December Newsletter

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and have some fun things to look forward to in the next month.

I usually send a specific book recommendation, but lately I've been going through a bit of a literary dry spell. So what I'd like to do instead is share a list of recommendations from someone else. I haven't read all of these, but the ones I have are absolutely great, so I'm optimistic that the others are worth looking into as well. I hope you'll find something of value: https://www.kevinrooke.com/book-recommendations/keith-rabois

Historically, technological progress has not been smooth or linear. Sometimes, an innovation completely overhauls the rules of society. The printing press is a good example.

For context, I took a class in high school called AP European History. It covered roughly 500 years, and illustrated how our current world came to be, including the decline of feudalism, and the rise of democracy and free trade, sovereign nation states, secular government, and basically everything we take for granted about how our society works. A more accurate title would have been, "How The Printing Press Changed Literally Everything."

I would argue that the internet, and digital technology in general, are starting something similar today. The hosts of Exponent Podcast are smarter and more interesting than me, though, so I encourage you to listen to them hash it out instead. The podcast is: Technological Revolutions vs Revolutionary Technology:

Finally, here's a little quote from Picasso I enjoyed:

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

I think this line is a nice antidote to perfectionism and the endless stream of unknowable "what ifs" that keep people from moving forward. Failures create growth, growth creates success. Don't be afraid to fail.

Enjoy!

Nicholas