10/2/2020 Recommended Issues: Founders' Lies, Cancer, Toronto

10/2/2020 Recommended Issues: Founders' Lies, Cancer, Toronto
Oct
02
Fri

Good day!

Each week we handpick newsletter issues by independent writers you may have missed that provide new or unique perspectives. 

If you read last week's and would like to subscribe or leave a review of any of the highlighted newsletters, you can do that here: The Weeklypedia, Mind & Machine, Further, and Maker MindThe narrowSCALE community really appreciates it!

Here's what's worth reading this week...enjoy!

(Also, if someone forwarded you this and you'd like to subscribe, you can do that here-- thanks!)


 

ARE FOUNDERS ALLOWED TO LIE?

Are Founders Allowed to Lie, in Two Truths and a Take by Alex Danco on September 20

As I read through a gluttonous amount of newsletters this week, this issue of Alex Danco’s Two Truths and a Take was mentioned by a surprising number of them. What he gets at here are unspoken conventions (and powers) that enable founders to paint future visions as present facts as long as those founders stay within a set of expected norms. He explains how it’s different than in public companies, what happens if the norms aren’t followed, and why it’s still a taboo topic with founders and VCs. It’s worth reading to have another perspective for interpreting tech promises and news-- and to better understand a bit more about how this whole start-up system works. (2475 words; 9 minutes) Read it...


ON THE HEALTH FRONT… COLORECTAL CANCER & HEALTH QUESTIONS

Colorectal cancer screening in Peter Attia on September 27,
Weight is a contextual issue, here’s what I mean, in Not Another Diet by Rebecca Thomas on September 25

I know, I’m pretty sure I lost you at colorectal. But if you did read this far, thanks. Colorectal cancer has been in the news lately after the death of Chadwick Boseman, but nowhere have I encountered such a thorough and comprehensible write-up on how colorectal cancer looks and develops, what the data really suggests for when to go for an exam (and how your risk tolerance plays into it), how colonoscopies vs.sigmoidoscopies actually work, the miss-rate data-- and the implications of the miss-rate data. Given that colorectal cancer is one of the top 5 deadliest cancers in the US-- and is fairly preventable-- it seems well worth reading this article to really wrap your head around it and be able to make well-informed choices. (2523 words; 9 minutes)  Read it...

I’m also going to throw this one out there. I’m not a doctor and I’m not a diet-person, but when I read through Rebecca’s newsletter this week related to health/exercise/diets, it did make me stop and think; she posits that how you set up your life may have a bigger impact on weight than ingredients and exercise programs. What I found most interesting is that she asks you to ask yourself: "what in your life, in your environment, actually sabotages you?" … uncomfortable running shoes (so you don’t run/walk as much)? Cluttered counters (so you don’t cook as much & eat out more)? Easy-access sweets in the cupboard (so you easily eat them)? etc. It is a fun mental exercise to read through and think about these questions in the context of one’s own life. The newsletter is short, life is too. (331 words; 1 minute) Read it...
 

...FOR CANADIANS…

A cornucopia of consultants in City Hall Watcher, by Matt Elliott on September 28

Canadian readers (and most specifically those from Toronto): This week, I wanted to call out City Hall Watcher (a newsletter about what’s happening in Toronto’s city government) because a free newsletter issue was published. Normally it is a paid publication (delivered each Monday), but every few months, Matt Elliott posts a free, publicly viewable one. You won’t find a deeper dive into what’s happening in local government, replete with intelligible graphs, great insight, useful information and interpretation, and more. If you’re in Toronto and want insight into the government, City Hall Watcher shouldn’t be missed. This specific issue covers how money has been spent on consultants over the past 10 years, what type of projects it’s being used on, who’s actually doing the consultant work, etc. And it also has a fun graph about parking tickets over the last 30 years. Read it...


A few random facts I learned this week from reading newsletters:

  • Some of Neptune’s moons are more than 100 times further away from Neptune (45million kms) than our moon is from us (400kms). In Bad Astronomy Newsletter on 9/28.

  • Density of “Robot Workers” in South Korea is more than two times greater than any other country! 855 robots per 10k employees. Next closest was Japan at 364 robots/10k employees. In Pulse on 9/27/20.

  • Delta’s NPS (net promoter score- the willingness of a customer to recommend a company’s product/service) reached 75 in August, which is REALLY high; their covid customer experience strategies (like blocking the middle seat) seem to be having a noticeable effect, which is impressive! (Average airline NPS pre-pandemic was 44). In Why is this interesting on 10/1/20. 

 

I hope you found some interesting or thought-provoking nuggets in these newsletters! 

 

I'd also love feedback... how did you find this issue?

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Thanks and all the best,

~Jessica

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