Links

This is a collection of articles I’ve enjoyed revisiting time and again. I don’t necessarily agree with everything I link to here, but I hope they’re useful. I periodically update this list.

Tech

Mastery and Mimicry by Sep Kamvar. A beautiful set of vignettes that draw parallels between nature and technology, and teases out a set of design principles that technology can aspire to.

Aggregation Theory by Ben Thompson, and his follow-up article Defining Aggregators. Thompson is perhaps one of the most insightful tech writers of the day, and this theory he has developed explains the nature of some of the largest tech companies, as well as the underlying forces that have shaped them into what they are.

Status as a Service (StaaS) by Eugene Wei. A fresh, thorough look at the underlying currency of all social networks: status. Wei dissects the evolution of different networks and weaves together a brilliant comparison to cryptocurrencies. If you want to understand social networks at their most fundamental levels, this article is for you.

Invisible Asymptotes by Eugene Wei. What prevents businesses from growing past a certain level? And how can they break past those invisible limits?

Going Critical by Kevin Simler. An interactive post that explains how networks work, and how things go viral. It has implications for everything from public health to technological innovation, from nuclear chain reactions to memes.

Game Design, not Gamification, for Great Products by Rahul Vohra. An inspired, thought-provoking talk by Superhuman’s founder on the fundamentals of game design, and how its principles can be used to make truly delightful, emotionally evocative products.

Product Management

How To Get Into Product Management (And Thrive) by Lenny Rachitsky. An excellent read for anyone looking to transition into product management. It starts with the why and the how of switching into PM, and then details some of the key competencies of the role. Each section links to a number of additional articles and resources to learn more about those skills, so it’s useful to treat this as a starting syllabus.

Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager by Ben Horowitz. A classic piece that illustrates what good product management looks like.

What to Do in Your First 30 Days by Ken Norton. A short read that breaks down how to start off in a new PM role.

One-On-Ones Are Essential by Ken Norton. It’s easy when things get busy to let 1×1’s slip. Here’s why they’re important– and how to make them better.

Lazy Work, Good Work by Morgan Housel. On context switching and giving your brain the time and space to do good creative work.

Product Manager HQ Start Here. An expansive list of resources to familiarize yourself with concepts, processes, and tactics useful for product managers.

Finance, Economics, and Business

The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth by Conrad Bastable. A good read on wealth inequality in the US, and how major life expenses can wipe out a lifetime’s worth of work.

Ancient Rivers of Money by Venkatesh Rao. On the power of metaphors to shape our thinking, and more specifically how money compares to water (without the use of a single liquidity pun, I might add). For more money metaphors, check out his earlier work Fools and their Money Metaphors.

Betting on Things That Never Change by Morgan Housel. Jeff Bezos once said, “I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ That’s a very interesting question. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two.”

Inseparable Pairs by Morgan Housel. Behind every exciting thing is the boring stuff that makes it work.

The Biggest Returns by Morgan Housel. Timeless advice: focus on what you can control, learn to live with less.

What Bitcoin Shows Us About How Money Works by Tim Babb. How money functions in a philosophical and practical sense, and how Bitcoin stacks up.

Writing

Software Engineers Should Write by Shubhro Saha. Writing essays and code are more similar than you think.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online by David Perell. A primer on why to write online, and a lot of tactical advice on how.

How to Maximize Serendipity by David Perell. “Serendipity is a state of mind. Serendipity births unexpected opportunities which fuel progress and push us in fruitful directions. By maximizing serendipity, you’ll accelerate your progress. Serendipity is a skill, which means it can be learned.”

Why Companies Need Novelists by Michael Grothaus. A conversation with novelist Mohsin Hamid on the power of stories in business.