A laudatory memo from a recent investor in the Chicago-based insurance startup Kin (disclosure: I’m lucky to be a small investor as well). “The difference between these financial metrics is so stark that we believe Kin will be the defining company of insurtech 2.0. Whereas Lemonade, Hippo, and Root prioritized growth over control, likely believing that risk would normalize at scale, Kin’s model is based on a real understanding of…
If you had a pool of 100 applicants for a secretary position, but had to hire or reject each applicant promptly after their interview, how many should you interview before making a hire? ~ learn more
Bloomberg profiles the world of search funds, where MBA grads look to buy small businesses with money they raise from private investors. ~ learn more
“In a remarkable convergence, scientists have discovered that the same blood factor is responsible for the cognitive enhancement that results from young blood transfusion, the longevity hormone klotho, and exercise.” These three “can somehow tell your brain, “Hey, improve your function,” said Saul Villeda, Ph.D., associate director of the UCSF Bakar Aging Research Institute and the senior author on the Nature paper. “With PF4, we’re starting to understand the vocabulary…
Outstanding result! “A new type of vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) has shown in the lab setting that it can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system.” ~ learn more
A randomized clinical trial of 104 adults, including a placebo group (I wonder if those people quickly figured out which group they were in?). In any case, the results of the psilocybin group look strong. “The primary outcome was change in central rater–assessed Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score (range, 0-60; higher scores indicate more severe depression) from baseline to day 43.” The average for the intervention was -12.3, vs…
“Cargill’s business model has worked for 158 years. Follow the money and you’ll see it ain’t broken yet.” ~ learn more
“The point to all this is just to make explicit what I think so many already know and feel: if we were forced to pinpoint a year, 2012 appears to be a good choice for when the modern world was invented, and we’ve been living in it now for a little over a decade.” ~ learn more
This NPR article says it’s not the water, it’s the process. “Traditionally, Coppedge tells The Salt, the chilled dough rings are poached or boiled in a solution of water and malt barley for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. This pre-gelatinizes the starch in the dough, locking the liquid inside of it and expanding the interior.” ~ learn more
"We engineered E. coli bacteria, the most widely studied microbe, to generate electricity," says Professor Ardemis Boghossian at EPFL. ~ learn more