 years maps to about 4.7% a year, which would already be massive. ~ learn more
For the same reason one has a hardware Bitcoin wallet, one may not want criminals to know they have one. Trezor used a third-party warehouse to ship its products, later asking them to delete their customers’ data. Now the 3PL has been breached, and oops… “We are very disappointed that, despite receiving this confirmation, the data was not deleted in their systems.” Trezor says a ShipMonk breach exposed names, emails,…
Mind-expanding! Michael Levin’s 49 minute talk for a philosophy audience is a tour of how he frames agency, pattern, and form as something biology seems to pull from. “It covers some more ways I think about the latent space of patterns that in-forms biology and cognitive science.” ~ learn more
“Carbon monoxide has anti-inflammatory effects and in the brain helps to counteract cell stress,” explains Toni Pitcher. A huge study in China found that higher carbon monoxide levels, even among never-smokers, correlated with lower Parkinson’s risk, though the authors stress it’s observational and smoking is not the answer. ~ learn more
“Then one day, about two years later, I’m scrolling on Instagram and I came across an ad for Kalshi,” said Thomas, who had previously self-excluded from DraftKings and FanDuel after years of debt. He says the bonus offer pulled him back in fast: “Betting $10 became a couple hundred ... and before long I was more than $25,000 in the red.” ~ learn more
“I don’t have mentors, I have role models.” Hunter Walk argues mentorship has gotten “self-proclaimed, over-used and diluted,” while role models scale and do not even need to know they are helping you. ~ learn more
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.” The piece argues that most “original” ideas are either rediscoveries or untested dead ends, and that borrowing proven memes can feel like pushing the boulder downhill. ~ learn more
“I spent 20,000 dollars in API credits having different AI models play each other at Blood on the Clocktower (a Mafia or Werewolf type social deception game). The results were fascinating. Models have gotten much better over the course of this year at creative on-the-spot scheming and bluffing, and also at reasoning as a team to break apart these underground conspiracies.” ~ learn more
“A report in the National Fire Protection Association’s quarterly journal called them, quote, ‘a pitiful delusion,’ saying that they ‘contributed to the principal element of tragedy to all fires where panic resulted.’” The piece traces how external fire escapes went from obvious retrofit to code-smell, and why enclosed stairwells became the boring, safer winner. ~ learn more
Color is the year. Thicker spine, longer notes.
The longer pieces
September 2026 · 2 min read
I notice a lot of fear-mongering online about AI leading to human doom is making people nervous. It’s clear why: predictions come from people who are held in high esteem by the media, with…
February 2024 · 2 min read
I was contemplating a minor business problem with a colleague. He sat quietly while a stream of words came out of my mouth. Eventually he commented that we were both thinking, but he was…
January 2024 · 1 min read
On January 1st, I woke up hangover-free and mostly recovered from a brief illness. I had a nagging thought. For several weeks since Charlie Munger died, I had a desire to find my copy…
October 2023 · 1 min read
I met an entrepreneur who is in the early stages of building a business. They asked whether I had any tips for them. I had to decline, as I’ve learned to avoid tips since…
October 2023 · 2 min read
They say time kills all deals. Salespeople know this saying well, as they probably use it more than anyone else. They design sales processes with it in mind. But I notice it even when…
September 2023 · 2 min read
When we moved in to our new home in Austin a few years ago, I was gung-ho on installing smart home devices everywhere. I never fully realized my vision, but I did manage to…
June 2023 · 1 min read
This week, I had a chance to call references for a candidate who is on track to join our team. I really enjoy these calls because I get to learn on a few different…
February 2023 · 1 min read
About a week ago our daughter confidently declared that people named Ian always copy—that’s just what they do! We’ve been reading the children’s book Olivia to her for years. Early in the book, we’re…
May 2022 · 1 min read
. After the last big crisis in '08, it took me many years to recover a positive outlook. I was years too late. I like to think of myself as an opportunistic buyer who…
