From the Desk of Eric Ries 

August 2021 Edition

"If you think about business by first thinking about how you want to be remembered as a human being, most of us gravitate to the golden rule — doing something good to our people. If you can connect that desire in your heart with the way you run the business, the employees will love the company. The customers will love the company."

Hubert Joly was the CEO of Best Buy from 2012-2019, during which time he turned the company around not only in terms of earnings, but according to the principle he outlines above. Now, as a lecturer and author, he's working to infuse not just one company but the very ethos of business with those same values. As the profile the above quote is taken from goes on to say, "Mr. Joly is broadly calling for an end to profit maximization at all costs, a restoration of the social compact between employers and workers, and an approach to business that takes human dignity as a starting point."For some time, now--especially when the Long-Term Stock Exchange was honored with its first two commitments to list--I've been thinking about the true meaning of profit and value and the role each of us has in broadening the way we think about those terms. Business is beginning to adopt this attitude in earnest, but there's so much more that can be done not just in the future, but right now.I hope all of you are facing the fall with hope and a sense of satisfaction about what we've accomplished so far at home, at work, and in the world. Below are some job listings, some discussions of and interviews about what I've been doing, and a few other things I've been reading in recent weeks.[Hiring]

LTSE is hiring for a number positions in different areas of the company:

• Financial Analyst

• Market Operations Analyst

• Systems Reliability Engineer

• Customer Success Associate

• Senior Software Engineer, Exchange

• Software Engineer, Exchange

Topia, a network of customizable virtual worlds that fosters an online community, is looking for WebRTC, Backend and other software engineers, a Product Manager, and a number of other roles.

Prenda, which helps people run microschools, is looking for a Chief Experience Officer

Magic, which makes password-free authentication technology, is looking for a  a Performance Marketing Manager, as well as a few other positions.

[Conversations and Coverage]10 essential reads for every early-stage entrepreneurIntroducing the Open Cap Table CoalitionThis exchange wants to compete with the NYSE, NASDAQ

Twilio and Asana first to dual-list shares on Long-Term Stock ExchangeBe Lean10 business books you should definitely be reading this summer[Other Readings]Whatever happened to the company that decided to pay all its employees a $70k minimum wage?"Five years later, the company still has an impressive employee retention rate of over 90 percent, and is still profitable. Then coronavirus messed everything up, like it did for everyone, with small business transactions—the bulk of Gravity's business—dropping by more than 50 percent practically overnight. And that's where the story of a socialist Seattle credit card processing company gets more interesting."To Make Lean Startups Work, You Need A Balanced Team"If your innovation teams are made up mostly of people with similar backgrounds, you should broaden them."Five Ways Classical Music Is Pivoting"Some famous examples of pivots include a check-in app pivoting into to social media (Instagram), an online dating site pivoting into video (YouTube), or an espresso machine store pivoting into coffee shops (Starbucks). But COVID-19 has forced a vastly different kind of pivot — one triggered not by a lack of music worth paying for, but an entirely external and sudden upheaval. The pandemic has changed the global landscape, and the classical music world has realised it needs to change with it."The Power of Purpose-Driven SchoolsThere is a growing body of scholarly literature that demonstrates the power of linking schooling to what the University of Texas psychologist Davis S. Yaeger calls "self-transcendent purpose."Why We Need More Founders"People often look at the high valuations in early-stage venture capital and conclude there’s too much capital in the ecosystem, and that if there were less capital, valuations would come down. However, another explanation for high valuations might just be that we need more founders."