Oversimplified: Volume 91
Digital tool checklists, hiring people who give a shit, and where to live
Hey there đ
Oversimplified is a weekly digest of the best links I stumble upon. If youâre enjoying the newsletter, share it with a friend. You might notice that there are some images in this issue. Gotta keep this newsletter on the bleeding edge.
đ What I Read
Hire People Who Give a Shit
This post from Alexandr Wang of Scale is a good one. As companies find success, they inch closer to âbecoming a credentialâ instead of a place for truly meaningful work. Unless you actively fight it, this seems to be inevitable.
Ask Data Questions You Can Answer
Thereâs a lot of gold in this four-part series about building data-driven teams. One of my favorite bits: âThe option youâre considering needs to come first. You then turn to data to provide some indications as to how likely the action youâre considering will be successful or not.â
Advice for Newsletterers
The main argument in this post is that personal email newsletters should be broken up into seasons. Iâm not sure if Iâm ready to do this for Oversimplified, but I like the idea along with the use of âseasonâ as a generalized cross-media definition.
Introduction to Bilibili
I had never heard of Bilibili before this post, but thereâs a ton of interesting stuff here. I canât get over the fact that new users need to pass a 100-question entrance exam to join the platform as a creator.
The Tech Stack of a One-Man SaaS
A lot of the content that gets recommended to me on tech stacks is either for small projects (e.g. personal websites) or big businesses (e.g. Netflix). Not a ton of useful stuff in the middle like this.
A Digital Tool Checklist
This is a great checklist for love-worthy tools. One point that stuck out to me: âIt should teach skills/principles that outlive the tool.â
đ„ What I Found Interesting
Why Iâm Losing Faith in Twitch
Twitch has taken off in a big way this year, but it still leaves something to be desired for creators. This perspective made a lot of sense to me.
Where to Live
Iâm not buying a house any time soon, but if I were, this seems like a solid framework to use as a jumping-off point.
Consistency vs. Intensity
A lot of the advice I consume seems to point towards consistency, and I tend to agree, but I worry that general consensus has swung too far away from intensity. In a way, intensity does feel a lot more natural.
Business Class Seats
Today I learned that you can purchase business class airplane seats. I canât get over how absurd/amazing this would be in a WFH set-up.
đ€ Quote I'm Pondering
âThe biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. Itâs the lack of a deadline. Give someone an enormous task, a supportive community, and a friendly-yet-firm due date, and miracles will happen.â â Chris Baty
Thanks for reading Oversimplified this week! Did anything stand out? Iâd love to hear about it. Reply to this email or tweet at me and letâs chat đ
Until next time,
Conor