March 2022 · 1 min read
To invest money in a business during its infancy means taking a fair amount of risk — there's a good chance you'll never see that money again. Often early-stage investors will talk about developing…
September 2021 · 2 min read
September 2021: the 35x I passed on I passed on a startup investment in 2016. They were building something a bit esoteric, but I understood its value. The market needed what they had, and…
July 2021 · 1 min read
A decade ago, I spent a meaningful part of my work time writing code. In part because doing it myself saved money, and in part because I really love the work. If you've ever…
May 2021 · 1 min read
Work in process. In manufacturing, there are three types of inventory: raw materials, work in process and finished goods. Even though I've never worked in manufacturing, I think a lot about work in process.…
April 2021 · 1 min read
"Error bars are graphical representations of the variability of data and used on graphs to indicate the error or uncertainty in a reported measurement." (Source: Wikipedia) When we make predictions or estimates, it's helpful…
February 2021 · 1 min read
Am I making it different or making it better? I didn't always wonder this, but nowadays I do. When I'm holding the editor's red pen, my tendency is to use it liberally. At first,…
January 2021 · 2 min read
George has been a mentor since early in my career. During a call long ago, I outlined my ongoing initiatives. He said, "You know, Pavel, one of these days remind me to teach you…
January 2021 · 1 min read
I had a professor in college who taught me two valuable lessons. Lesson one began when I bolted up to him after class to argue about a grade. I had been arguing in my…
December 2020 · 2 min read
As the end of 2020 approaches, I find myself in an optimistic mood. There are so many reasons to be optimistic. One that I have thought about a few times this year is global…
November 2020 · 1 min read
One evening this week, Kim brought up a topic that I spent about a minute confidently opining on until I finished my thought with, "actually, I have no idea what I'm talking about." It…
November 2020 · 1 min read
I'm thinking about habits because I've been off course for a few weeks in my work and I finally managed to get back on track. Ruts persist because feedback loops are powerful Habits are…
October 2020 · 1 min read
In software, we tend to label unwanted or unexpected behavior as bugs. Funny programmers will, however, proclaim their bugs are actually "undocumented features." Sometimes the line between feature and bug is blurry. I read…
September 2020 · 3 min read
Growing up, we were told TV would rot our brains. So, instead, I’ve been watching documentaries! For years. I’m guessing you have too. They’re a great alternative to fiction movies and TV shows. They…
August 2020 · 1 min read
My daughter Petra prefers to wash her hands with cold water. I encouraged her to use warmer water, telling her it gets her hands cleaner. Kim overheard me and asked, "Is that actually true?"…
January 2020 · 8 min read
Imagine you own an apartment complex. You’re awoken late one night by a barrage of panicked tenants: a criminal snuck in and changed each and every lock. Worse, any attempt to pick or change…
January 2020 · 14 min read
If I say “think of your body,” what do you picture? Your eyes? Your heart? Your toes? Do you think about your bacteria? Perhaps you should; current science suggests our microbes are as much…
December 2019 · 5 min read
Pictured: A CGM on somebody's arm (not mine) I tracked my glucose levels for twenty-eight days using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Instead of traditional twice-a-day finger pricks, CGMs check glucose at regular intervals…
December 2019 · 7 min read
My personal mission is to spend my time working on interesting projects alongside people who I like and respect. How did I get there? Luck found me I've been successful and I've been lucky.…
November 2019 · 4 min read
Every year venture capital all-star Mary Meeker releases a report with loads of data about the world going digital. I've decided to showcase my favorite slides and what I took away from them. Internet…
May 2019 · 5 min read
When I was a youngster, I would labor at the keyboard of our family computer trying to make it do as I said. You might say I “taught myself” how to program. What does…
July 2018 · 3 min read
The Global Hub is a sexy new building for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. It sits next to Lake Michigan, and is heavy on dramatic views of both the Lake and…