The metrics through which venture capital views internet based startups are all mashed up to their own detriment. — In 1999, when I was a sophomore in university I visited a ‘dot.com’ era startup as part of a school project. That was when the whole culture of ‘it’s hip to be in a startup and go to work in t-shirts and sandals’ started. And that was exactly how the…

Many big companies who tried to replicate their early success failed because they did not understand this, and Jobs explains why. — “When (companies) start getting bigger, they want to replicate their initial success, and a lot of them think… somehow there is some magic in the process of how that success was created. So they start to try to institutionalize ‘process’ across the company. And before very long, people get confused…

Like nature, the internet needs a self-regulating component that consumes dead material, before old and useless content overwhelms it. — In nature, fungi are a harbinger of death and decay. Its function is to create space by getting rid of dead material and returning nutrients to the earth, so that new plants can grow and thrive. And connecting the tens of thousands of different types of fungi is a vast…

Social validation is the most effective way to motivate employees, yet it is largely ignored by companies. — Have you ever wondered what motivates netizens to post knowledge and answers to platforms like Wikipedia, Reddit and Quora? An overwhelming need to share their knowledge? Or just too much time on their hands? Probably just the desire to receive social validation. It is one thing to occasionally contribute to…

Four entries were created by artificial intelligence using keywords provided by the organizer. How did it fare against human writers? — A long time ago, I read somewhere that judges in an abstract art competition had awarded the top prize to a painting, which, unbeknownst to them, was actually painted by an elephant in a zoo. On July 29th, 2021, Medium announced a ‘Medium Writers Challenge’, giving away cash prizes totaling…

Does it help you to create a company? Elon Musk says no, but what does the rest of the world think? — Elon Musk’s critical opinion of MBA graduates is well known. He has, on many occasions, talked about this publicly. “MBA Graduates May Be Good at PowerPoint, But They Don’t Know How Things Work.” “There might be too many MBAs running companies.” “As much as possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs…

A private musing over an AI experiment gone wrong unexpectedly sparked off a culture and ethics debate in China. — So this happened in China. In 2019, two university students did an AI project that involved a simple ‘wolf versus sheep’ game. The senior member of the team, a Thai national studying in China, left to work in Australia after he graduated, and the project was thus abandoned. The junior…

Expecting staff to take notes studiously during a meeting is a sign of a boss that wants conformists, not thinkers. — During the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work for various types of bosses — different gender, nationality, industry background and ages. I’ve also started my own businesses and been the boss. I’ve noticed that some bosses have a habit that risks forming a highly damaging culture…

Four technologies showcased at Google I/O 2021 has the potential to combine and power a humanlike hologram android. — In the Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon, there is a charming male character called Poe. He’s a hotel manager that’s really an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered hologram. Since he’s in the hospitality business, Poe is programmed to have a warm and empathetic personality. Although he is capable of understanding and…