Business
Why You Need Systems Thinking Now
"Focus on flows and relationships, not products or services." An argument for systems thinking instead of design thinking or breakthrough innovation.
Business
Business
If You Don’t Like Sales, Don’t Start a Company
[Hunter Walk] As Hunter points out, it's impossible to start a company without tackling sales, and you aren't absolved from it no matter which route you take: "If you avoid sales or are poor at it, you are doing a disservice to your team, your
Business
Rules for Resters
[Ben Werdmuller on Medium] I find myself returning to this piece I wrote on Medium about building downtime into your work and lifestyle. It's important: Eight years into working in America, I’m still getting used to the macho culture around vacations. I had previously lived in a
Business
Venture Funding To Black-Founded Startups Remains Stagnant
[Chris Metinko at Crunchbase News] "Last year, venture funding to Black-founded U.S. startups cratered — totaling only $699 million and marking the first time since 2016 that the figure failed to even reach $1 billion, Crunchbase data shows." And: "While last year did not see Black founders
Business
Responding to work emails after hours contributes to burnout, hostility
[Myoung-Gi Chon in The Conversation] "We found a disturbing link between work-related communication outside of regular hours and increased employee burnout. Answering emails after hours was linked to worse productivity, employees badmouthing their employers and other negative behaviors." This is an important (if perhaps obvious) finding, but it&
Business
One Thing You Wish People Better Understood About Venture Capital
[Hunter Walk] "I asked some investor friends to share, as the title suggests, one thing they wished people better understood about venture capital. There were no ground rules other than to specify that ‘people’ could be founders, politicians, LPs, etc and that it would be default attributed but anonymous
Business
The FTC’s noncompete agreements ban has been struck down
[Jess Weatherbed at The Verge] "A federal judge has blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompete agreements that make it difficult for workers to join their employers’ rivals or launch competing businesses. The ruling prevents the FTC’s ban on noncompete agreements from taking effect on September
Business
Systems: What does a board of directors do?
[Anil Dash] "I realize that most people who've never been in the boardroom have a lot of questions (and often, anxieties) about what happens on a board, so I wanted to share a very subjective view of what I've seen and learned over the years.
Business
United Airlines seat ads: How to opt out of targeted advertising
[Michael Grothaus at FastCompany] "United Airlines announced that it is bringing personalized advertising to the seatback entertainment screens on its flights. The move is aimed at increasing the airline’s revenue by leveraging the data that it has on its passengers." Just another reason why friends don'
Business
Calm Company Fund is taking a break
[Calm Company Fund] "Inhale. Exhale. Find the space between… Calm Company Fund is going on sabbatical and taking a break from investing in new companies and raising new funds. Here’s why." Calm Company Fund's model seems interesting. It's a revenue-based investor that makes
Business
Study finds 1/4 of bosses hoped RTO would make staff quit
"The findings suggest the return to office movement has been a poorly-executed failure, but one particular figure stands out - a quarter of executives and a fifth of HR professionals hoped RTO mandates would result in staff leaving." Unsurprising but also immoral: these respondents believed that subsequent layoffs
Business
A Guide to VC “Congrats” Tweets, From 🤑 to 😐
“Tweet: Thrilled to have represented [VC firm] in our work with [company]. Huge outcome!” "Translation: A partner we fired actually did the deal, and no one serviced it well until it was clear it was going to be a homerun. Then we all fought over it and rewrote history