š The OG Steve Jobs
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š The OG Steve Jobs
š± The internet is a scary place
š° Stagflation is here to stay
Akio Morita, the OG Steve Jobs
Acquired
Season 10, Episode 3
Sony
3 hr 4 mins
All heroās have heroās. Steve Jobs changed they way you and I live our lives. If there was a Silicon Valley Hall of Fame, he would have joined, left, and joined again. Jobs deserves to be called a hero by many. But, have you wondered what seeded some of his best frameworks? Who left the same mark that Jobs has had on you, on him?
š āItās not that Steve Jobs is a rip off of Akio Morita, itās that he so badly wanted to be Akio Morita ā¦ a lot of the concepts that we grasp onto as Steveās version of them are actually Akioās version of them ā¦ and thereās this one quote in particular which is: I do not believe any amount of market research could have told us the Sony Walkman would be successful ā¦ and yet the Sony Walkman has literally changed the habits of millions of people around the world ā¦ he said this in 1986, Steve Jobs would say things like this, Apple doesnāt do focus groups, you have to invent something, people canāt tell you what they want ā¦ these are all Morita-ismsā
Why it matters: Itās okay to be a copycat. The best of us are. Thatās not to say you should rip off the next viral app and expect instant success. What you can do is take inspiration from others and apply their frameworks to your own business, job or life in general.
Between the lines: You can choose where your grey lines end and where your red lines start. Me? I admire those who push the boundaries. Take the Samwer brothers. The āClone Kingsā are ridiculed for copying Silicon Valley greats in non-English speaking markets. Think Zalando, the Zappos of Europe, and Lazada, the Amazon of Indonesia. My take - as long as you donāt break the law or mislead customers, take every opportunity you get.
Listen here:Ā https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/acquired/id1050462261?i=1000553152403
PSA: The internet is not safe
My First Million
Episode 291
Hire 1 to 10, Sam Gets Hacked, Shaan buys a $200K NFT, and More with Andrew Wilkinson
1 hr 20 mins
This is not fun reading. Iām not a developer, so it blows my mind how powerful technology is nowadays. I take for granted how the internet, bluetooth and phone calls actually work. Just this week I read about Okta getting hacked but I didnāt give a second thought about myself. Me? Nah, it could never happen to meā¦
š āAndrew: These guys probably had root access to my phone. Sam: Whatās a Zero Day? Andrew: A Zero Day is an attack that uses a flaw within the operating system that nobody knows about. They can send you a link in Safari and it can somehow get root access to your iPhone and Apple doesnāt know about it yet so they canāt prevent it. Sam: Wow! ā¦ Sam: I heard stories from some folks at Andresan Horowitz that when they go to China theyāre not allowed to bring their normal laptop and they have to bring a different laptop that doesnāt have anything on it and I think a lot of Facebook employees have to do that too.ā
Why it matters: Root access gives you complete control over everything in an operating system, and those permissions allow you to change it all. You do not want someone having root access to any of your devices!
Most of us are naive when it comes cybersecurity. We all know not to use the same password across the web but we still do it. Iām not trying to change your bad habits because I need to fix my own first. But hopefully, youāll remember to 1) check the domain of cold emails you receive 2) recheck what apps have access to your photos, camera, microphone and location and 3) most importantly, face your phone down when youāre in the shower!
Between the lines: You should follow basic security hygiene. The same way you brush your teeth twice a day, you should do the basics to protect yourself online. This also goes for work. Do you use 2FA? How often do you force password changes (if at all)? Iāll let you go as deep as you want with this, but Iāll leave you with this gem - thereās a reason cybersecurity stocks like CrowdStrike are up 357% since 2020ā¦
Listen here:Ā https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/my-first-million/id1469759170?i=1000554350584
Donāt kill the messenger
ALL-IN
Episode 72
Impact of sanctions, globalization, food shortage risks, macroeconomic outlook and more
1 hr 15 mins
We havenāt faced stagflation for almost 50 years. The global economy last experienced this death spiral in the 1970s. The recipe for stagflation is a pinch of slow economic growth mixed with high unemployment and inflation. The result? A paltry economic meal that causes severe food poisoning. To put it another way, we know how bad a recession is (think 2008) - stagflation is considered worse than a recession.
š āJason: In the bad news column, inflation continues. Last 6 months CPI numbers year over year ā¦ September 5.4% ā¦ November 6.8%, January 7.5%, February 7.9%. Excluding food and energy, core inflation still rose 6.4% ā¦ a recession possibly looming ā¦ Chamath: The thing that Iāve learned over the last few years is that markets donāt actually care what they news is, what they despise is the uncertainty of what the news could be.ā
Why it matters: There are two key things to unpack here: managing inflation and managing the markets. The coronavirus pandemic, failing global supply chains and war in Europe has caused commodities to soar and markets to crash. You feel the pain every time you fill up your car, buy groceries or check your stock/crypto investments. Inflation makes a real difference to our lives. Make the right decisions to help yourself and your business get through this period of uncertainty.
Between the lines: Controversial take - your company should raise prices if you havenāt done so already. As customers, we always hate price increases, even if theyāre warranted. For many, a price increase makes you reevaluate the value you are getting from your purchase. The thing is, most companies are raising prices right now. This is a good opportunity to do so whilst avoiding the normal scrutiny. Customers wonāt be as forgiving next year! Just make sure you tell your customers why youāre raising prices and they should accept this begrudgingly.
Listen here:Ā https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/all-in-with-chamath-jason-sacks-friedberg/id1502871393?i=1000554535250