Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
Mainframes, ML and digital transformation Benedict Evans (reading time: 6 minutes)
I’ve often made fun of the term “digital transformation”; I just can’t stand it. But there is something to the trend that it evokes. Work loads are increasingly moving to the cloud and the use cases are multiplying. Yet, we are still only at the beginning of this shift.
The Secret Document That Transformed China NPR (reading time: 5 minutes)
This is a fascinating short read about a single contract that changed China’s trajectory. In 1978, A group of starving farmers agreed to work for themselves in the small village of Xiaogang. They kept their agreement secret for fear of reprisal from the communist government. What happened after is spectacular.
How Power Works in Venture Capital Divinations (reading time: 9 minutes)
Despite investing in scalable software businesses, venture capital firms are driven by their reputation and brand. This post by Nathan Baschez shed some light on the power structure within VC firms and how they are changing (and staying the same).
Attributes of High Performance Patrick OShaughnessy (reading time: 5 minutes)
The Invest Like the Best Podcast is one of my favorite shows. The show’s host Patrick OShaughnessy is wicked smart and a person to follow on Twitter. He posted this excellent thread on attributes of high performance in the companies he’s worked with..
Why Your Organization Needs to be Political to be Resilient Jake Rottersman (reading time: 6 minutes)
Politics isn’t the problem for the most part. It’s the refusal to engage with it in a clear way or decide what you actually believe in that causes problems. What is the right thing to do should infuse an organization at all levels.
Solving difficult organizational problems isn’t clear. One idea presented in this article is to embrace tension and a certain level of politics. The key for this unlock is having a clear and compelling vision.