Like everyone else writing a newsletter, I wrote one, then got busy and took awhile to write another. A new job, a broken fridge, PG&E outages, and a work trip to DC all kept me busy. I found some time as the sun came up this Sunday to put together a brief Episode 2. More links, less writing. Calling it Busybee after the market I used to live down the street from in San Pedro.
I’m using this newsletter as a “best of” list of what I’ve been reading, writing, thinking, watching and listening to. It’s a summary of what’s stuck with me the most over a longer unit of time than other mediums are built for. I’ll aim to send it every 1-3 months.
As always, I’d love your feedback!
VSCO
I joined 10 weeks ago. Wrote a bit about it here. Very happy with the decision. Nothing is more energizing than working on a product people love.
We acquired a company with some truly amazing people and tech.
I’m thinking a lot right now about how people often see photos as a creative outlet, that can be abstract and made for fun, but then think of video as purely about capturing memories. It feels like there’s a whole new medium for creative expression out there to be built and to explore.
Writing
I haven’t written anything public in the past 10 weeks. But my idea backlog is growing. Which of these would you want to read most?
What if we put capital requirements on people, like we do with banks? (Mandated, subsidized rainy-day funds)
Burnout isn’t bad. Continuous work/employment is. (Not sure I believe this yet, but I’ve thought a lot about it, taking time off of work in between roles at fast-growing startups)
Income share agreements will shape where you live in the future (loans = high rent high income cities, ISAs = lower cost of living cities)
The case for the CAA model for every profession
Music
“It's like if some astronauts from Yemen landed at a gospel church in Alabama, and then ended up marooned at a bar in New Orleans, trying to find their way home.” - me, after going to Yemen Blues
I Feel For You - Prince (unreleased)
Intro - DaBaby (get this dude a better producer!)
The Mandalorian Soundtrack - Ludwig Goransson
Movies & TV
Parasite (기생충)
The Report (Adam Driver is amazing in this)
The Mandalorian (I want more baby Yoda though!)
Podcasts
The Book of Basketball 2.0 (Bill Simmons) - listen to the Steve Kerr episode.
Books
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro. (Started, nowhere near finished, but the intro is some of the best writing I have ever read)
The Value of Everything, by Mariana Mazzucato
Tile Makes The Room (Heath Ceramics)
One simple thing you should do:
Buy a flowmeter and put it on your water main, or ask your landlord to do it. Many water utilities in CA will pay for part of the cost. I installed one and immediately found a slow-drip leak in our garage.
Flume Meter (way easier install than others, wraps around water main, no plumbing work required)
Elsewhere
Everything is a subscription business, even solar panels.
$12,049 in traffic tickets is what you pay for making programming jokes on your California license plate.
SF vs. LA, in one sentence.
You can now seal a house to passive house standards using fog.
I prefer my ideas half-baked, like cookies
When people start fires, they start a lot of them.
patio11 breaks down discount brokerages
Are negative yields simply reflecting, not a surplus of capital, but rather a shortage of talent?
What problem is MLB trying to solve by replacing the mud guy?
Even decentralized services need marketing and PR.
Remember Hyperbowl?
Stripe leaves SF and the era of SF as the startup capital is officially over
Dreaming of what you could do with this 1.6 acre fixer in Oakland
Every brand wants to be an experience: Heath Ceramics now has a cabin you can rent in Tahoe
There exists a conference all about Reclaiming Vacant Properties. I might go next year.
Slow down and take on some irresponsible side projects
“Women rate men on a curve that we assume approximates male ownership rates of crocs/cargo shorts”
A Framework for Regulating Competition on the Internet (Stratechery, paywalled)