Y Startup Index Update and Generic Drugs

Your weekly 5 things from the mind of Miles Lasater

Happy Saturday! Here are your 5 things from the mind of Miles for this week.

1. Y Startup Index Update. I’m excited to share that we have done a total of 8 investments from the Y Startup Index. We did 5 in Q1 and hope to speed up in Q2. Find out more and send any early-stage Yalie founded startups to our website. We want to invest!

2. Bottle of Lies. I’ve long advocated for using generic drugs. If they are physically the same, why pay for marketing and expired patents? I read the book Bottle of Lies and learned about the generic drug industry. Patients generally rely on the FDA for safety and quality without knowing the name of the manufacturer. What if in other countries, the FDA is only doing short announced inspections? And if the FDA rarely does chemical tests to confirm that drugs contain only the ingredients specified? Seems like a recipe for lower safety and quality. The incidents covered in the book are scary including outright fraud! The author also has a guide to researching your own meds.

3. Allowance. Curious what you do for kids allowance? My theory is that the purpose is to learn about spending, saving and giving money. One of the best ways to learn is hands-on experience and making mistakes. Allowance in our household is not based on chores. Chores are a separate responsibility to contribute to the family. We also use paper money to attempt to make it more concrete for younger kids. How do you do it?

4. Inspiring Read: How to Grow the Startup Economy (and why it matters).

5. Ask: What's the best leadership or personal development book or course you have done?

Until next week,

Miles