Friends of Dave: Stuff I Learned This Week

Jan 21, 2017

WARNING: THIS IS A TRUMP FREE EDITION

If you are reading this, the world has likely not come to an end. But it is a new world: we have a new POTUS. And no doubt by now, you are probably worn out from all of the coverage. So the only thing I will mention on this topic is: strongly recommend watching the PBS Frontline two part special "Divided States of America" if you can. Really good, comprehensive, and evenly delivered history lesson on how we got to this place as a country.

Got some new readers this week and looking forward to your feedback. As I said last week, this is kind of like creating a weekly party mixtape and I am still working out the right formula, so please bear with me. In the meantime, enjoy and have a great weekend!

XOXO

Dave

For the Deep Thinkers...

The Three Machines — www.feld.com

If you step back and think about all of the activities of a company, they fit in one of three "machines": product, customer and company. However, most leadership teams don’t mirror this.

Is What’s Good for Amazon Good for America? — theringer.com

With ambitious job growth planned in 2017, Amazon is redefining what it means to be a big tech company and may come to define the nature of work in the United States

For The Startup Geeks...

Growing Startups When the Product Sucks — medium.com

Startups are defined by growth, but growth isn’t step one in building a great company. If you focus on trying to grow before you make a product people love, you are unlikely to succeed.

The real reason my startup was successful: privilege. — medium.com

It’s time for more entrepreneurs to stop taking credit for flying to the moon all by themselves, as if the entire support structure they were born into had nothing to do with it.

For the FinTech Geeks...

Mastercard built a mobile marketplace for farmers in East Africa — www.engadget.com

More than two billion people across the world continue to stay unbanked. One of the biggest reasons for that exclusion is accessibility. Mastercard aims to solve this problem.

The Modernizing of Morgan Stanley — cloudtweaks.com

At a time, when the Financial Technology has become an integrated part of the Banking and Brokerage Services, Morgan Stanley is looking "to be careful that we are not penny wise and pound foolish."

The Value of Hot News: Intellectual Property and the Sell-Side Research Industry

This paper assesses the value of research by analyzing a lawsuit brought by major brokers against a third party news aggregator.

For the Data Geeks...

The New Gold Rush? — mattturck.com

The interest in alternative data is surging, and it’s a good time for companies to explore whether they can leverage this trend as a new source of revenue.

For The Hiring Managers...

Never Hire People Without These 3 Characteristics — www.huffingtonpost.com

Instead of relying on the “best” candidates that a tall stack of resumes might yield, dig a little deeper in the hiring process to understand the core characteristics of a potential employee.

Why The Next Person You Hire Should Be A Musician

Work ethic, communications skills, and focus are winning character traits for new hires. Not surprisingly, hiring a musician may be the quickest way to find your next superstar. Especially if they say they have an amp that goes to "11".

For The Marketing Nerds...

Dark Data: The Billion Dollar Opportunity — customerthink.com

For marketers, "dark data" can be the key to finding new insights, creating new revenue opportunities, developing new partnerships and shifting your business into the data-driven century.

How To Go Viral on LinkedIn — www.inc.com

LinkedIn recently revealed some specific tips and insights on what makes posts (and people) go viral on the network.