Ben’s List for Entrepreneurs W52 – Selected

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Curiously enough, I now realize that there is a red thread among this week list of articles – with a few exceptions of course. It is all about understanding people.

How do venture capitalists build networks and platforms to get access to the best talent? With people.

How do you build better products? Listening to your users (people).

How do we avoid algorithm bias when coding intelligent machines? Keeping people in mind.

Doing a newsletter? Ask your readers.

What about podcast growth? Well, the human voice is so… human.

And how do you become a better person? Listening to yourself, better.

You see, it’s all about the people. Tech is still a people business.

We’re also checking some key trends in social media, venture investment and climate change (TL;DR: it’s bad).

So let’s dive in those 12 articles, 1 book and a special message for 2020.

Book

PYTHAGORAS’ TROUSERS | Kirkus Reviews

“The role of women in mathematics and physics through the ages, starting with the Pythagoreans. … the stories of the females who tackled physics, astronomy, and mathematics (and the men who encouraged them)”.

PYTHAGORAS’ TROUSERS | Kirkus Reviews
Are physicists a priesthood excluding women on age-old grounds that women can’t be “ordained″? So argues Wertheim, Australian- educated physicist/mathematician cum science writer. Taking the long view, she traces the role of women in mathematics and physics through the ages, starting with the Pyth…
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Venture Capital

7 Rejections

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. Perhaps even more relevant today.

7 Rejections
On June 26, 2008, our friend Michael Seibel introduced us to 7 prominent investors in Silicon Valley. We were attempting to raise $150,000 at a $1.5M valuation. That means for $150,000 you could have…
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Paths into Venture Capital: Decoding the VC Platform role

A Platform role (or roles) vary by title but responsibilities typically fall into these six buckets:

  • Talent
  • Business Development
  • Content, Marketing & Communications
  • Community & Network
  • Operations
  • Events

Paths into Venture Capital: Decoding the VC Platform role
In this series, “Get a job in VC,” we’ll cover how to break into the venture capital industry, including the right way to approach the search, paths into investing and Platform roles, resources for…
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Building A Network In VC: Random Acts Of Kindness

One of the most important assets a venture capitalist can have is their network. A strong network can be the source of deal flow and intel about live rounds, a value-add to your portfolio companies, knowledge about market dynamics, and much more. As much as data science and technology is permeating the industry, nothing trumps the power of a strong network.

#15: Building a network in VC: random acts of kindness
Random acts of kindness go a long way.
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  • Link: socraticvc.com/posts/15-building-a-network-in-vc-random-acts-of-kindness
  • Author: Aksha Bajwa

The Capital Behind Venture: 2020 (Report)

Nice, consolidated report covering the European VC ecosystem. Post-Christmas day reading!

The Capital Behind Venture
The Capital Behind Venture Report provides insights from Limited Partners and family offices who are interested in investing in Europe’s most promising venture funds.
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Sustainability

The Environmental Impact of 2020: Nature is not healing

The Mona Loa Observatory reported a seasonal peak of 417.1 parts per million in May 2020, compared to 408 ppm in 2019. It is the highest monthly reading ever recorded, in millions of years.”

FUCK.

The Environmental Impact of 2020: Nature is not healing – Plan A Academy
This report investigates the environmental impact of 2020 during the covid19 pandemic. Nature is not healing. What is an environmental impact?

Politics

The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty

[Our Clients are] enmeshed in so many different algorithms that are barring them from basic services. And the clients may not be aware of that, because a lot of these systems are invisible.

The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty
A growing group of lawyers are uncovering, navigating, and fighting the automated systems that deny the poor housing, jobs, and basic services.
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Newsletter

Curiosity and consistency: thoughts on growing a newsletter

In the early days, all that matters is to build the habit and to be consistent so you can find your voice and define your value. Making mistakes is one of the best ways to grow. Try to only look up information on a “need-to-learn” basis.

Curiosity and consistency: thoughts on growing a newsletter

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Management

Read This Before Joining as Employee 1 to 20 at a Startup

When I say it’s a trial by fire for first employees, it’s also in a way you may not consider. The first person they fire will have an outsized impact on that team’s future.

Read This Before Joining as Employee 1 to 20 at a Startup
Stacy La made the leap from design at Yammer and Microsoft to Clover Health, when the bootstrapped startup was only four people. Now, the company’s raised over $425M, 500+ employees strong, and La leads an eight-person design team. Read on for her tactics on how to survive — and thrive — as an early…
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Product

The Founder’s Guide to Actually Understanding Users

  1. Generative user research
  2. eVALUEative user testing
  3. Usability testing
  4. Continuous discovery

The Founder’s Guide to Actually Understanding Users
When building any technology product, one of the most common pieces of advice is “talk to your users.” But the default way most of us talk to customers and prospects is unscientific and fraught with…
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Social Media

The Next Phase of Social? Listen Closely

Because when Andreessen Horowitz calls it, it’s usually worth a listen.

We anticipate that the audio innovation of the next decade will rival what we’ve seen in video apps over the past few years.

The Next Phase of Social? Listen Closely

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Pinterest Predicts 2021 (report)

THIS! All of this! Trust me.

Pinterest predicts 150+ emerging trends for the year ahead.
From athflow fashion to Japandi aesthetic, these top trends for 2021 are sourced straight from Pinterest’s future-facing data.
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Psychology

How To Think For Yourself

Paul Graham. Need I say more?

How to Think for Yourself

Fuck 2020

Oh behalf of the entire world, Canadian social impact agency Public Inc. absolutely nails it. I mean, when even the known-for-their-politeness Canadians are producing a message like this, well … yeah. Fuck 2020.

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