Happy Saturday! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are your 5 things from the mind of Miles for this week.
Giving: Please join my giving circle for startup tech nonprofits. What does that mean? Startup = new and seeking to grow. Tech = using software to scale with lower to zero marginal cost. Nonprofit = organized as a public charity (a 501c3 in the US). Sign up as a member making a recurring donation of $20/month or what you can afford. We will focus on newer or startup tech nonprofits to provide the initial "angel funding" to help them get off the ground. We will vote on a nonprofit recipient of our grant approximately quarterly. Join here.
Writing: Monday’s Startups for Good podcast is an interview with the founder and managing director of Zebras Unite. Given that theme, I wanted to share my summary of What’s Wrong with VC (and the Silicon Valley Mindset). Please share examples of where people are trying to address these issues.
Doing: I’ve been loving Todoist as a to do program. For many years, I’ve been a David Allen Getting Things Done devotee (yes, I tear up a bit when I read the book). With so much work from home, context is less important recently. And given the nature of my work, I’ve recently blended GTD with fixed daily lists ala Do It Tomorrow. With Todoist, I’ve been able to use the following and I was able to consolidate from Wunderlist, Google Reminders and Toodledo.
Shared agendas and lists
Context and other tags
Ticklers
Priority
Checklists (recurring)
Recurring to dos in sophisticated patterns (like M to Th once a day)
Native on macOS plus iOS and web
Location has not been an issue recently but look forward to location-based reminders
Creative: After watching the Streb film, I’ve been loving Diavolo dance videos on YouTube. I have this memory of seeing them or someone similar in 1996 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Is that even possible? And then I found PUSH which as been awesome, as well.
Learning: I struggled to learn to read but once I figured it out I was hooked. Ever since I have loved to read. I’m on track to read 100 books this year. People sometimes ask me how to read more. Here are some ideas:
Always Have a Book with You: Either physical or on your phone, always have a book with you. And pull it out whenever you are waiting.
Listen: There are many times your eyes will be occupied when you can listen. Setup your phone for audio books with Audible or Libby or similar.
Start More Books: If you start more books, you’ll read more. And drop the limited belief that you have any commitment to finish a book just because you start it. (BTW, one nice thing about Audible is the no questions asked return policy.)
Variety of Books: Another benefit of starting lots of books is that you have many to choose from to suit your mood and energy level.
Reading Routine: read everyday before bed or at another set time.
Remove Distractions: If reading books is a priority, I recommend getting social media off your phone and moving email from your phone’s home screen. If you’re really ready then move the TV out of your bedroom.
Kids into Reading: Get your kids or anyone you live with into reading.Have reading time together.
Pick A Theme: If you read a couple of books on a similar topic, you will make connections and the reading will go faster.
Library Tools: Figure out your library. We have the ability to request books be delivered to our local branch. Anytime I consider buying a book, I use the Library browser extension to automatically search the public library’s collection at the same time. Then you can read on Sora or Libby on mobile devices. The kids are plugged into their school’s digital library, too.
But really you should ask my father or Max Nova who read more than I do.
As a reminder, my work projects are::
Startup investing with Purpose Built Ventures
A podcast called Startups for Good with associated virtual community and giving circle
My blog Venture Patterns
Until next week,
Miles