fun facts
Beethoven the astute businessman
“The musical genius also had a flair for commerce, it turns out.” | learn more
big ideas
Six easy steps to avert the collapse of civilization
The video is gone, but the summary remains and it’s certainly more succinct. “Civilizations always think they’re immortal, Eagleman noted, but they nearly always perish, leaving “nothing but ruins and scattered genetics.” It takes luck and new technology to survive. […]
big ideas
The Great Stagnation, optimism, and critical thinking
For about a decade, there’s been a view among some sharp thinkers that innovation is slowing. There’s plenty of detailed evidence to support this view. But this week, among that same group, there is been optimism. Cracks in the Great Stagnation and Techno-optimism […]
thoughts of food
A short history of yogurt
This post is on a microbiology blog, so bacteria take center stage. “Human consumption of fermented milk likely goes back thousands of years to the dawn of civilization, when milk-producing animals were first domesticated. The reason seems obvious, without refrigeration […]
under the microscope
Manipulating the microbiome in plants and humans
I only recently learned about Flagship Pioneering and I have a small crush on them. They’ve founded over 100 companies, including Moderna (a name you’re hearing often in vaccine context), with 22 IPOs since 2013. Here’s them on plants: “Plants […]
retail therapy
The state of automation in supply chains
Prologis is the largest owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate in the United States. “Three trends are aligning to drive higher levels of automation within our facilities.” | learn more
retail therapy
The most expensive plain vanilla index funds
Index funds and efficient markets seem like an inseparable match. They look good compared to actively managed funds that don’t, on average, earn their fees. But what about the efficient market for index funds? Why do so many pay extra […]
to your health
Free market vaccines
The Grumpy Economist, John Cochrane, offers a thought experiment on Covid-19 if we had a free market for vaccines. Libertarians will love this. I think he makes a compelling case for non-libertarians as well. | learn more
better doing
“Airbnb broke my heart.”
Northwestern’s Melissa Kaufman shares her personal story of almost joining Airbnb in the very early days and the lesson she took from the experience. Punchline: “Forget about the title, compensation, and role. When you stumble upon something that you believe […]
tech, startups, internet
He was accepted into YC twice, with 2 different ideas, in back-to-back years
What I like about this is the author’s process for idea discovery—going and talking to people in the target market, then building a product that launches quickly to get real feedback. At the same time, this left me with a […]