Cool Things I Found 7/22 to 7/28
I spend a lot of time reading books and articles, listening to podcasts, and watching videos online.
When I encounter content that resonates with me, I feel a need to share it.
That’s why we’re here…
These are the best pieces of content I’ve consumed this week.
Enjoy :)
1. Sam Corcos on the How I Write podcast
The How I Write podcast is hands down my favorite. I’ve listened to every episode, and I found many of my go-to digital writers here.
This episode with Sam Corcos is in my top three.
I love writing. So, I always research the impact writing has on different aspects of life. But I’ve struggled to find something good on business writing…
Until now.
This episode breaks down the beauty and ugly of building a “writing-first work culture.”
Hearing about the environment Sam cultivated made me jealous.
Sounds exciting to work at a company like his.
2. How Stripe Build a Writing Culture
After watching Sam Corcos on the How I Write podcast, I went down a business writing rabbit hole. Sam found inspiration from the writing culture at Stripe. And he mentioned it multiple times. So, I couldn’t help but dig into Stripe’s writing culture more…
Here’s my favorite quote from the article:
“Everyone’s time is valuable. Make the effort to put together coherent ideas in writing.”
I work at a company where most people (especially at higher levels of the organization) spend more than 50% of their time in meetings.
Fortunately, I don’t sit in too many of them. But, I often sit in 30-minute meetings, thinking, “this could have been a 100-word email.”
The problem is that most people aren’t good at writing effectively. So they think they’d save themselves more time sitting in a 30-minute call than taking 45 minutes to write an email.
But they don’t take into account other people’s time.
You may save yourself time by hopping on a call instead of writing a clear, concise email. But at the same time, you may waste the other person’s time by making them spend 30 minutes listening to you when a 2-minute read would have sufficed.
Writing well is difficult.
But it’s worth learning.
Not only can you strengthen your ability to think, but you can communicate your ideas more efficiently and save people a lot of time.
3. Mastering the Media: The Secrets of Robert Moses
Fun fact: I worked at Robert Moses State Park during my high school and college summers.
So, seeing an article about the man who created my former employer intrigued me. But what intrigued me more is that the article was written by David Perell—the guy who created and hosts the How I Write podcast.
What I love about David’s writing is the thorough research he does before putting pen to paper. The attention to detail makes his pieces feel profound and gives them a special “wow” factor.
This essay blew me away.
I’ve always known that Robert Moses made a name for himself and rose to power through unethical choices. But until reading this piece, I didn’t understand the truth behind Moses’s story.
4. Stripe Press
And…
…we’re talking about Stripe again. After reading about the company’s writing culture, I continued my research and remembered they have a publishing company.
Stripe Press publishes books on cool ideas that can change our future world.
They publish books on topics that tech people (like me) could geek out over for hours.
I’m not including Stripe Press in this Weekly Finds list because they have fascinating books. Although I did buy two of them—The Art of Doing Science and Engineering and Get Together.
I’m including it here because their website has the coolest UI (user interface) I’ve ever seen.
If you enjoy having your mind blown by the internet, you have to check out the website.
I’m speechless.
Just use your mouse or finger and watch the books twist and turn.
You won’t regret it.
5. Hiring and the market for lemons
I don’t remember how I found this essay.
But I’m glad I found it.
The job market (especially for tech) is wonky. I see hundreds, if not thousands, of job postings daily. And I see thousands of hungry applicants trying to land them.
Yet, no one seems to have success.
It’s a weird dynamic.
Part of me thinks that companies want to hire people and have applicants to hire, yet they still can’t find the right people.
This essay by Dan Luu made me think. He has great insights on the software development hiring outlook. I see a lot of commonalities with the data analyst hiring outlook.
I recommend reading this.
6. The Third Door by Alex Banayan
Despite being an avid reader, I haven’t finished a book in two months.
I decided to ease back into reading by listening to a book. After watching a podcast with Alex Banayan and being completely enthralled by his storytelling, I downloaded his bestselling book The Third Door.
I listened to the entire thing over the course of two days. It’s fun to listen to while doing chores around the house.
A lot happens in the book, so read the summary I highlighted above.
But there’s one idea I want to share. One that you can take action on now to get what you want in life.
It’s the following quote that is repeated multiple times in the book:
“When it’s in front of you, make your move.”
You can't control when new opportunties come your way. But you can control how you respond to them. Either capitalize on the moment or do nothing.
If you choose the latter, future you will feel regret. A LOT of it.
So when opportunity presents itself to you, don't hesitate.
Seize the moment.
Make your move.
7. How horses make their way to the Paris Olympics
One fun and final article.
While watching the Olympic equestrian with my mom, she wondered how difficult it must be for the horses to travel from their home countries to France.
This interested me too, so I did some research.
And I found this article.
I’ll give you the pleasure of reading it yourself.
But if there are two things you must know about horses, it’s this:
- Horses get jet-lagged… sort of
- Horses need passports to travel… cool, no?