Friends of Dave #28: Phone A Friend?
Short but really busy week = short opener
Quick show of hands: who among the Friends of Dave is super productive on the morning after a full day of celebrating the nation's birthday and all that goes with it? I thought so.
I don't know about you, but I am not liking the midweek July 4th shenanigans. Totally throws me off my game for the rest of the week. And that was absolutely true this past week for me. Got half the stuff done I thought I would.
So, in light of that, I am going to be making this opener short and sweet. I could BS you and tell you it is some sort of experiment I am trying with the newsletter, but that's just not how I roll. To be honest, if I could phone a friend on this week's preamble, I totally would. It was that kind of week for me, folks.
One thing I will pass along: for those of you who have Amazon Prime (and Prime Video), I highly recommend binge watching "All or Nothing" featuring the LA Rams football team. It was a compelling inside look at the Rams players and staff and their dismal return to LA throughout the 2016 season. Trust me, you do not have to be a football fan to enjoy it, and there are lots of applicable startup, business and management lessons throughout the show to keep you interested. I won't spoil the details, but Episode 6 may have been one of the more gut wrenching hours of television I have watched and it had very little to do with football. Check it out.
That's all I got. I did not take a break on the articles this week, thankfully. Check them out. For you marketers (or anyone who is interested in what makes content go viral), the article on headline analysis is a must read.
Have a great weekend. Back at it again next week.
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
The scientific link between boredom and creativity — qz.com
Think about this: when do people say they conduct some of their deepest, most productive thinking? In the shower. You know what is not there? Their smartphone.
Everyone fails, but only the wise find humility — aeon.co
Failure is like the original sin in the biblical narrative: everyone has it. The key to healing the adverse effects of failure is humility.
For Your Day Job...
We Analyzed 100 Million Headlines. Here’s What We Learned (long read) — buzzsumo.com
Certainly a very long read, but easily the most interesting thing I read all week. As I said before, if you are interested in what makes content go viral on social media, this post has a ton of data driven examples that will help you increase your content game.
Why Startups Like Uber Stumble Over Problems They Could Have Avoided — hbr.org
The challenges to growth are usually internal, and often caused by an "unscalable founder."
China Is Investing Heavily In Artificial Intelligence, And Could Soon Catch Up To The U.S. — www.forbes.com
China is pushing forward development of artificial intelligence, as well as its applications to online and offline business. Could geopolitics be playing a role in this rise?
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
From Ptolemy to GPS, the Brief History of Maps — www.smithsonianmag.com
Icing on the cake would have been if the audio version of this article was narrated by Snoop Dogg.
The Dangers of Reading in Bed — www.theatlantic.com
In 18th-century Europe, the practice was considered a menace to life and property, but mostly to morals. No word if they thought of eating beef jerky in bed was a better alternative....
Robots Are Stealing Your Concert Tickets — www.thedailybeast.com
This wasn't a problem when they were cornering the market on Nickelback and One Direction seats....
And The Last Word....
Why does some music give you the chills?
Think of your favorite song of all time. Play it, even. Take a moment to get lost in the rhythm, the melody, the lyrics, and whatever they make you feel. There is most likely a memory or connection tied to it that give you a feeling that transports you back to the time you first heard it.