Five Links for September 2024
Every month, the five most mind-expanding links to read/watch/listen. If you find these interesting, please do share with your friends.
Here are five links worth reading…
How California Turned Against Growth by
For over a century, California was a fast growing state (often the fastest growing). In 2020, the state lost population for the first time. This is a deep dive on how California built itself so big and why that hundred-year growth trend is reversing.
The Right Kind of Stubborn by Paul Graham
Some essential nuance for the common advice to “be persistent.” PG breaks down what makes the persistent different from the obstinate.
REVIEW: The Real North Korea, by Andrei Lankov by
An insider’s view of North Korea full of fascinating tidbits, like submarine-assisted kidnappings, a communist caste system, and black markets run almost entirely by women.
Bonus (Listen): Bryan Caplan - The Signaling Game in Education & Parenting on World of DaaS Podcast
Economist Bryan Caplan has done the research on education and concluded 80% of the value is signaling and only 20% is actually human capital building.
listen at World of DaaS
Moscow’s Spies Were Stealing US Tech — Until the FBI Started a Sabotage Campaign by Zach Dorfman
How the FBI used Silicon Valley connections to sell sabotaged technology to Eastern Bloc countries, which undermined Soviet efforts to acquire advanced US tech.
America’s Top Export May Be Anxiety by Derek Thompson
In the former Soviet Union and East Asia, there have been large increases in happiness, while anxiety and depression in the English speaking world seem to be getting worse.
Bonus (Hustle): Priscila, Queen of the Rideshare Mafia by Lauren Smiley
On a Brazilian immigrant who figured out how to make tens of thousands of dollars a week off Uber and Lyft without driving.
Bonus (Unexpected): The A.I. Boom Makes Millions for an Unlikely Industry Player: Anguilla by Emma Bubola
Potentially the weirdest AI boom beneficiary yet. HT Oleg Rogynskyy
More reading links at https://twitter.com/AurenReads
Note: If you are an active angel investor (invest in more than 2 start-ups a year as an angel), I’ve been benefitting from AngelFlow (email list of angels that share deals we believe in with other value-add angel investors). Apply to join: dub.sh/angelflow
X of the Month:
All the Books I read last month (not all are recommended):
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (must read)
HT: Rob Henderson
The Art of Short Selling by Kathryn Stanley
HT: Mina Faltas
All the Worst Humans by Phil Elwood
HT: John Farrall
Recommended TV/movies:
Mad Men (yes, I know, very late to the party but this is really, really good)
Graph of the Month:
long: friends
Auren Hoffman is CEO of SafeGraph (geospatial data on physical places) and GP at Flex Capital ($200M VC firm). Engage on X: @auren
and please share Five Links with your friends and allies.