big ideas

Riskophilia.

This post by Packy McCormick overlaps with Andreessen’s manifesto (linked above). He points out that the prevailing attitude that America has adopted is a shift from a belief that people are competent and responsible to one where they need supervision […]

big ideas

The techno-optimist manifesto.

This recent post by Marc Andreessen is recommended reading for tech enthusiasts and skeptics alike. I particularly liked this line, a reference to the silicon sand that powers our modern world: “We believe Artificial Intelligence is our alchemy, our Philosopher’s […]

to your health

MIND and the media.

Gary Taubes traced how the negative results of a nutrition trial (MIND stands for Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) turned into a slurry of media coverage reaffirming conventional wisdom that the trial did not affirm. This is a sad spectacle. ~ learn more

better doing

Do humans get lazier when robots help with tasks?

“People sometimes relax, letting their colleagues do the work instead. This is called “social loafing,” and it’s common where people know their contribution won’t be noticed or they’ve acclimatized to another team member’s high performance. Scientists at the Technical University […]

tech, startups, internet

Math is hard if you’re an LLM.

“No matter how much data you train them on, they still don’t truly understand multiplication.” Written by Gary Marcus, who “feels really old whenever he has to write articles like this. He had really hoped to have said his last […]

tech, startups, internet

Who should I hire first?

Lenny Rachitsky has unusual access to founders. He asked the CEOs and Founders of successful B2B startups about their first ten hires. “Takeaway: Developers, developers, developers, developers. Over two-thirds of the companies hired an engineer as employee #1. Not a […]

tech, startups, internet

Creating a VC fund portfolio model.

Dave McClure shares the details that go into building a venture capital fund portfolio. “This article aims to help VCs figure out how to size a venture capital fund, how many companies to include in your portfolio, and when and […]