Hey Everyone,
Welcome back to The Chomp—your weekly dose of the best content from the internet and beyond, designed to expand your mind and get you thinking. Let’s dive into it.
Quick Bites
Being a Noob: This quick piece from Paul Graham covers the positives of being a noob and sheds light on why the feeling of being a noob is inversely correlated with actual ignorance. The more you feel like one, the better. (2 min)
It’s Not Enough to Be Right—You Also Have to Be Kind: Ryan Holiday’s most recent blog post is a great reminder of the importance of being kind. Often times, in this dog-eat-dog world, we’re driven to always be right, but that can easily come at the cost of others. It’s important to be conscious of how you’re articulating your points by taking a step back and thinking through how they may affect others. (7 min)
Deeper Dives
The Inner Game: Why Trying Too Hard Can Be Counterproductive: This recent post from Farnam Street offers excellent insight into something many of us often neglect—the inner game. In anything that we do, whether it’s work, learning, relationship, or sports, there are always two games going on: the inner game and the outer game. Give this a read to better understand how the inner game functions and how by trying too hard we often make things much more difficult than they need to be. (10 min)
Facebook’s Platform Opportunity: Ben Thompson’s latest piece on Stratechery is an interesting take on Facebook’s current situation and opportunity set. Ben lays out a framework for how Facebook can shift away from being an ‘Aggregator’ to a Platform driven model. Worth a read for anyone interested in the business. (11 min)
Media
Last week, the Rose Bowl played host to the Upfront Summit—an invite-only tech conference with some of the biggest names in the industry in attendance. During the event, Dan Primack of Axios sat down with outspoken investor Keith Rabois of Founders Fund to discuss his current views on the venture landscape and his methodology for making big bets. Worth a watch for anyone following the space.
Tweet of the Week
Song of the Week
Apple Music Link
Books
Currently Reading
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Robert Pirsig)
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (Robert A. Caro)
This is a 1,344-page behemoth that I’m steadily making my way through. Excited to share my thoughts when I eventually finish in the next month or so.
Recently Read
Dark Age: Red Rising #5 (Pierce Brown): After recently finishing the fourth book in this series, I couldn’t wait to get started on the next book. It certainly didn’t disappoint. Pierce Brown’s writing continues to blow my mind and I can’t wait for the release of the sixth—and likely final—book to (hopefully) arrive later this year. (5/5)
Parting Thoughts
This Week in History
On February 4th, 2004, Facebook launched and the modern era of social media was born. (Source)
“How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury.” – Seneca
If you found something that piqued your interest this week, please help me out in expanding the reach of The Chomp by forwarding it along to a friend or sharing it with others in your network. Until next week.
-Cody