The Kamprad Test and Moravec’s Paradox
It took a pair of robots, pre-programmed by humans, more than 20 minutes to assemble a chair that a person could knock together in a fraction of the time. Moravec’s paradox is at play here.
Category: Note
11% of US households have cut the cable
I cut the cable 5 years and have not looked back since, but I am still in the minority. Only 11% of the households in the US have cut the cable and went exclusively to streaming.
Mere Potential Can Be More Important Than Achievement
In a series of experiments set in different contexts, we found that high potential can be more appealing than equally high achievement.
Self-Destructive Behavior of Entrepreneurs
The article Why do entrepreneurs engage in self-sabotage? tells something about human nature which in general applies to everyone, but gets super-exposed when starting a company.
Pixar Story Rules (one version) [2012]
This is from 2012 and has been written about many times on the internet, but I came across it recently for the first time. As someone who likes to write but has no particular talent in that, I do find it fascinating how writers think and write. Here’s a summary of the rules of story telling by Emma Coats (Story Artist at Pixar at the time, now at Google)
Social Media Use in 2018 – PEW Research
PEW Research issued a report on social media use by Americans.
Nothing really new under the sun this report, usage is same for the major players and up for the runner ups. They didn’t research anything about usage in this report, but I bet the usage has changed significantly over the last few years. I think people create less and more passively consume. In line with we stopped referring to them as social networks but social media – something to passively consume, created by a select group of actors.
Why Blockchain Matters
It’s an excellent introductory talk by Muneeb Ali into blockchain and why blockchain matters. He uses very concise arguments, stays away from technology and – more importantly – cryptocurrencies. Even though there’s nothing new (for me) in this talk, I found it very inspiring.
The Art of Persuasion
First Round Review keep putting out excellent articles, but every now and then one of them is a must read. The post Master the Art of Influence — Persuasion as a Skill and Habit is definitely in this category – especially when you’re pitching or selling something. This article gives a great overview with concise and concrete examples on how to persuade people for your ideas, companies, views or products.
Why -> How -> What = How Great Leaders Inspire Action
The TED talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” is a classic but I came across it quite recently.
You could substitute leaders with organizations or companies. The end result is the same. When there is a clear defined WHY, it’s easier to persuade people on your HOW and WHAT. This applies to defining, building and selling your product through hiring members for your team. If you can’t clearly define WHY, then HOW and WHAT does not really matter. It will never be as convincing.
20% Of Customers Bring In 50%+ of Revenue
Second Measure analyzes credit card transactions. In their analysis they found that just 20% of customers were responsible for more than 50% of the revenue for the top 1000 companies they have transaction data available. The average top 20 customer spends 8x more than the average bottom 80% customer.