Five Links for November 2024
Every month, the five most mind-expanding links to read/watch/listen. If you find these interesting, please do share with your friends.
Why Could Lebanon Be Rich, but Is so Chaotic? by
Cartographer/historian/substacker (and recent World of DaaS guest) Tomas Pueyo’s super detailed explanation of why Lebanon isn’t more wealthy, complete with excellent maps, animations and photography.
Full Details About the Pager Explosions – a ThreadD by Raylan Givens
An in-depth look at Mossad's operation to rig Hezbollah's pagers with undetectable explosives and the elaborate cover story used to bypass security. Engineering and spycraft in one.
Are You Planting Seeds of Entitlement? by Khe Hy
On “frustration reps,” baseline expectations of the service industry, and raising kids when you’re rich.
Bonus (Listen): Ramp CEO Eric Glyman: The Hidden Incentives Shaping Banking and Fintech on World of DaaS podcast
Eric has built an incredible company with Ramp, and he shares some fascinating behind-the-scenes insights on the big banks, regulatory intricacies and the future of fintech.
read, watch + listen at World of DaaS
Is web scraping a profitable industry? by
An in-depth look at web scraping business models, and a likely next step in their evolution: turning data into a shared resource through marketplaces like Data Boutique.
The Jewish Quarterback at a Mormon College by McKay Coppins
A football story for people with no interest in football: Brigham Young University, the Mormon college, is undefeated this season and leading the Big 12 with a Jewish quarterback.
Bonus: The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty by Meilan Solly
On the top secret, high risk mission that killed Joe Kennedy Jr. and made JFK the heir apparent to the political dynasty.
Bonus (Psychology): Money Buys Happiness, Even If You’re Already Rich by Joe Pinsker
Another study disproving the common misconception that there’s a threshold for wealth bringing diminishing returns on happiness: A 10% raise delivers a similar boost in satisfaction across income levels.
More reading links at https://twitter.com/AurenReads
All the Books I read last month (not all are recommended):
The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll (highly recommend)
Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
HT: Bill Gates, David Epstein, Raffi Grinberg, Charles Duhigg
On the Edge by Nate Silver
HT: Dan Fisher, Ken Broad
Tribe by Sebastian Junger
Sold Short by Manuel Asensio
HT: Mina Faltas
Beating the Street by Peter Lynch
HT: Will Snellings
The Underdog Founder by Edrizio de la Cruz
HT: Edrizio de la Cruz
engineers with 10 years experience cost twice as much as engineers with 2 years experience but are 5x more productive.
Auren Hoffman is CEO of NQB8, Chairman of SafeGraph (geospatial data on physical places), and GP at Flex Capital ($200M VC firm). Engage on X: @auren
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Thanks for the mention!