A few months back, I mentioned being halfway through Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas by Natasha Dow Schüll, and the response made it clear we should probably turn this into a regular thing.
This may become a bit of a snowball, since the focus on capturing and holding an ever-decreasing attention span means that fewer and fewer people are able and willing to tackle hard problems. You not only need people who want to solve these problems but people who have the mental bandwidth to do so, which unfortunately is becoming less common.
quite an interesting take here and I'd have to agree with you. Hard problems usually mean years of hard work and moreso, outsized stress. Few built to handle those conditions and consistently perform
I started reading this e-mail and for a minute, I was afraid that you were going to drone on about Silicon Valley and how great it is in all its corporate bullshit. Lucky for both of us, I read the whole thing. I hardly ever read nonfiction that focuses on business, but I'm thinking I have to shake it up.
Thanks for sharing, Marcus! It is interesting to me that many of Karp's points about the way that the tech industry currently operates are also applicable to how creators (brands, etc.) operate within the social media space that Karp takes issue with.
I often see creators or companies hop on trends or leverage cheap dopamine to create viral content and reap rapid rewards, but by doing so they are sacrificing many of the benefits that a slower more organic growth strategy rewards like a more reliable audience and a stronger community.
Fortunately, Minted has remained very grounded thanks to the efforts of yourself and the team!
If you are interested in more non-ficiton, you should check out The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan. I think you would enjoy!
Thanks for the rec! I personally haven't read much nonfiction this year but I'll add this to the TBR. If you're interested in picking up a novel for your next read, I really enjoyed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It feels like a Greek epic in scale, connecting three storylines across the past, present, and future all sharing a common thread.
This may become a bit of a snowball, since the focus on capturing and holding an ever-decreasing attention span means that fewer and fewer people are able and willing to tackle hard problems. You not only need people who want to solve these problems but people who have the mental bandwidth to do so, which unfortunately is becoming less common.
quite an interesting take here and I'd have to agree with you. Hard problems usually mean years of hard work and moreso, outsized stress. Few built to handle those conditions and consistently perform
Great insights. Thank you for sharing his art and your take on it. 🙌🏻
Cheers!
Great writing as always, Marcus. Thoughtful, concise, contemplative. You inspire me by being open minded and curious. Thank you.
Of course - thanks for taking the time to read it and leave a note here
I started reading this e-mail and for a minute, I was afraid that you were going to drone on about Silicon Valley and how great it is in all its corporate bullshit. Lucky for both of us, I read the whole thing. I hardly ever read nonfiction that focuses on business, but I'm thinking I have to shake it up.
well I certainly appreciate you taking the time to read through it all and not just jump to a conclusion
The first few pages absolutely blew me away. Great book.
To me there’s a fine line between building iterations to meet a long term goal, and just building quick iterations.
From this post it’s hard to tell if Karp draws a line there but maybe that’s a potential solution.
Thanks for sharing, Marcus! It is interesting to me that many of Karp's points about the way that the tech industry currently operates are also applicable to how creators (brands, etc.) operate within the social media space that Karp takes issue with.
I often see creators or companies hop on trends or leverage cheap dopamine to create viral content and reap rapid rewards, but by doing so they are sacrificing many of the benefits that a slower more organic growth strategy rewards like a more reliable audience and a stronger community.
Fortunately, Minted has remained very grounded thanks to the efforts of yourself and the team!
If you are interested in more non-ficiton, you should check out The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan. I think you would enjoy!
Thanks for the rec! I personally haven't read much nonfiction this year but I'll add this to the TBR. If you're interested in picking up a novel for your next read, I really enjoyed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It feels like a Greek epic in scale, connecting three storylines across the past, present, and future all sharing a common thread.