Aging populations and the breakdown of global trade make that very bad things are going to happen all over the world, but less so in the USA
To learn how to make an source software project a commercial success, study business models in the media industry
To benefit the most from network effects: build local scale, fiercely fight for each new value pocket, and remember that every hockey stick will become an S-curve
The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power
The strive for ever greater precision has been a driving force behind all landmark engineering achievements
The careful study of ancient wrecks reveals much about how – through the ages and across civilizations – engineers have solved for the same challenges in different ways
When structuring your tech-heavy organization it helps to think in archetypes of team roles and interaction modes
Earth is an unremarkable planet in an average solar system in a plain-vanilla galaxy in just one-of-many bubble universes
A subversive branch of the French royal family has been responsible for the emergence of the low countries as a geopolitical entity
Venture Capital has been of major importance in the making of the tech industry in general, and Silicon Valley in particular.
Indigenous societies show that, next to capitalism, there are many alternative blends of violence, knowledge and charisma on which a viable social power structure can be built
Thinking of decisions under uncertainty as bets leads to better, more rational, choices by challenging our innate biases
Determining the value function is a difficult problem that is nonetheless key to safely and effectively using reinforcement learning
PayPal has been successful first and foremost because of ruthless competitiveness and a maniacal work ethic
The early 20th century provided a thriving pan-European intellectual and scientific environment, for those men who had the brains and could afford to participate
Old-fashioned advertising creativity is very, very important in marketing effectiveness; unlike ‘thinking logically’
From Anime to the Karaoke machine and the Gameboy, Japanese design has had an outsized influence on pop culture
Governments of developing countries should: 1. stimulate household farming 2. push through land reform, and 3. protect their budding manufacturing industry – in that order
Bayesian nets help prevent flawed statistical arguments and enable the leap from correlation to causation
A pragmatic programmer has to be an inquisitive, realistic critical thinker and fast adapter that is open to new perspectives and technologies
Traders trying to make a killing in an ever more sophisticated market economy are driven to ever smarter deals and lower moral standards
Flawed data collection and interpretation hurt the position and prospects of women in many different ways
Almost any country can hack its way to power, posing a threat to political systems and essential infrastructure world-wide
Today’s dominant ideology is the acceptance of ‘how the world really is’ and that any attempt to change that will lead to ruin
A hero is someone directing their rage towards achieving an unattainable goal and, if successful, ending up a star
To make the fashion industry sustainable (from both environmental and social perspective) consumers need to care and get engaged
From the start, WeWork’s business model was eerily similar to that of Regus while Adam Neumann’s main skill was conning investors
A start-up in retail should resolve significant friction in the value chain and/or the consumers’ lives
Apparently, the success factors that made Jack Ma are his command of the English language, his showmanship
AI increasingly constrains the domain of human creativity, similar to how science has constrained Faith
Like in other instances of decolonization, forming the USA has been a murky affair largely dependent on chance
A bunch of anarchists and misfits was able to defy the most powerful nations of the world for a surprisingly long time
Cyber warfare is getting increasingly sophisticated and the USA can no longer contain the threat of Russia and other foreign powers
