Happy Friday.
It’s been a busy (and cold) week here in Fort Wayne, IN. Aside from meeting entrepreneurs, investors and the rest of the tech community, we’re heavy into the 2017 Tech Tour planning. Yay, spreadsheets (and Asana)! If you’re an investor, executive or community leader that would like to visit other cities with us, please apply to join — it’ll be fun, I promise.
Uber has quietly launched its own ‘Uber for trucking’ marketplace called Uber Freight [Link] [Tweet]
They deliver 45,000 cans of beer via a self-driving 18-wheeler and launch a marketplace for freight in the same week. Meanwhile, I can barely stay on top of my email.
The way we think about the future is two things: marketplace and automation. And that will apply on the consumer side and the freight side.
2. “the distance will increase 1000km and the flight will be 1-3 hours shorter than the polar route.” [Link] [Tweet]
Long haul flights have always been my favorite — don’t ask me why, I just love them.
3. “He’s in over his head and he’s proudly done zero to gain any relevant expertise.” [Link] [Tweet]
And just like that, you’ve got one, single, unifying theory that explains everything about Trump, the debates, and this election: Donald Trump is terrified of actually becoming president. And he hates Hillary because she isn’t.
4. “VC is not about making the best analysis. VC is a job where trade-offs are kings.” [Link] [Tweet]
Investing in companies outside of existing tech hubs is hard. In addition to vetting the founders, the business and everything else in between, you’re trying to gauge the founding team’s ability to raise even more external capital in the future.
5. “To understand the serendipity of the Valley you need to get to the people.” [Link] [Tweet]
It’s a desert for those who don’t know anyone and a monsoon for the networked. A place where meritocracy has a shot vs. street smarts and monopolizing darwinism.
6. “China has now overtaken the U.S. to become the largest market in the world for App Store revenue” [Link] [Tweet]
In case you’re looking for more customers, “China will drive the largest absolute revenue growth for any country by 2020.”
7. “I remind myself to be kind and see the potential in people. Give them a break.” [Link] [Tweet]
Yep.
8. “Being believable isn’t just convincing people you can win, it’s convincing them that they want you to win.” [Link] [Tweet]
The RIBS method is pretty much the best. If you want to convince anyone of anything, it needs to be Relevant, Inevitable, Believable and Simple.
9. “Every millennial should be planning for a 100-year horizon.” [Link] [Tweet]
You don’t think you’re actually going to retire anymore, do you?
10. “The reason is that we somehow feel we have to be different people in different situations. But that’s a lie.” [Link] [Tweet]
Gary Vaynerchuk always advocates for playing to your strengths instead of improving your weaknesses. I love that.
Firehose
You can get the full stream of the things I read, it’s all on Twitter — follow me: @paulsingh.
-P