Weekend Briefing No. 578
Tiny Experiments -- The Lazarus Group -- Food's New Frontier
Welcome to the weekend.
I’ll be in Washington DC next week. Click below if you want to meet up for coffee.
Prime Numbers
80,000 — Dude Perfect, capitalizing on a 30% increase in sports-related YouTube content viewership over the past year, has leveraged their 15 billion views into a $100 million investment that funded an 80,000 square-foot production facility near Dallas and an upcoming trick shot theme park.
197.7 — The Politecnico de Milano's autonomous driving software guided a driverless Maserati MC20 Coupe to a new autonomous vehicle speed record of 197.7 miles per hour on a 2.8-mile runway at Kennedy Space Center last week. This surpassed the previous record of 192.2 miles per hour while highlighting the computational challenge of creating algorithms fast enough to keep pace with high-speed vehicles.
36 — A February poll revealed a significant perception gap in U.S.-Canada relations, with 82% of Americans viewing Canada as a friend or ally while only 33% of Canadians reciprocate that sentiment. Meanwhile, 36% of Canadians consider the U.S. unfriendly, and 14% view it as an enemy, leading 65% of Canadians to research Canadian ownership of companies and 53% to boycott American businesses.
Tiny Experiments
The traditional linear path to success — degrees, career ladders, retirement plans — often leaves achievers feeling strangely empty and unfulfilled despite their accomplishments. Neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff's new book Tiny Experiments offers a better way through an experimental mindset that transforms how we approach goals and life itself. By conducting small, intentional experiments, we can break free from invisible cognitive scripts, harness the power of imperfection and make decisions aligned with our authentic ambitions. This cyclical approach to growth replaces traditional success models, allowing us to discover, pursue and adapt our goals while meaningfully engaging with the world around us. I’m reading it right now and love it. I’d highly recommend it for anybody feeling stuck or looking for a new perspective on living a meaningful and interesting life. Amazon (7 hours)
The Lazarus Group
A routine cryptocurrency transaction approval turned catastrophic when Bybit CEO Ben Zhou inadvertently handed control to the Lazarus Group — North Korea's elite government-backed hacking syndicate — who orchestrated the theft of $1.5 billion in February 2025. The sophisticated attackers compromised a developer's computer, planted malicious code to manipulate transactions and sent Zhou a deceptive approval link that granted them control of Bybit's accounts — executing with such technical precision that security experts described them as "on another level." After the heist, the hackers demonstrated their operational maturity by immediately dispersing the stolen funds across a vast web of digital wallets, employing advanced money-laundering techniques they had perfected in previous crypto attacks. New York Times (5 minutes)
Fancy Toys as Tax Breaks
A recent report by Cerulli Associates found that tax minimization is a critical objective for nearly 63% of people. Surprisingly, luxury assets like private jets, expensive cars and yachts can serve as strategic investments with potential tax benefits. By demonstrating a legitimate business purpose for these assets, individuals may be able to deduct expenses related to their ownership and operation. Navigating the tax implications of luxury asset ownership can be complex. The IRS has specific rules regarding the deductibility of expenses related to personal use assets. TaxFrame can help you understand and leverage the tax code to maximize the potential tax benefits of your investments. Our experienced tax professionals can guide you through the intricacies of tax laws and ensure you remain compliant. Schedule a consultation today to discuss your specific situation, and explore strategies for optimizing your tax outcomes. Taxframe (Sponsored)
Food's New Frontier
The gene-editing revolution is transforming agriculture with innovations distinctly different from controversial GMO technologies of the past. Unlike transgenic GMOs that insert foreign genes, CRISPR-based editing tweaks plants' existing DNA to create changes that could theoretically occur in nature — essentially accelerated selective breeding. This approach is yielding impressive results: pungency-free mustard greens, vitamin-enriched tomatoes, drought-resistant rice that captures more carbon, and non-browning fruits that reduce food waste. While many governments are creating streamlined regulatory pathways for these products, skeptics remain concerned about unintended ecological consequences and industry connections to previous GMO developers. The Economist (5 minutes)
Nuclear’s Unsolved Problem
The nuclear energy renaissance fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) data centers' power demands is colliding with an uncomfortable reality: 90,000 metric tons of radioactive waste already sits in temporary storage across 39 states. Nuclear power offers tremendous promise as a green energy solution, producing virtually no greenhouse gases while providing a nearly uninterrupted flow of electricity. While countries like Finland, France and Canada make progress on permanent underground repositories, U.S. efforts stalled decades ago after the $15 billion Yucca Mountain project collapsed amid political opposition. The Supreme Court is now hearing arguments about temporary storage facilities in Texas and New Mexico, but experts emphasize the critical need for a permanent solution as new reactors come online and the waste pile grows by 2,000 metric tons annually. Wall Street Journal (6 minutes)
Exercise and Mental Health
The sweeping claims about exercise's powerful mental health benefits might deserve a more skeptical examination according to researchers re-evaluating the evidence. While hundreds of studies clearly show physically active people have better mental health and that exercise interventions can improve depression and anxiety, context may be the most crucial — yet understudied — factor determining these benefits. The research suggests that traditional exercise variables like intensity, duration and activity type have surprisingly weak effects compared to whether you enjoy the activity, experience social connection, feel a sense of accomplishment or simply look forward to doing it again tomorrow. Rather than stressing about workout metrics, the most effective approach for mental health might be following your instincts toward physical activities that genuinely bring you pleasure and satisfaction — regardless of how vigorously they raise your heart rate. Outside (5 minutes)
What Works For You?
Productivity gurus constantly peddle their one perfect system, promising transformation if you just follow their morning routine, task management app or scheduling method. Forcing yourself into someone else's productivity system is like trying to write a novel using a method that fundamentally contradicts your creative nature — it's not just ineffective, it's actively harmful to your growth. When elite athletes train, their programs are intensely personalized to their unique physiology and needs, yet in personal development we naively expect one-size-fits-all approaches to work universally. The path to genuine improvement begins with radical self-awareness: track your performance under different conditions, examine your natural tendencies when not forcing artificial habits and analyze your past successes to identify the environments where you truly excel. Whether you're a methodical outliner or a spontaneous sprinter, a morning person or night owl, the key isn't becoming someone else but architecting a system that amplifies your inherent strengths while accommodating your limitations — because sustainable change only happens when you work with your nature, not against it. Nat Eliason's Newsletter (5 minutes)
Should We Work Together?
Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.
Founder Fridays
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Weekend Wisdom
Mindful productivity is not about doing more, but about doing what matters. -Anne-Laure Le Cunff