Happy Saturday! Here are your 5 things from the mind of Miles for this week.
Doing: My Podcast Startups for Good is now is live and you can listen on the web or in your favorite podcast player. I promise that I’ll stop posting so much about it when you promise to give it a rating or review on Apple podcasts? It helps other people find the podcast so I would be grateful.
Writing: I polished up a couple of blog posts from 2009 that fit will with Venture Patterns and published them. The first was if you want to start a company, talk to customers. And the other one is about a new definition of an entrepreneur: someone who solves chicken and egg problems. They are still relevant today.
Learning: I’ve long had a dream of having world class-experts tutor me. Then it struck me - the internet! There are so many online tutor marketplaces, it is easy to get a good tutor on almost any subject. I had a blast talking to a tutor for a couple sessions about my questions on genetics (mainly molecular genetics). So this is my new hobby: take a Coursera class or read a textbook and then hire the tutor. I’m currently taking a behavioral genetics course (and still confused by how to quantify heritability h). I’m writing down my questions so I’ll be ready for my tutor. Why didn’t I think of this before?
Creating: I want the kids to know certain family stories. But I don’t want to drone on and repeat them to the point of boring them. Instead we’re trying an experiment which is making a movie about the story with the kids as actors. The first one we started making is about my proposal to Liz. We have the script and have started filming. But we have stalled out as the actors aren’t as interested any more. Open to suggestions.
Reading: A friend of mine recommended the Wilson translation of the Odyssey. I hadn’t read it since school and the claim that this was a more female friendly version intrigued me. I’d argue the story is inherently sexist but I understand how this version isn’t as bad. Diving back into that world inspired me to go on a classics-related reading detour. I loved the book Song of Achilles and savored Circe. Now I’m inspired to read the Aeneid. Is there a modern book that retells part of the story of the Aeneid from the perspective of a minor character?
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