Digital Coffee (Free) #11 — Asia’s future, how Netflix works, and part two of the health series
Good morning — I hope you all smashed your goals this week 📈
Jumping straight in, would you listen to an audio version of this newsletter? Now that I’ve hit my goal of sending out 10 newsletters (and will continue too send) — I wanted to add something more. Let me know either by replying to this mail or writing a comment.
P.S. if you’ve been forwarded this email or you’re new around here; I thought I’d post up my bio, so you know who’s writing...
Scott (30) — currently Global Head of Product for Investments AI (Artificial Intelligence) at AIG, a machine learning focused team responsible for pioneering algorithms that both mitigate risk and generate returns within fixed income, equity and real estate markets. Assisting in the management of over $320 billion. Prior to this, I founded and managed a number of technology startups. The startups, both B2B and B2C, grew to generate millions of dollars in revenue each month. This included; CEO of miDrive (raised $10m), NED at Simba Sleep (raised $76m) and CPO of Livedrive (exited to j2 Global). In total, I've helped raise over $100m in funding - I'm also an advisor to EC1 Capital and Virgin StartUp. I was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 (Technology) in 2017, and authored a book "10 Minute Guide to Fundraising: Get Funding for your Startup" - available on Amazon.
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Happy Sunday & I’ll see you next week!
Something to ponder 💭
Take bold action toward your intuition — uncomfortable yet so fulfilling
Talk to people you find interesting
When something bad happens — don’t react but decide a specific action step you will take to better it
Whatever you are doing in life — accept failure as part of the process. It’s not a disappointment
Have something meaningful to work towards — get that delayed gratification for focused work
Use your attention wisely — don't give it to negative content
Cut out people that drain your energy — you aren’t obligated to do anything
Treat yourself with respect — take care of your health, style, etc.
Kill the need to please people, be yourself — it will take a while
Never stop doing uncomfortable things — get in the habit of being spontaneous
Five interesting links
Asia is on track to account for 50% of global GDP and 40% of global consumption by 2040—a real shift in the world’s center of economic gravity. One of the most dramatic developments of the past 30 years has been emerging Asia’s soaring consumption and its integration into global flows of trade, capital, talent, and innovation. In the decades ahead, Asia’s economies will go from participating in these flows to determining their shape and direction. Indeed, in many areas—from the internet to trade and luxury goods—they already are. The question is no longer how quickly Asia will rise; it is how Asia will lead.
The (hugely simplified) complex stuff that happens every time you hit ‘play’. Needing out a little this week, jumping into the infrastructure behind Netflix — showing what it takes to be able to serve up video seamlessly (within a few seconds) to millions of people around the globe. Makes for a fascinating read about what’s required at scale.
Jack Dorsey: The enigmatic CEO who could save — or break — Western democracy
A new profile of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suggests that his inability to make decisions and slow pace of thinking may be to blame for the platform's continuing problems. One former Twitter executive says Dorsey "almost avoids decision-making," and others describe him as "sphinx-like," "introverted," and "conflict averse." A longtime friend and early investor in Twitter compares Dorsey to Forrest Gump, and says, "Jack’s at a slower pace where he’s noticing things that the rest of us don’t notice." The piece goes on to discuss how Dorsey has in recent interviews admitted that Twitter both helps to divide people and encourages echo chambers, but he has yet to announce any solutions for this.
Scientists just sequenced the avocado genome — but will they get cheaper?
Avo toast, guacamole, avocado tea—heck, there's even an avocado cafe in Brooklyn, New York. Everyone's favourite, low-sugar fruit can be put in almost any recipe to add flavor, texture, and, of course, a solid dose of healthy anti-inflammatory fatty acids. Knowing this, there's no doubt that the popularity of avocados will continue to rise. But avocado shortages, which have driven up prices in a major way, have people understandably worried. Will we be able to support the growing demand?
Can Parliament stop a no-deal Brexit?
The government claims that MPs cannot stop Britain leaving the EU on October 31st. Yet many are determined to try. The Economist puts together a good piece on a topic that I haven’t been studying in enough detail lately.
Health series (part two)
Last week I talked about how I’m really starting to focus on my health, now that I’m over 30 and all that.... by way of brief update, my stats are trending in the right direction. I’m maintaining the habit of going to the gym four times per week. Couple that with home cooked evening meals Monday through Wednesday, I’m starting to see the body fat % decrease. My goal is 84kg over the next month or so — I’m currently 88kg, with BMI a little too high @ 25.
I also stumbled upon an old blood test that I did with Medichecks last year — I went for the Essential Blood Test, which I think was £95 and included going to a Central London clinic to have the blood taken by a professional. I was impressed with the dashboard, and the level of detail / commentary provided. It reminded me of two things (1) that I need to book another one — I want to take the same test on an annual basis to keep all my metrics in check and hopefully pick up on anything going wrong a little earlier (2) that my cholesterol is too high — meaning I really have to focus on my diet.
Something that contributes quite a bit to cholesterol is alcohol, and something that I’ve been rapidly reducing over the past two months. Some tips that are easy to follow:
Buy alcohol free / low alcohol — these days pretty much every pub has them. I’d highly recommend the 0% Peroni, in my opinion the best tasting alcohol free beer out there
Only drink on a specific night of the week. At the moment I’m allowing myself a couple of drinks on either a Thursday or Friday night
Drink only with meals — this will slow your intake, and it’ll also reduce the impact on your body as the food will delay the absorption
Start to track how much you drink — start a tally and count on a weekly basis how much you’re drinking, then you’ll have a benchmark from which to improve upon
From a few weeks of doing the above, I’m feeling much better — more mental clarity, visibly better skin, more alert, better sleep, the list could go on. So I’d encourage you to start to develop a plan for cutting down.
Notes on the original bitcoin paper
As you know I recently read Bitcoin Billionaires — it got me thinking, and pushed me to go grab a copy of the famous Bitcoin Whitepaper, and think through it in a little more detail. I’ve pasted my notes below, hopefully they come out / are legible: