Strictly Curious Newsletter №62
News
Unicorns: A new Chinese ranking of global unicorns puts China ahead of the US for the first time. Link
Branding: How cult brands like SoulCycle and Airbnb are actually kinda cult-like. Companies are employing quasi-religious tactics to inspire enthusiasm for their brands. What happens when customers have a crisis of faith? Link
Environment: The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. Link
Marketing: Online restaurant reviews are not all equal. Consumer appetite for restaurant reviews depends on how they were generated. Link
Startups: How to recover gracefully after shutting down your startup. Link
Disruptive entrepreneurs: Meet the most disruptive MBA startups of 2019. Link
New Venture Teams: New venture team success requires collective ownership — with clear boundaries, a new study says. The best entrepreneurs can strike balance. It’s somebody who’s a little bit assertive and directive but not overly so, and somebody who’s a bit collaborative but not overly so. That’s really the blend that you’re trying to find as an entrepreneur. Link
Culture: Netflix experiment lets you watch movies at 1.5 times the speed. Director Judd Apatow vows to fight the idea of faster playback. The approach has already become popular for podcasts and YouTube. Link
Performance: Science shows hype about your opponent actually messes with your game. Chess and tennis players perform worse against opponents who are rising in the rankings. Link
Compensation: A look at CEO vs. CFO compensation at late-stage private companies. Link
Venture Capital: Are venture capitalists hopelessly biased, or deceptively rational? Link
Retailing: If you feed them, they will shop: Retailers bet on restaurants. Retailers hungry for new ways to attract shoppers and deliver experiences are increasingly adding upscale restaurants to their stores. Link
Blog Posts
Productivity: What the success of rock climbing tells us about economic growth. Machines are not the only engines of greater productivity. Link
Family: Stop trying to raise successful kids. And start raising kind ones. Link
Interesting Numbers
Online marketplaces: Amazon spends $400 million a year and has a staff of 5,000 to police its online market. Link
Transportation: Nearly two-thirds of Uber customers don’t tip their drivers, study says. A new report lifts back the curtain on Uber and tipping. Link
Video: Google just released a ‘phone’ made of paper, for your sanity
All you need to go offline for a day is a printer!
Detours
Travel: The 33 Best Trips of 2019. 15 countries. 16 states. 33 adventures. Your travel bucket list just got a whole lot longer. Link
Bootstrapping: 100 tools to launch & grow your start-up without web developer, without graphic designer and (almost) without money. Link
Retail Therapy
This haunted house will pay you $20k if you finish it. Link
Contemplation
“Design is intelligence made visible”
(Alina Wheeler)
