Weekend Briefing No. 32
Welcome to the weekend! Thanks to everybody who bought the book last week, we had an amazing start. I was surprised that we hit #2 in our category on Amazon on the first day. We just wrapped up a video about Profit & Purpose that I’m launching on Monday, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek. Check it out and share it if you like it.
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Also, I’ve loved seeing all the creative selfies with the book this week. Keep it up and use #profitandpurpose.
Lastly, please take a second to give the book a rating on Amazon today. Thanks!
WEEKEND BRIEFING //
Design with Humility. The second principle in Profit & Purpose is about how important humility is in the design process. In that chapter, I feature IDEO’s Human Centered Design Process (HCD). Yesterday, IDEO launched the next generation of their HCD Kit featuring over 50 design methods, a suite of new Case Studies, and seven videos that get at the key Mindsets of human-centered design. You’ll hear from experts like IDEO CEO Tim Brown on learning from failure, D-Rev CEO Krista Donaldson (featured in Profit & Purpose) on the power of making, IDEO founder David Kelley on creative confidence, and more. Check out the IDEO Human Centered Design Kit.
The 100% Renewable-Powered City: Too Good to be True? Burlington, VT claims that all of its electricity is from a renewable source. Could that be true? Well… kinda, but not really. Electrical grids and utilities are, as you’d expect, complex. One critic gives 6 reasons why Burlington’s claims are misleading in this Atlantic article.
And the MacArthur Genius Grants Go to… 21 brilliant people working across sectors – computer science, neuroscience, film, and psychology to name a few. They range in age from 32 (yes we are all slackers in comparison) to 71 (but there may still be hope for us). Read this New York Times article to see what these geniuses are up to.
How can a startup build trust in its brand? We are moving into an economy that’s more heavily based on trust. I need to trust my Uber driver, my Airbnb host and my TaskRabbit house cleaner. But how can you gain trust of your consumers when you’re still a young company? Learn about the tactics of building (and sometimes borrowing) trust in this First Round Review post.
How much equity should I give my employees? Giving ownership in the company to employees is tricky business. When you’re building a core team there are no rules that I’ve ever found helpful, but beyond the core team, this blog from Fred Wilson is incredibly instructive.
A THING I LIKE //
My favorite new podcast. One of my favorite reporters, Alex Bloomberg, left my favorite podcast, Planet Money, to launch his own company… and in true journalist fashion he is recording the process. This is a podcast about somebody who knows nothing about business trying to start one. It’s called StartUp.
You are super smart, so I’m interested in your thoughts. If you have any story ideas, questions or just want to say hi, feel free to reach out. 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.