This week’s highlights: The Kondo Effect on Thrift Shops, Algorithmic Curation, Health Infrastructure
Fifteen on Friday – Issue 316
Happy Friday,
David
Food for Thought:
Top Read of the Week: NewYorker – The Marie Kondo Effect Reaches Beacon’s Closet
Why It Matters: Common New Year’s resolutions include “getting my life in order” or cleaning out stuffed closets. 2019 has begun with a bang on that front with Netflix’s release of a mini-series featuring Marie Kondo, best selling author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The net result? Thrift stores and consignment shops are straining to handle the increase in donations. This trend of tidying or minimalism sparks a number of interesting questions about long-term changes in how US consumers behave, and how that affects a multitude of associated industries. See also – BBC – Why It Pays to Declutter Your Digital Life
Consider as well:
- NewYorker – The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist The skilled climber and thief Vjeran Tomic, whom the French press referred to as Spider-Man, has described robbery as an act of imagination.
- JS – Promote yourself but don’t brag Braggarts are boring. On the flipside, some people never toot their own horn. That’s not the best solution either. There’s a careful balance that will help determine your success as a leader.
- FastCo – How to go on a low-information diet Disconnecting completely isn’t a realistic option, so here’s how to trim back on the daily deluge.
- Outside – Is Sunscreen the New Margarine? Current guidelines for sun exposure are unhealthy and unscientific, controversial new research suggests—and quite possibly even racist. How did we get it so wrong?
Business/Economics:
Top Read of the Week: HBR – How Retail Changes When Algorithms Curate Everything We Buy
Why It Matters: Continuing the dialogue about consumers, Harvard Business Review explores the changing nature of product discovery when algorithms and not browsing in a store are used to present products to consumers.
Consider as well:
- NYT – Hospitals Must Now Post Prices. But It May Take a Brain Surgeon to Decipher Them.
- FastCo – WeWork rebrands to The We Company; CEO Neumann talks about revised SoftBank round. CEO Adam Neumann reveals the name change, goes into detail on his recent conversations with SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.
- II – Hacked Printers. Fake Emails. Questionable Friends. Fahmi Quadir Was Up 24% Last Year, But It Came at a Price. The femme fatale of short selling’s interesting first year.
- Bloomberg – The 20%-a-Year Stock Picker Who Wishes His Edge Would Disappear
Culture/Tech/Science:
Top Read of the Week: a16z – The Infrastructure of Total Health.
Why It Matters: An excellent podcast interview between Venture Capitalist Ben Horowitz and Bernard Tyson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente a $73 billion non-profit health organization that provides healthcare and coverage with more than 22,000 physicians caring for more than 12.2 million members across 9 states.
Consider as well:
- THR – 120 Movies, $13 Billion in Box Office: How Samuel L. Jackson Became Hollywood’s Most Bankable Star
- Takeout – A pizzaiolo explains his 4 rules of pizza toppings
- TheAtlantic – The Instagram-Husband Revolution The men behind the camera are ready to step into the spotlight.
- Vox – I work with kids. Here’s why they’re consumed with anxiety.