Top articles of the week | February 15

February 15, 2020

Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!

Debt is Coming Alex Danco (reading time: 18 minutes)

A widely held belief is that there is too much available capital. Alex Danco (formerly of Social Capital) writes that debt is going to become much more accessible for startups. He argues that startups that do have cash flows will have the non-dilutive option of debt. This article has sparked a ton of interesting debate on Twitter. If you are interested in venture capital, check it out!

The Miyagi Method of Organizational Transformation NOBL (reading time: 16 minutes)

I stumbled on this older post by NOBL and found it super relevant for today. The article lashes out against traditional management consulting. They argue that constant adaptability and repeatable practice. NOBL always shares leading edge management techniques and highly recommend their content.

How Glossier turned itself into a billion-dollar beauty brand Wired (reading time: 8 minutes)

We’ve covered Glossier in the past and I don’t hesitate to add more articles about the company. It’s a brand that epitomizes the direct to consumer connection that the internet affords. A single individual can start a beauty blog and build a beauty empire by taking advantage of ecommerce (only). The article also covers what’s next for the company as it looks to innovate and take into account customer feedback.

Why it only costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise The Hustle (reading time: 5 minutes)

While this article does not cover a technology topic per se, it’s a fascinating deep dive into how a mature industry (fast food franchises) can be disrupted simply by an innovative business model. The average McDonalds franchise costs $500K-$1M so it caters to investors that hand the business off to managers. Chick-Fil-A turned this model on its head. It only costs $10K for a franchise. This article explores the strategy that the Chicken chain employed to compete against established mega-brands.

History is Only Interesting Because Nothing is Inevitable Collaborative Fund (reading time: 15 minutes)

There has never been a period in history where the majority of people didn’t look dumb in hindsight.

This is an article on my favorite reading subject, history. It covers the rise and fall of the American economy during the 1920s and how everyone seemed to think that prosperity would last forever. It covers a key point that I always think about, nothing is inevitable.