Weekly Mix #214 - The 4-hour work week is finally here

Web3, NFTs, The 4-Hour Workweek & 3-Pointers

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Happy Tuesday!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about loops.

Loops, or cycles, are a common way to think about business problems—the lifecycle of customers, or how customers start using a product.

But I've been noticing them more in my own life too.

If I'm working out later, I'm more likely to eat healthy. So adding an extra workout or two helps me eat better.

Spending time on professional education encourages me to learn more outside of work.

Positive feedback loops are a powerful thing.

A little structure, a change of environment, or a commitment to a program can all kickstart new ones.

But the same is true of negative loops: falling into a bad habit can encourage other poor choices as well.

Thinking about the loops in our lives helps us make sure we're choosing the right ones.

Hope you have a great week.

Graham

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Links

📖 How to Win the Future: An Agenda for the Third Generation of the Internet - a16z - Andreessen Horowitz, a top venture capital firm, published their guide to web3, the world of crypto, decentralized finance, NFTs, etc. This is a long document (35-odd pages), but an informative one.

📖 Revisiting “The 4-Hour Workweek” - Cal Newport - The New Yorker - I still credit the 4-Hour Workweek with getting me into the world of startups and entrepreneurship. Cal Newport takes a look at why the book—now over 10 years old—is more relevant today than ever.

📖 The Anatomy of an Amazon 6-pager - Jesse Freeman - A friend of mine asked if I had anything to recommend on writing detailed documents—often technical—and summarizing for other readers. I think about this kind of thing often, since I do it frequently at work, and this piece is a good intro to how Amazon has famously addressed the problem.

📖 On Medici and Thiel - Strange Loop Canon - An interesting piece examining the idea of "patronage," why it has faded in the modern world, and why we might need more of it. Who wouldn't want money and freedom to pursue what they want?

🍿 How the 3-point line is breaking basketball - Vox - I love stories like this. The NBA introduced the 3-point line in 1979, but not much changed. In 2014, a guy named Daryl Morey decided to test out a theory that shooting far more 3-pointers would be good. He used the D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers as his testbed, and what he found changed how basketball is played. Often innovations seem obvious in hindsight.

​10 Tweets

​Greg Isenberg on how NFTs will change things​

​Why every business should have an equation​

​Pixar's 22 Rules for Storytelling​

​A visual guide on how long it takes to build things​

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