Tag Archives: SafeGraph

Five Links for May

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Every month I try to share the most mind-expanding links to read/watch/listen. If you find these interesting, please do share with your friends.

Here are five links worth reading…

Did Making the Rules of War Better Make the World Worse?
The rules of war have changed dramatically over the last half a century. Improvements in military technology have given us fewer civilian casualties… but prolonged wars. 

Listen: David Perell: Building a Personal Monopoly
It’s more important than ever to play your own game in a society where everyone is imitating one another. The secret may lie in biblical and philosophical texts. 

Heresy
Heresy, while medieval in origin, manifests in modern western society in inconspicuous ways. Paul Graham provides heuristics on how to navigate conflicts of heresy in today’s world. 

Like America, The Sunshine State Also Rises
Florida (and in particular, Miami) has been dubbed as the new home of ambition. But Florida has a long history of ambitious endeavors. The state will only become more important over time.

Listen: Sebastian Mallaby: The Greatest Storyteller in Venture Capital
Venture Capital is evolving as we speak. New players are playing very different games from traditional VCs. Mallaby paints the picture of how we got to where we are today. 

Bonus: Demystifying the SafeGraph Facts
SafeGraph sells facts about places and our mission is to democratize access to data. Part of this mission means making it available in a self-serve way. But of course, making data accessible also has drawbacks.

Bonus (Listen): It’s Our Moral Obligation to Make Data More Accessible
In case you didn’t get to read my essay last month, here’s an audio version. Most of the world’s data is sitting on a shelf. This data, if properly used, could solve the world’s biggest problems.

Graph of the Month:

Books:

The True Believer by Eric Hoffer (must read)
HT: Garrett Johnson, Jack Franson, Francisco Dao

The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh
HT: Keith Rabois, Jason Cook

How Rights Went Wrong by Jamal Greene

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
HT: Russ Thau

Tweet of the Month:

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M&A is a Power Law

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Warren Buffet once famously stated that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Power laws rule much around us, but more so in the technology and business worlds. One fantastic deal, such as Facebook buying Instagram, can shift the bedrock of business everywhere. Despite the common belief that 80% of company acquisitions are failures, the remaining 20% can shape a new path for in that company – the expected value is still enormous and is definitely a worthwhile path if executed properly.

Many people mistake averages for value. Venture capital is exactly the opposite of this: missing the seed round of AirBNB if you had the chance to invest means you would be financially worse off than had you invested in 50 Theranoses. The difference is that in the first case you would make 1000x your investment or at worst 0, so the opportunity cost is immense. 

Power Laws also exist in company acquisitions.  

The Power Law of Company Acquisitions is why companies continue to make acquisitions. In the few cases it does work, like Google’s purchase of YouTube, the gains can continue to reap dividends decades later. Fundamentally, most of the best acquisitions are contrarian in nature; otherwise, they would have been bought by another company already. And sometimes, like the YouTube acquisition, there are only a few companies that could have acquired it successfully – the key is to stay within your circle of competence. 

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