Sunday Reads And Listens...Internet Scale is Never Obvious, Against Scale and Some Gift Ideas

Happy Sunday.

The weather on Coronado this week has been spectacular. Unseasonably warm and sunny.

I have been in catch up work mode. Although Ellen and I come here for rest and relaxation, Coronado is always where I get my best work done. We walk more, we talk more, we do more outdoor fitness, we eat better, we drive less and we have less distractions.

Unfortunately, no matter how good my day is, my routine since October 7 means I spend 1-2 hours a day checking In on friends in Israel and reading about the war.

That means every morning I am sad, angry and frustrated… nothing compared to the trauma and life interruption in Israel.

I woke up this morning to read that the UN s ‘worried’ about the tunnels. Yes, the tunnels Hamas is holding hostages in, bthe tunnels built for terror with embezzeled humanitarian aid. They are not even trying to hide their Hamas support.

Bill Maher had a great ‘New Rules’ segment which everyone should watch. Bill understands Israel’s dilemma - “All wars end with negotiation, but it's hard to negotiate when the other side's bargaining position is "you all die and disappear."

Onward…

I am reading my friend Morgan Housel’s new book ‘Same as Ever’ (he sent it to me for free) because he knows I rarely read books. I quickly got through it and highly recommend it as a gift to anyone in your family (including yourself) that invests.

My pal Om Malik has some posts/essays/reads that had me thinking about how we have been investing at Social Leverage the last few years and what has me excited.

Om is a passionate geek re all things Apple and that has made him a fortune as well. He is bullish on Apple Vision goggles and in this piece explains how it will at least change photography.

The poster child company for internet scale (my opinion) is Uber. I was lucky to own some shares in the seed round indirectly through David Cohen’s 2009 Bullet-Time fund (I own some shares again right now and have been talking about that weekly on Trends With Friends podcast) . Om recaps the 14 years of Uber.

While Open AI has been the most recent reminder of ‘internet scale’, people need to remember that Open AI is eight years old.

Scale, even ‘internet scale’ is never obvious or guaranteed. I have been lucky to see it close up just once (Robinhood) and I think most investors believe it is something that can easily be spotted and also necessary for success.

I loved this piece titled ‘Against Scale’ (thanks Om)- The natural world shows us how to grow without leaving behind a trail of ruin.

Finally…

Om shared some last minute gift ideas.

I will share a couple as well for those in your life that like cycling and fitness.

For cyclists, I love the DSTNC (we are investors) collection of winter ‘visibility’.

Also this sale on incredible fitness brand ASRV which DSTNC now carries.

Last but not least…Manscaped is a perfect gift for any guy (or hairy lady friend? And yes we are investors).