Weekend Briefing No. 163

Prime Numbers

3.2 million – More than 3.2 million people quit their jobs in January, the most in nearly 16 years.

100 bpm – CPR should be administered at 100 beats per minute, that can be hard to approximate, fortunately, pop music can help us find the beat. “Staying Alive” and “I Will Survive” are classic examples of the 100 bpm benchmark. Looking for something a little less on the nose? Try Hanson’s mega-hit “MMMBop.”

18 – ElRubiusOMG, Smosh, VanossGaming, Fernanfloo, Jacksepticeye ... I'd never heard any of these names before. And you probably haven't either. But your kids probably have. Here are the 18 most popular YouTube stars.

Social Enterprise Business Models

I’m working on a chapter about how to choose the optimal legal structure for your social enterprise for an upcoming book from Cambridge University Press on social enterprise law. The basis is that there are three major types of social enterprise business models: Profit-Purpose Tension, Profit-Purpose Alignment, and Profit-Purpose Neutral. We’ve identified 12 specific business models that fall within each of these types. I’ve got a very rough draft of a section of that chapter that I’d like to share with you and get your feedback. Specifically: 1) What do you like / dislike about this process? 2) Are there any business models I’m leaving out? Please shoot me an email with any and all thoughts, comments, and feedback. Read the article at Westaway Review (12 minutes).

2017 World Changing Ideas

This week Fast Company announced the winners of the first ever World Changing Ideas Awards. Some of my favorites are: 1) Fruit & Veg Prescription. Wholesome Wave’s fruit and vegetable prescription program lets health care providers write prescriptions for free produce for people at risk for diet-related diseases. 2) 3-D Printed Organs. Using a custom printer that can keep cells alive and form large structures that are strong enough for transplant, the team has successfully printed tissues and bones and implanted them in rodents. 3) Cook County Bond Court. By redesigning the physical space–which was previously crowded, noisy, confusing, and unorganized–designers from CannonDesign aimed to improve fairness and dignity in the court. See the rest at Fast Company (12 minutes).

CEO’s Deepest Fears

Stanford Professor Shirzad Chamine asked a group of 100 CEOs and presidents to anonymously write down “one secret they never shared about how they really feel inside.” Here are few: 1) My air of confidence is false. 2) I worry my materialism is hurting my children. 3) I’m afraid of ending up like my father, who is unloved and will die alone. 4) I have no idea how to truly connect with my only son. See the whole list at Quartz (3 minutes).

Smarter Education

The traditional post-secondary educational system is not working. Only about a third of students who enroll in either two- or four-year degree programs graduate in four years from the same institution, 28.5% drop out, most with massive debt and no ability to pay them down. My friend and Weekend Briefing community member Adam Braun is looking to create a better way forward. MissionU is a one-year program that gives skills and experience needed to launch a successful career. Applicants are selected based on soft skills that employers value in employees, such as problem solving skills and ability to work well on a team. If accepted, students at the one-year skills-focused program have no upfront payment. Instead, they agree to pay 15 percent of their salary for three years once they have graduated from the program and secured a job making at least $50,000 a year. Learn more at CNBC (4 minutes).

Taking the Sweat Out of Sweater

At a pop-up Adidas store at a mall in Berlin, customers designed their own merino wool sweaters for 200 euros ($215) each and then had them knitted in the store, finished by hand, washed and dried, all within four hours. This brings fast fashion to a whole new level, but without any of the labor condition issues of the traditional fashion industry. It hopes the drive will help it adjust better to fickle fashion trends, allowing it to sell more products at full price as it seeks to meet a new goal to bring its operating profit margin closer to rival Nike's by 2020. This is inline with the trend of distributed production, which I believe will become mainstream in the next 15 years. Learn more at Reuters (4 minutes).

Art on the Blockchain

By registering artworks with blockchain to establish authenticity and create property rights, artists can retain an “equity share” in the works, much like the founder of a startup retains an ownership stake that grows in value as the company expands. The ability to easily establish ownership, track authenticity and trade shares would mark a significant upgrade from the current system. Most importantly, such a platform would help align price and value for the artists, enabling them to participate in the increase in economic value they help create. Learn more at Artsy (6 minutes).

Saving Citigroup’s Soul

A Princeton University professor by day, Dr. Miller has worked with Citigroup intermittently for the last three years to tackle abstract issues about banking and morality. Dr. Miller asks the senior executives to consider four M's when making a decision: What would your mother, your mentor, the media and -- if you're inclined -- your maker think? Miller says the problem, isn't the bad apples, who violate the rules. Rather, it is how easy it is for good employees to justify bad decisions when they face gray-zone questions. Learn more at Morningstar (8 minutes).

About the Weekend Briefing

The best articles on innovation, impact, and growth distilled into one email every Saturday morning by Kyle Westaway – author of Profit & Purpose and Managing Partner of Westaway.

Thanks for making the Weekend Briefing a part of your Saturday morning routine. I love putting it together every week and love hearing your thoughtful insights. Feel free to shoot me an email with any feedback or suggestions. If you like what you’re reading, I’d be honored if you share it with your friends. Have a restful and thoughtful weekend.