From the Desk of Eric Ries August 2018

From the Desk of Eric Ries -- August 2018

August 29, 2018

From the Desk of Eric Ries

August 2018

"Intangible industries work differently than tangible industries. Products you can’t touch have a very different set of dynamics in terms of competition and risk and how you value the companies that make them."

In his review of a new book, Capitalism without Capital, Bill Gates brings his own experience as a software pioneer into a fascinating discussion of how the global economy increasingly doesn't mesh with the old ways of investing and valuation. He writes, "It took time for the investment world to embrace companies built on intangible assets. In the early days of Microsoft, I felt like I was explaining something completely foreign to people. Our business plan involved a different way of looking at assets than investors were used to. They couldn’t imagine what returns we would generate over the long term." Of course we all know how that turned out, even though, according to Gates, "The U.S. didn’t include software in GDP calculations until 1999." This trend is continuing, as "even today, GDP doesn’t count investment in things like market research, branding, and training—intangible assets that companies are spending huge amounts of money on." I recommend reading his post in its entirety for an introduction to what feels like a crucial topic for the present and the future.In addition here are few conversations and discussions about my own work, and some other pieces I found compelling over the last month.I hope something here catches your attention, too. I’m always glad to get recommendations, so if there are things you think I should be reading, send them to: [email protected]

[Conversations]

[Readings]

A good breakdown of the truth that "The optimistic change-agent believes there is always a way forward: a communication issue to unravel, low hanging fruit to tackle, and more opportunities to establish psychological safety. But it also gets people...into trouble."

What Did Ada Lovelace's Program Actually Do?A close look at what the world's first computer program was actually designed to do. As the article asks, "Who wouldn’t want to know exactly how a program written in 1843 was supposed to work?"1/0 = 0A small treatise on mathematics, by someone who "tweeted a thing about why 1/0 = 0 is mathematically sound. Some people agreed, some people agreed with caveats, and some people called it bunk. A few people said it’s clear I don’t know real mathematics, because a real mathematician would never make such a mistake."Historical collections reveal patterns of diffusion of sweet potato in Oceania obscured by modern plant movements and recombination

A study of sweet potatoes used to examine and understand "human mobility and cultural evolution in the Pacific," including "prehistoric contact between Polynesia and America."

"Writing prose and writing code have a lot in common, but perhaps the biggest similarity is that neither writers nor programmers can get things done on time. Writers are notorious for missing deadlines. Programmers are notorious for being wildly off with estimates. The question is, why?" This author thinks it has to do with the ratio of raw materials to finished product.

Why Salt Was So Important Throughout HistoryA look at the major theme's of Mark Kurlansky's book, Salt: A World History--everything from how this condiment financed governments to the basic, critical fact that it keeps us alive.