Ben’s List for Entrepreneurs W51 – Selected

As mentioned in previous articles, this reading list is already 1 week old when we publish it. And I must confess that I have a strange feeling of self accomplishment when I review the post before it goes live (Dan is the one who makes it look so cool by the way).

I learn a few things from looking into my older brain. First of all,

Curiosity is one of the most undervalued skills for an entrepreneur.

Of course, there’s a fine line between curiosity and distraction, but I believe that nurturing your lateral thinking is actually a strong asset when it comes to problem solving and creativity.

Second, and this is especially true during a global pandemic,

It’s critical to reserve time for self awareness and personal development,

I’ve been working from home since end of August, often blurring the line between my personal and professional life. Revisiting these lists after a while allows me to review some articles and find new ideas that I missed during the first pass. Thinking takes time.

And last but certainly not least,

we’re not alone in this journey.

Knowledge workers are still a new category of professionals who are looking for each other. We’re testing tools and softwares to improve our craft, and launching new businesses to solve these new problems. In a new world.

Would you enjoy this piece as much if it was curated by a machine? Let me know on Twitter.

Books

The 99% Invisible City

“Here is a field guide, a boon, a bible, for the urban curious. Your city’s secret anatomy laid bare—a hundred things you look at but don’t see, see but don’t know. ” — Mary Roach, NYT bestselling author of Gulp, Stiff, and Grunt

• Link: 99percentinvisible.org/book/
• Author: Roman Mars, Kurt Kohlstedt

Great Founder Theory

I discovered this and found it quite interesting, but I’m not sure if this is for real, or wtf? Either way, made me think.

• Link: samoburja.com/gft
• Author: Samo Burja

Mental Health

Tony Hsieh

If you do nothing else today, read this.

I’m not going to sugar coat it, it’s not pretty. But it is on point, and if we’re all honest with each other, we’ve all seen someone exhibiting some similar traits. Be on the lookout. For each other, and yourself.

“When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble,” – Jewel

Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy: The Self-Destructive Last Months Of The Zappos Visionary

When the business icon died in a fire last week, questions abounded. The answers seem rooted in a Covid-period spiral, where he turned to drugs and shunned old friends.

ForbesAngel Au-Yeung

• Link: forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/
• Author: Angel Au-Yeung, David Jeans

Security

The potential harms of the Tor anonymity network cluster disproportionately in free countries

“Using data collected from Tor entry nodes, we provide an estimation of the proportion of Tor network users that likely employ the network in putatively good or bad ways. … with more potentially malicious Tor users in “free” countries (∼7.8%) than in “not free” regimes (∼4.8%).”

The potential harms of the Tor anonymity network cluster disproportionately in free countries

Measuring the proportion of Tor anonymity network users who employ the system for malicious purposes is important as this technology can facilitate child abuse, the sale of illicit drugs, and the distribution of malware. We show that only a small fraction of users globally (∼6.7%) likely use Tor for…

PNASView ORCID Profile

• Link: pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/24/2011893117
• Author: Eric Jardine, Andrew M. Lindner, and Gareth Owenson

Newsletters

The best newsletters to follow on European tech

Startup News, Weekly Roundups, Data, Deeptech, … and the list goes on. Great compilation. Now if only they had an Events category …

The best newsletters to follow on European tech | Sifted

Sifted journalists’ favourite startup and tech-related newsletters — from fintech to food to funding round analysis.

SiftedAmy Lewin

• Link: sifted.eu/articles/europe-startup-newsletters
• Author: Amy Lewin

Community / Marketing

The Community Playbook for Founders

“Community-driven companies harness the force of a highly engaged and passionate ecosystem of members to drive adoption, growth, and success. Our hope is that this playbook will support entrepreneurs who share our vision for the power of community.”

The Community Playbook

Strategies and stories for founders building community-driven companies.

• Link: communityplaybook.flybridge.com
• Author: Flybridge Capital

Mapping the Creator Economy

Gold. Mine!

Mapping the Creator Economy

I spent the past couple of months going down the Creator Economy rabbit hole. Here is a map of 150+ companies I found.

@HugoAmsellemHugo Amsellem

• Link: hugo.pm/mapping-the-creator-economy
• Author: Hugo Amsellem

Social Media

LinkedIn’s Alternate Universe

And I quote:

LinkedIn is the fucking worst.

LinkedIn’s Alternate Universe

How the professional platform makes networking weird

EverythingFadeke Adegbuyi

• Link: divinations.substack.com/p/linkedins-alternate-universe
• Author: Fadeke Adegbuyi

Psychology

This Is How To Change Someone’s Mind: 6 Secrets From Research

Authored in December of 2019, but has lost zero value.

The 6 Secrets:

• Use Rapoport’s Rules
• Facts Are The Enemy
• Use The “Unread Library Effect”
• Use Scales
• Use Disconfirmation
• Serious Beliefs Are About Values And Identity

• Link: bakadesuyo.com/2019/12/change-someones-mind
• Author: Eric Barker

Food & Beverage

Lab-grown chicken to be sold in Singapore

Just-Eat receives “first-in-the-world regulatory approval” in Singapore.

Lab-grown chicken to be sold in Singapore after ‘world’s first’ approval for cultured meat

SINGAPORE: Consumers in Singapore can soon get a taste of lab-grown or cultured chicken after food technology start-up Eat Just received the go-ahead to sell the product here.

CNARachel Phua

• Link: channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/eat-just-lab-grown-chicken-cultured-meat-first-approval-sfa-13681072
• Author: Rachel Phua

Stocking up for a sober-curious Christmas

While the pandemic has resulted in an overall increase in alcohol consumption (up 14% year-on-year in the US according to the JAMA Network Open), for many people it has also been an opportunity to reflect on how healthy their current lifestyle is.

Brands selling alcohol-free alternatives have, as a result, seen their sales soar. Nielsen says sales of alcohol-free beers have risen 38% during the pandemic, while Athletic Brewing claims its sales have grown by more than 400%.

Stocking up for a sober-curious Christmas

Sales of no- and low-alcohol drinks are snowballing in the run-up to the festive break.

• Link: thingtesting.com/stories/sober-curious-christmas
• Author: Sarah Drumm

Music

Creator tools: The music industry’s new top of funnel

… this new breed of production tools and services, often subscription-based, are reinventing the creative process and will reshape the long-term view of what a music company is.

Creator tools: The music industry’s new top of funnel

For most of 2020, MIDiA has been working on a major piece of work around the fast-growing creator tools space. The themes we had already started working on became rocket propelled with the onset of the…

MIDiA Research logoMark Mulligan

• Link: midiaresearch.com/blog/creator-tools-the-music-industrys-new-top-of-funnel
• Author: Mark Mulligan

Tool / Game

Common misconceptions about UN Goals

Think you’re in tune with the UN Goals? Try this test on for size. Yeah, I got a few wrong too.

• Link: upgrader.gapminder.org/t/sdg-world-un-goals
• Author: Gapminder Worldview Upgrader