Dear Friends,
It is terrifying that it’s already the end of July given everything that I said I was ‘going to do this summer’ - and now August is all that I have left. I’ve yet to take a hiatus from this weekly newsletter, but I am going European and will press pause on Declarative Statements for August. I realized that I need my weekend writing block back for a little while to do more original writing, thinking, and doing.
Appreciate you all sticking with me for the last 210 editions, and I look forward to coming back with more in a few weeks. See you after Labor Day!
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Books
Song of the Week: Lean On
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum. It's a great find that I hadn’t read before. It starts with the paragraph below and follows with twenty points of advice.
In the United States, where we have more land than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in good health to make money. In this comparatively new field there are so many avenues of success open, so many vocations which are not crowded, that any person of either sex who is willing, at least for the time being, to engage in any respectable occupation that offers, may find lucrative employment.
Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only to set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done. But however easy it may be found to make money, I have no doubt many of my hearers will agree it is the most difficult thing in the world to keep it. The road to wealth is, as Dr. Franklin truly says, "as plain as the road to the mill.”
The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 2Q23 (PDF’d report). The worst quarter ever for startup deal-making. Data from AngelList and Brex.
Takeaways include:
Lowest rate of startup deal-making in the history of their dataset (back to 2013)
2Q23 saw the second-lowest rate of positive activity (i.e., markups) ever observed
They conclude that we are ‘near the bottom’. I’m not sure this is a bottom as it is beginning to revert to the mean and everyone is reflecting on the fact that the cost of capital is now dramatically higher.
Americans' Trust in College Keeps Dropping. Just 36% of Americans said they have confidence in higher education. Trust in major U.S. institutions overall has dropped. Not a shock, just a trend line:
The Next Trillion Dollar Marketplace Will Put SKUs on Services: Why service marketplaces aren’t scaling and how they might get unstuck.
Services are attractive because of the vastness of the economy that they cover. However, most people who start with a tech/product focus miss the mark because most services are not commodities. And commodification is critical to marketplace success, yet the more bespoke and high-end the service, the better profit with contract size and pricing power.
Books
OBITUARY: Kevin David Mitnick. I was sad to read about the passing of Kevin Mitnick, a legendary computer hacker, last week. I read his book, Ghost in the Wires, several years ago. It’s a compelling story, although the writing style can sometimes be a bit hard to follow. The obit, however, is well-written and captures an exciting life:
Kevin emerged from his final prison term, which he deemed a 'vacation,' in January 2000. He was a changed individual, and began constructing a new career, as a White Hat hacker and security consultant.
Kevin attracted attention and support from unlikely sources. The bus driver who saw young Kevin memorize the bus schedules, punch cards, and punch tool systems so he could ride the buses all day for free testified as a character witness for Kevin during his federal trial. The federal prosecutor offered his testimony that Kevin never tried to take one dime from any of his “victims.” The probation officer assigned to monitor Kevin after prison gave Kevin permission to write his first book on a laptop when he was not yet supposed to have access to computers. Shawn Nunley, the star witness in the FBI's case against Kevin, became so disillusioned with the government's treatment of Kevin that he contacted Kevin's defense team, helped garner Kevin's release, and became one of Kevin's dearest friends. Kevin had an irresistible way of converting foes to friends and keeping them as friends forever.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A Novel. I read this a few weeks back. I give it a four out of five. It’s a well-written and engaging story of friends who built a gaming company; it was good until the ending took a strange turn that fizzled for me. You could do worse if you are looking for a book to read on the beach.
Breakup: A Marriage in Wartime by Anjan Sundaram. This is a short and quick read about a wartime reporter who goes to the Central African Republic to cover the civil war and leaves his (relatively) new marriage after returning.
I met Anjan many years ago. He was leaving McKinsey’s San Francisco office after his two-year analyst stint as I started mine. I was similarly interested in frontier market work and travel; after two years working on the West Coast, I went to work in Nigeria and Pakistan. I haven’t been in touch with him since, but I was curious about his continued devotion to conflict reporting and its toll on his personal life. It’s a story with an ending that is clear from the start: he survives the war, but his marriage doesn’t. If you’re interested in following that process, then it delivers.
You can download it on Libby, and it’s like an extra-long feature in The New Yorker.
Song of the Week: Lean On
Video on YouTube where it has over 3 billion views, making it the 30th most viewed video on the site. What’s the most viewed? Baby Shark Dance.
Lean On was the song of the summer about eight years ago. What’s the song of the summer this year?
“Lean On” by Major Lazer
But the night was warm
We were bold and young
All around, the wind blows
We would only hold on to let go
Blow a kiss, fire a gun
We need someone to lean on
Blow a kiss, fire a gun
All we need is somebody to lean on
Selfie of the Week
My interest in getting on long-haul flights has fallen dramatically. Europe will enact a tourist visa next year, climate change taxes are increasing the price of flights, and the time in transit seems like a lot. I’m starting a list of places in North America that are good European subs. So, folks, how about Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho to substitute for Lake Como?
I think it works!
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn