Hey Everyone,
Welcome to the first issue of The Chomp. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying some time relaxing with family and friends. Crazy to think that we’re now in the final month of this decade. This is a great time to reflect on the state of the world and where it’s headed. With that, let’s dive into it.
Quick Bites
Novelty and Heresy: A quick yet enlightening note from Paul Graham on finding new ideas in the shadows of mistaken assumptions. (2 minutes)
NYSE Seeks to Let Direct Listings Raise Capital in IPO Alternative: The move to direct listings has been gaining traction over the past few months. However, a significant hurdle to adoption has been the inability to raise capital through them. The NYSE is taking steps to alleviate this. (3 minutes)
How to Use Occam's Razor Without Getting Cut: Occam’s Razor is a great mental model to quickly solve problems, yet it’s often misunderstood. This is a great primer from Farnam Street on how to use it. (7 minutes)
Deeper Dives
The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius: Hitting you with a double dose of Paul Graham this week. Paul doesn’t write frequently, so when he does it’s a must read. This is an excellent exploration of how genius often springs from an obsessive interest. (12 min)
Integration & Monopoly: An insightful post from Ben Thompson at Stratechery on Apple’s business model of integration and how it has led to monopoly profits in way that wouldn’t typically be classified as a monopoly. A timely topic with growing pushback on big tech. (13 min)
The Hunt For Asia’s El Chapo: An incredible expose on Tse Chi Lop, the leader of a multinational drug syndicate in Asia with an estimated annual revenue of up to $17 billion—that’s more than Netflix! Mind boggling that this type of criminal enterprise exists in today’s world. (22 min)
Media
Tech & Progress: A Conversation with Mark Zuckerberg, Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen: A fascinating conversation between three leading thinkers on the pace of global progress. Includes some sobering statistics around the current environment, yet offers some insight into solutions to get progress back on track. (Podcast) (Video version)
Tweet of the Week
Song of the Week
Apple Music Link
Books
Recently Read
What You Do Is Who You Are (Ben Horowitz): I got the chance to hear Ben speak at an event in NYC last month and received a copy of his new book. It’s a breeze to read and offers great insight into developing company culture through several unique stories. (4/5)
The Man Who Solved The Market (Gregory Zuckerman): An interesting look into the life and work of Jim Simmons, the founder of Renaissance Technologies. A great read for anyone interested in the history of quantitative finance. (4/5)
Parting Thoughts
“If you don't take time for your wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness."
-Unknown
Feel free to reply with any thoughts or feedback you have on the newsletter format as well as the content. Until next week.
-Cody