What We've Been Following (May 29, 2020)
A bi-weekly newsletter from The Takeoff
Hey everyone — I’m Lukas, and welcome to the third edition of What We’ve Been Following, a curated, bi-weekly newsletter highlighting the podcasts, blog posts, tweets, startup news, and more that Roshan, Michael, and I found interesting over the last few weeks. If you missed the last edition of What We’ve Been Following, written by Roshan, be sure to check it out here.
Guide to Cold Out Outreach (Here)
As a student blessed with bright teachers, I’ve learned a great deal about connecting with individuals with whom I have no prior communication. I’ve createda guidehighlighting some of my findings, tips, and advice related to cold outreach. Although it’s not perfect (feel free to comment any feedback), hopefully, you will find it helpful!
Companies 🏬
Soundbrew: In the first Edition of WWBF, we discussed an awesome new startup working to help creators (musicians) get paid more easily, called Soundbrew. We were lucky enough to catch up with Dominic, the founder of Soundbrew, to learn more about the company. Here’s a quick blurb, from Soundbrew, about the company:
We’re Soundbrew, a music streaming app that helps artists earn more from their music through direct payments from listeners. Artists earn around $1 for every 235 plays they receive on other streaming services and it takes 3 months for artists to get their payout. On Soundbrew, we have instant payouts and 1 like = $1 for listeners paying with their own money and $0.10 for listeners paying by watching ads.
Yuup. A unique media and clothing company bringing perspectives of current cultures together to help individuals represent something more than themselves. Think Happy Thoughts and Spread Positive Vibes with YUUP!
Soundpruf. Welcome to Spotify wrapped on steroids. With only 600 total users, it is a novel interface that tracks your listening habits day by day, rather than year by year. Just sign in with your Spotify account and enjoy!
Podcasts 🎙
Austen Allred and Rishi Mandal on Turning In-Person Experiences into Digital Form. Austen and Rishi discuss the challenges and opportunities of creating businesses around an online community on my favorite venture-related podcast, Ventures Stories with host Erik Torenberg. In this episode, Austen dives into how Lambda School differs from a typical online university, and Rishi talks about how Future is transforming in-person fitness training into digital form.
End games with Naval. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this podcast episode explores the darker sides of our future. Recorded before COVID-19, Naval takes a look at the various challenges that humans will face in the future and introduces the concept of “the ender,” a person who has not seen love in his/her life and will let it out on the world as a result.
Rick Doblin MAPS 2018. Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). While receiving his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, he began his journey in fighting for the legalization of psychoactive substances finding success with MDMA! In this podcast episode, Rick discusses the history behind his fight and provides some promising information about his relationship with the FDA.
Books 📚
Give & Take by Adam Grant. Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and Wharton professor, explores why those who give have become more likely to succeed than those who take. He also introduces the concept of a matcher, someone who only gives when another has given to them, and an “otherish” giver.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman, 2002 Nobel Prize winner, is the father of behavioral economics. Thinking, Fast and Slow focuses on mental heuristics and biases, choice, and the two “systems” for how our brains form thoughts: System 1 and System 2. If you are interested in behavioral economics or want to learn more about the space, shoot Michael a Twitter DM — he’d be happy to share with you some of the behavioral economics-related content he’s consumed.
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. Pollan, known for books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, takes a look at a different kind of substance. The #1 New York Times bestseller examines the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, recent studies in the field, and their history of use in indigenous cultures.
Twitter 🐦
Check out the How to Use Twitter page in my Guide to Cold Outreach for my favorite twitter accounts!
Articles, Newsletters, Blog Posts, Etc. 📝
Consumer Startups (newsletter). A friend of Michael’s recently started a newsletter focused on consumer startups. “Consumer Startups is a weekly email newsletter that talks about recent developments, trends, and stories you need to know about early-stage and growth-stage consumer startups. It is meant to give college students and young professionals an easy way to stay informed about the space. This newsletter is created by Leo Luo, a student entrepreneur at the University of Michigan.”
The DL (a newsletter by Daniel Li). Even before my interview with Daniel, I’ve been following his newsletter, which keeps me up to date on tech, startups, and investing in the Pacific Northwest. I love Daniel’s use of graphics in The DL, like the one below:
How the Passion Economy will disrupt media, education, and countless other industries (Part I) by Li Jin. A super interesting piece by (former?) a16z Partner Li Jin on how the Passion Economy will disrupt countless industries. Definitely give it a read if you are interested in how COVID / technology will change the future of content production and distribution. It also uses great graphics!
Other Things… 💡
Joe Rogan got paid! Podcaster Joe Rogan signed an exclusive deal with Spotify for (reportedly) over $100 million! By the end of the year, his visual and audio content will be exclusively on Spotify. Huge moves for the podcast industry! Personally, I wonder how Spotify will interface his video content.
Remote work! Facebook, Square, Twitter, Shopify, and Coinbase are all allowing employees to work remotely, forever. I’m sure many other companies will follow suit. I am curious to see how worker productivity changes (if at all) under remote working conditions. What obscure place would you want to live in if the future of work were all remote?
Amazon going back into autonomous vehicles? Zoox, the company in question, wants to build “an advanced mobility experience,” trying to differentiate itself by bringing together self-driving, electric, and robo-taxi vehicles.
That’s all for today’s edition of What We’ve Been Following!
If you want to join the action on Twitter and see some of the Tweets and threads that other members of The Takeoff Community are following, be sure to follow The Takeoff on Twitter (@_TheTakeoff).
I’m on Twitter @lukassteinbock 👋
Be sure to subscribe for more incredible interviews with leading founders, operators, and investors. Stay tuned for Monday’s Edition of The Takeoff, an interview with Kristen Anderson (Founder and CEO of Catch).