Friends of Dave: Lucky #13
It's funny: one unexpected side effect of me compiling the newsletter over the past 13 weeks has been that I find myself writing with increasing frequency. As I bookmark articles to include in this email, I find myself also developing my thoughts and reactions beyond just occasional tweets. So as you may have seen, I wrote an article last week entitled "Every Business is a Data Business" that was also syndicated by Datafloq. Not bad. I'm hoping to complete parts 2 and 3 of this thread over the coming weeks so stay tuned for more shameless promotion here.
In the meantime, I will report that I enjoy and look forward to using this space as a weekly opportunity to briefly connect with a random grouping of friends, colleagues, and business contacts. Another cool aspect about doing this is that, because I am connected to almost all of the subscribers in one way or another, I include articles that I know will be of interest to specific readers. You may not always click on them, but at least you know I'm thinking about you....
I'm still trying to tinker with the formula here (like you will see that I have switched up the headings this week, and may alter the subject line format again), but overall have been getting positive reviews and occasional feedback from the readership (and, thankfully, NO unsubscribes at this point). For instance, my wife tells me she likes the "quirky" stories I include, but says the FinTech and AI stuff "really do nothing for me." So if you see an issue with just the random stories in the future, telltale sign I may have landed in the doghouse that week...
Enjoy the 13 stories I have included below for Lucky 13 (the wilderness article leading off was especially fascinating to me). Also, unrelated, if you enjoy comedy, I would highly recommend catching the two Dave Chappelle specials now streaming on Netflix. Provocative, raunchy, and hilarious: you will not be disappointed. Just put the kids to bed first.
Have a great weekend.
XOXO
Dave
Think On This...
Alone in the Wilderness for 27 years (long read)
At the age of 20, Christopher Knight parked his car on a remote trail in Maine and walked away with only the most basic supplies. He had no plan. His chief motivation was to avoid contact with people.
Focusing is an Art, Not a Science — www.farnamstreetblog.com
Productivity is all the rage. Doing more is often a matter of focusing on one thing and doing it well. Good tips here to implement the art of focus in your workflow.
Noam Chomsky's 5 Filters of the Mass Media Machine — www.filmsforaction.org
Fascinating, well produced, and timely animated description of how mass media truly works. Worth the 4 min 47 seconds.
Stories For Your Day Job
How A Toxic Culture Can Kill Your Company — christianjfarber.com
A toxin is a form of poison created by, amongst other things, human beings. Chris Farber explores how toxic cultures destroy productivity and how fostering a culture of integrity leads to more meaningful results.
Creating an Army of Sales SNIPERs — wolfofyorkstreet.com
The best salespeople today are the ones that are able to demonstrate an extraordinarily ability to use the resources they have to research, select and close business consistently and predictably. But are they SNIPERs?
Why Venture Capitalists Don’t Do Marketing Like the Rest of Us — thinkgrowth.org
Know more about your space than anyone else — and prove it constantly.
We can all learn some important lessons about marketing and branding from a surprising source: well known venture capitalists.
Ticketmaster is using its software — and your data — to improve the customer experience — www.recode.net
It’s an $8 billion problem for the live events business. Live Nation’s ticketing giant is rolling out a “Verified Fan” program that’s supposed to cut down on automated ticket scalping by using data to ultimately improve the fan experience.
Digital Banking Innovation and Millennial Entrepreneurship — banking.com
The financial services space is learning the hard way that the key to attracting (and keeping) Millennials is to use FinTech as a way of creating a more connected and personalized banking experience—one rich with client data and insights at the touch of a button.
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness....
There was an outbreak of cannibalism 10,000 years ago in Spain — arstechnica.com
Archaeologists find evidence that humans cooked and ate other humans in an ancient cave. No word yet if that cave also had a Dollar Menu....
A quarter of US beer drinkers have switched to marijuana, or would if it was legal — qz.com
And this comes at a time when Woody Harrelson has publicly shunned smoking herb....but beer companies shouldn't worry too much. I think there is very little chance that Weed Pong would REALLY take off.
The Psychological Explanation for Why Tetris Is So Addicting — nymag.com
No, this is not an article I dug up from the trunk I took to college almost 30 years ago. And don't be surprised if we find out that this is just part of the Russian plot to take over the country.
India's seniors are so lonely they're renting grandkids for company — qz.com
This is all my wife and I had to hear. We've got three teenagers and a 6 year old that we'd be happy to put on a plane and send their way.....
And The Last Word....
The complicated legacy of Chuck Berry Chuck Berry has died age 90, rightly remembered as the legend who shaped rock and roll. But his misdeeds can't be ignored in the rush to glorify an icon.
Got feedback? Questions? Suggestions? Email me: dave@slingstonegroup.com