Balaji Srinivasan – The Network state
Some fair nuggets of socio-economical diagnosis mixed with personal pet-peeves and drained in a techno-utopian rant.
Classical strategy consulting ploys translate seamlessly to the domain of IT architecture
Eben Hewitt – Technology Strategy Patterns
The ‘cookbook’ approach does a lot to demystify Strategy and Architecture, while the digressions into philosophy make the relatively basic content also palatable for the advanced reader.
There are a huge number of ways in which Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) can take over the world, rendering humanity essentially useless
Nov. 2017: Interesting exploration of the implications of AGI, faulted by the typical preference of Analytical Philosophy for construction of intricate, highly theoretical scenario’s, under-emphasizing basic challenges (in the case of AGI: lack of robustness / antifragility).
Jun. 2023: The writer has leveraged the recent rise of LLMs like ChatGPT to further fuel fear about an AGI break-out – even though other AI-related risks require more imminent attention.
If you update the brain-in-a-vat argument to the current state of technology, it reads: ‘We cannot prove that we are not in a simulation.’
The vocabulary of ‘sims’, and ‘VR’ makes for entertaining examples of traditional philosophical concepts; but the author’s core arguments about simulation and physical reality seem to implicitly assume a suspicious form of Cartesian dualism.
Since the invention of the micro processor, chip production has become of imminent strategic importance for both the USA and other geopolitical power blocks
Nice historical overview, very topical in an era where technology significantly affects the Ukraine war and the power play between the USA and China around Taiwan.
To bring a socio-techincal concept to life, you need a lot of technology
In capable hands, data governance can actually be made into a sexy topic.
If you want to learn how to build good products or start yur own company, Tony Fadell recommends listening to Tony Fadell
Tony Fadell – Build
Shamelessly self-aggrandizing autobiography dressed-up as self-help book for entrepreneurs.
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 book proves that those A16Z folks are very good at marketing sauce on not-so-ground-breaking ideas (as described by Sebastian Mallaby)
When structuring your tech-heavy organization it helps to think in archetypes of team roles and interaction modes
Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais – Team Topologies
An elegant little book that provides a refreshingly clear view on how to make Conway’s law an effective principle for organizing products and platforms.
PayPal has been successful first and foremost because of ruthless competitiveness and a maniacal work ethic
In hindsight, the early internet was shockingly primitive.
From Anime to the Karaoke machine and the Gameboy, Japanese design has had an outsized influence on pop culture
Highly entertaining book, providing entertaining facts and refreshing perspectives.
A start-up in retail should resolve significant friction in the value chain and/or the consumers’ lives
Christiane Lemieux and Duff McDonald – Frictionless
Story on repeat: X had a frustration, X is so privileged that she can raise at least a couple of $100k from friends and family, and X starts an amazing company to solve the problem – at least in theory – for herself and the rest of the world.
It is a miracle that databases actually work, considering all the things that can go wrong
Martin Kleppmann – Designing Data-intensive applications
Surprisingly readable for a text of this sort of technical depth
The Silicon Valley philosophy of innovation and disruption undervalues the importance of maintenance and durability
Lee Vinsel, Andrew Russel – The innovation delusion
Funny enough, the polemic narrative applies all the trick of typical innovation literature to promote a maintenance mindset.
To become successful as a startup founder: copy everything you can and only invent what you must
JimMcKelvey – The innovation stack
The book is exactly what it tries to avoid: being just another entertaining founder story (in this case about Square).
The US is losing out in AI, due to a lack of long-term vision and direction
The book’s set-up with multiple scenarios for the future works surprisingly well and is especiall concerning for European readers: Europe is almost completely irrelevant in all of Webb’s scenarios.
To unlock creativity, make sure you get the culture right
The best quote is not from the author: “Quality is the best business plan” (John Lasseter, director of Toy Story).
Thanks to the US phone monopoly, Bell labs could produce breakthrough technologies
Jon Gertner – The idea factory
The fascinating history of Bell labs illustrates how a long-term view is essential for technological progress.
Thanks to technology, it becomes ever easier for fringe movements to topple the establishment
Moises Naim – The end of power
the book, written pre-Trump, pre-Brexit and pre-Cambridge Analytics, underemphasizes the risk of large-scale orchestration of fringe groups to undermine nation states; thereby making the author’s call for stronger institutions feels a bit besides the point.
Even at tech companies where intentions are good, women fight an uphill battle
The book fits neatly in the trend to call out gender inequality, but unfortunately it has limited practical solutions to offer.