Category: reading list

System 2 thinking (in Kanheman taxonomy) as a design feature when writing memos. 

Some data viz that demonstrates the shifting of polarity in geopolitics.

The story of how Union Crate, a supply chain startup came to be.

Mark reflects on his three years at Stripe and how they’ve built a distinctive culture based on optimism and ambition.

“When Amazon decided to enter the Indian e-commerce market, it was clear from the outset that something would have to give. That something was the very business model that had made Amazon an internet powerhouse in the U.S.” 

A glimpse into Amazon’s strategy in India. 

What counts as signalling and what doesn’t? 

“More generally I call a message “signaling” if it has these features:

It is not sent mainly via the literal meanings of words said.
It is not easily or soon verifiable.
It is mainly about the senders’ personal features, perhaps via association with groups.
It is about sender “quality” dimensions where more is better, so senders want others to believe quality is as high as possible, while others want to assess more accurately. Such qualities are not just unitary, but can include degrees of loyalty to particular allies.”

A long, introductory read on cellular automata. 

A Deep Dive into the Past, Present, & Future of Income Share Agreements

Breaking down Amazon’s capital allocation strategy and growth plans. 

Steve explains why an abundance of information leads to poor discovery. 

A classic that I only recently came across. Talks about how to do good research but is more broadly applicable. 

Architects and engineering mid life crashes.

The Lambda squad on taking swings.

Writing online is the best way to be discovered.

Ribbonfarm is moving towards a new phase; vgr explains. 

One of the most important essays I’ve read on the idea of legibility. 

Vgr on culture and strategy.

Economists at Amazon.

Communities, masks and human stress-strain curves.

Collectors and connectors. 

Satya reflects on the hiring process at Homebrew. 

Ergodicity explained using the difference between ensemble and time probability. 

Vgr on corporate structures, org charts and how organizations respond to uncertainty. 

Originally written for PhD students, the three-leaps-of-faith rule has wide applicability in many domains. 

An excellent overview of the history and future of research and how patronage needs to make a revival. 

A six part series on the power of intuition. I’ve been trusting my intuition to a greater extent as I grow older and this series was a gripping read.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

A great profile on E. O. Wilson and his ideas from Letters to a Young Scientist.