Top articles of the week | December 23rd

December 23, 2017

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

The Winter Getaway That Turned the Software World Upside Down The Atlantic

If you follow our newsletter, you probably know that we’re huge fans of agile at PNR. This Atlantic article traces back the history of Agile and how it all began in 2001 at a retreat in Utah. The Agile Manifesto that came out of that weekend quite literally changed software programming and maybe the world.

Estonia, the Digital Republic New Yorker

This is a fascinating read on a country that has fully embraced technological innovation. “E-Estonia” is the most ambitious project in technological statecraft today. I had heard about Estonia’s digital project and even have a friend that is an e-resident, but I didn’t realize the full extent of the program. From banking to data to transportation, this project resembles what the society of the future might look like.

An 82-Year-Old VC Makes a Splash With Young Startups Fortune

I really enjoyed learning about Alan Patricof, the 82-year-old partner & founder of Greycroft ventures. This piece in Fortune discusses the illustrious career of Patricof and how we helped hundreds of companies in his career.

“New York might not have a tech scene without Alan. Greycroft was welcoming and generous when they didn’t have to be.”

Remove the legend to become one Eugene Wei

I’m a bit of a data geek and used to consider myself quite proficient in Microsoft Excel. Though my current skills are diminished, I still relish a good battle with a spreadsheet. This article from Eugene Wei talks about his experience at Amazon during the early days where he helped build the analytics practice.

It’s time to stop talking about digital transformation PNR blog

We recently held a debate internally about what ‘digital transformation’ means. The result is this blog post that I just had to write. I believe that this term will gradually disappear and that we should start focusing on strategy instead of technology sooner than later.