Weekend Briefing No. 22

Welcome to the weekend! Tuesday was a good morning… I expect it will be a while before I have the surreal experience of opening up the New York Times and seeing my name in David Brooks’ column. He’s one of my favorite writers, so that made it extra special. Aside from my tiny mention, the column is one of the best I’ve read on creativity in a while. You should take some time to read The Creative Climate.

WEEKEND BRIEFING

Zingerman’s unique inclusive business model is really profitable. Paul Saginaw, turned Zingerman’s Delicatessen, a tiny sandwich shop near the University of Michigan, into a group of nine businesses that, three decades later, has 650 employees, 18 managing partners and combined annual sales of $50 million. Found out how he did it in this New York Times article.

The best article I’ve read on an angel investing. Seriously. I read this stuff all the time. If I had a nickel for every article I’ve read by Fred Wilson, I’d be starting my on venture firm. This in-depth article by Jerry Neumann, Betting on Ponies: the non-Unicorn Strategy describes a practical and doable angel investment strategy… and it also has a bunch of laughs. If you are an investor or ever want to be, read this!

Fireside chat with Google co-founders & Vinod Khosla. Ever want to be a fly on the wall in a conversation between silicon valley titans? Well here’s your chance. This chat covers topics like search, self-driving cars, health care, organizational structures of large companies, technology's impact on society (both bad and good), poor short-term thinking from executives, and disruption and desire to have a positive impact on the world (make a dent in the universe). Watch the full conversation HERE.

Aspen Institute announces the First Movers Fellows. This week the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program announced the 2014 recipients of its prestigious First Movers Fellowship, awarded to individuals who are working within companies to unite business growth with a sustainable society. These fellows are seeking to live out the ideals of Profit & Purpose within larger organizations. They are the quintessential social intrapreneurs at some of my favorite companies like Chipotle, Google, Facebook and Linkedin. Meet the fellows HERE. Thanks to my friend at Aspen Miguel Padro for tipping me off on this story!

Silicon Valley is getting it wrong. Yo! The entire Bay Area appears to have given up on solving anything but its own problems: those afflicting the same 20-somethings who are building these startups. Whereas basic research and development that transforms lives, in fields such as energy, medicine or food safety get relatively little investment. Read more in this Wall Street Journal article.

A THING I LIKE

People hate to be alone with their thoughts. Study participants, especially men, preferred to receive an electric shock instead being alone with their thoughts. Are we all leading unexamined lives?

You are super smart, so I’m interested in your thoughts. If you have any story ideas, questions or just want to say hi, just hit reply to this email. I’m looking forward to chatting with you. If you have friends that would like the WEEKEND BRIEFING, please forward it along. They can sign up for free HERE. Follow me on twitter for updates throughout the week.

Have a restful & thoughtful weekend.