Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
The Bizarre Reaction To Facebook’s Decision To Get Out Of The News Business In Australia TechDirt (reading time: 6 minutes)
I don’t tend to cover recent news items but this story caught my attention. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the recent legal challenges Facebook and Google have been facing in Australia. The news coverage has been uneven to say the least. This article from TechDirt argues that what the Australian government is asking opposes the concept of the open web.
Lessons from George Vanderheiden, one of the greatest investors I’ve ever known. Gavin Baker (reading time: 4 minutes)
I had never heard of George Vanderheiden who is a well-known investor at Fidelity. Gavin Baker shares the lessons he learned from him. There are some good tidbits of wisdom here. My key takeaways: time in market, being too early and client alpha.
Best Story Wins Collaborative Fund (reading time: 6 minutes)
The best arguments in the world won’t change a single person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.
This article is a great reminder of the power of storytelling. Oftentimes, it isn’t the best idea that wins but the most captivating story. Moran Housel describes how certain unoriginal ideas became best sellers only by virtue of their story telling.
Roger Martin: Forward Thinking Farnam Street (listening time: 89 minutes)
I really enjoyed this interview on the Farnam Street podcast. It features Roger Martin, a former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. It covers so many good topics including the fundamental problems facing business schools. The most interesting concept explored is integrative thinking – it is defined as the ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each.
How to Build an Invention Machine — 6 Lessons That Powered Amazon’s Success First Round (reading time: 27 minutes)
A lot of ink has been spilled since the departure of Jeff Bezos from the CEO role at Amazon. This is a particularly good read that describes the company’s “invention machine”. It’s an operating system of sorts that has allowed the company to scale its ideas without stifling its creativity. This article details six lessons from two former Amazon executives that are counter-intuitive and brilliant in their simplicity.
