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I spend several hours every week exploring content on technology, business, society, mindfulness, and well-being — and thinking about the connections between ideas and what might be coming next. Every other Saturday, I send out a list of the best material I've found over the previous two weeks and some new ideas from me. These can include articles, podcasts, books, shows, gadgets, quotes, practices, and more.
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Hi friends 👋 ,
What a week here in the US. If you have experienced emotions like uncertainty, anger, or sadness, you’re not alone. This came out a lot, once again, in my mindfulness group at work too. Here are some ideas for the weekend and a practice that should help.
This week, I’m iterating a bit on the format of this email. I’m trying to improve the “signal-to-noise ratio” by being more succinct and linking out to additional resources if you want to dive deeper. Please keep the feedback coming!
5 Top Picks
I. 🎬 Movie I’m watching —
Soul by Disney Pixar (@Pixar), available on Disney+. Probably my favorite movie of the last year. Visually stunning, funny, creative, and with a very interesting philosophical and metaphysical exploration.
💡 Ideas
Conventional wisdom and society focus on “do what you love” (the “passion hypothesis”). Soul’s opposite thesis: pursue your spark of joy, the thing that makes you feel like you’re living, not some predetermined purpose or outcome.
Life shapes your soul. Not everything is predetermined. Traits can change.
Joy is to be found in the present - it’s simply enjoying being - it is not an outcome. Joy is also a skill that can be learned (and trained). It’s a lesson about mindfulness.
🔗 Links
Behind the scenes: How Pixar Designed the Ethereal Characters of Soul (Ft. Director Pete Docter) on YouTube. Hint: they were inspired by a material used in the aerospace industry and Picasso’s paintings.
Review: Soul is Pixar’s most visually inventive film, and one of its most poignant by @alissamarie on Vox.
Book: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport.
Book: Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within by @chademeng.
II. 📱 New social app I’m spending too much time on —
Clubhouse. Everybody is talking about it (at least in Silicon Valley). And it’s invite-only. I had a chance to join last week and so far I’m loving the concept: a series of drop-in, live, and audio-only events with a panel of (usually) experts and attendees who can listen-in and participate in the conversation. Think about the things you love about podcasts, but with the ability for the author to go live any time, in a more informal way (without being recorded), and with anyone else able to join live.
💡 Ideas
The existing, incumbent social media platforms have increasingly shown their challenges and limits over the last few months. A series of new social apps are being funded and launched. Prediction: Clubhouse will be one of the main new players.
The creator economy is expanding. New tools are being created. Existing social media platforms are becoming top-of-funnel for new experiences centered around one or more creators and their communities. The creator is at the center and has to embrace being an entrepreneur.
Audio as a format has never been so popular (see the growing competition and opportunities in the podcasting space).
On Jan 8th I joined an impromptu Clubhouse room hosted by Jason Calacanis (@Jason) around the topic of Facebook and Twitter deplatforming Trump. On the panel, a series of public figures including journalists, venture capitalists, tech folks, and academics - all recruited on the spot to contribute to the conversation. Spoiler alert: they all agreed it was the right move (but the conversation was more nuanced and wide-ranging).
🔗 Links
Blog post: SignalFire’s Creator Economy Market Map
Paid Newsletters - see the next section.
III. 📈 Trend I’m exploring —
Paid Newsletters. First came Stratechery and Scott’s Cheap Flights. Now, the increased popularity of platforms like Substack are accelerating the trend.
💡 Ideas
Business model: the advertising model alters incentives since social media companies compete to dominate your attention. Solution: move to a paid subscription model where the content creator writes for their readers, not advertisers.
Key metric: content creator revenue (as opposed to engagement, used in the advertising model).
Content discovery: social media companies use recommendation systems that optimize for engagement leading to the creation of filter bubbles that promote confirmation bias. Solution: readers make more conscious decisions about who to follow and support.
Content moderation: freedom of expression and diversity of views are incentivized core values. As long as they follow some content guidelines.
In the light of what happened this week, this last point deserves its own analysis, which I’ll share in a future update.
🔗 Links
Documentary: The Social Dilemma on Netflix.
Newsletter: Trends.vc - Paid Newsletters by @DruRly.
Blog post: Substack’s view of content moderation.
IV. 🔧 Desktop application I’m using daily —
Krisp noise-canceling app (@krispHQ). The best solution I’ve found for removing background noise, both indoor and outdoor, from my microphone audio on video calls. Easy to set up and very reliable, the app processes your audio on your machine, so the data never gets to the internet. It even worked during a meditation class when a loud truck passed by the street close to my home office.
Try the app for free for 1 month with my referral link.
V. 🧘♂️ Mindfulness news I’m meditating on —
Headspace Guide to Meditation was just released on Netflix. It’s a short animated documentary series about mindfulness and different meditation techniques - a great introduction to the topic and very similar to the introductory courses you can find in the Headspace meditation app. With an exception: this is the first time Netflix streams a show that asks its viewers to close their eyes for several minutes while watching.
This is both a great exercise for the user and a big marketing win for Headspace. I definitely want to see more experiences like this across different media platforms.
2 Ideas from Me
I. 🧳 On workers fleeing San Francisco and other major cities —
This week I was contacted on LinkedIn by the Economic Development Officer of a non-costal city who is working on a program to attract tech workers and bring in capital. They are going to invite folks in for a local tour, to connect them with local realtors, contractors, and even to subsidize periodic charter flights back to California if needed.
The catch for me: it’s financially appealing, but it won’t necessarily improve overall happiness and lifestyle.
Have you moved recently or are you considering moving? What is your decision framework for such an important choice? I will share the findings in a future update.
II. 🙏 Practice for times of uncertainty —
Before you go, here’s a practice I always find useful in times of difficult emotions and uncertainty. The framework is called RAIN - Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture. It was popularized by Tara Brach (@TaraBrach) and it’s a great tool to add to your emotional intelligence toolkit.
Thanks for reading! Did you know that among the subscribers we now have several experts in domains like investing, crypto, startups, security, and more? As the community grows, I’m planning to host gatherings on Clubhouse and Zoom.
As always, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below or by replying to the email.
Be well and be kind,
Matteo