Recommentary Newsletter - January #2
Grow 1% by consuming top recommendations around - perception of age, business valuation, the founding story of Waze, exploitation in the truck industry and what happens when a bungee cord breaks.
Hello Readers!
We are back with another set of top 5 recommendations that we hope will add value to your life. In this edition, we are covering topics around:
the perception of age
business valuation
the founding story of Waze
exploitation in the truck industry
what happens when a bungee cord breaks?
Links are added as hyperlinks to the title. From time to time, we would recommend carefully curated top books that are mentioned in the post or related to the topic. We request you to check it out and if you decide to buy, use our links to do so, as it helps us to support ourselves in our endeavour.
Happy reading!
Recommentary’s 5 Top Recommendations!
Recommendation 1 (Article & Book) - The puzzling gap between how old you are and how old you think you’re.
Aren't there people amongst us, who wake up and feel 20 per cent younger than their actual age? The Atlantic is helping you to figure out why there is a puzzling gap between how old you are and how old you think you are. A key lesson I learnt from this is that if you mentally view yourself as younger—if you believe you have a few pivots left—you still see yourself as useful.
A book that you might find useful if you are somebody who wishes to reinvent your life by making the most of it is Four Thousand Weeks : Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count by Oliver Burkeman. Over 8K people have rated it 4.5/5 on Amazon.Click here for the book
Recommendation 2 (Video & Book) - BusinessValuation Masterclass by Aswanth Damodaran
We at Recommentary don’t have any valuation experts yet (although Rudresh might turn out to be one in the future :D). Despite all that, we thoroughly enjoyed this lecture by Aswanth who is the Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He explains why knowing what the story of the business is and defining it precisely can change the valuation of a business. He uses examples of Uber, Ferrari and Theranos to explain how valuation should be carried out with examples of good and bad ones. If you have a basic interest in finance, commerce or business, this lecture would be worthwhile to you. For those who are planning to skip the video, sharing a screenshot of one of his slides, that would give you a glimpse of what is in store:When you’re done going through the video, check out a fine book he has written on business valuations called Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business.
Click here for the book
Recommendation 3 (Podcast & Book) - He Was So Fed up with Traffic, He Redrew the Map (Literally!) | Uri Levine
Waze, at one point, was the strongest alternative to Google Maps when it came to online maps and navigation before it was acquired by Google. Uri Levine is the man behind Waze, he explains his journey, ideas and thought process behind Waze.
If you’re interested to know more, check out this best-seller Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution, which touches upon aspects of business like:How to do a demo,
How to build a slide deck
How to make an effective presentation
How do you evaluate a term sheet?
What metrics do you use to measure the growth of your company?
How do you manage investors, fire people, and hire people?
What deal terms need to be negotiated for the exit?
Click here for the book
If you like the conversation, check out other podcasts from this fantastic podcast by James Altucher, who describes his podcast to be taking you into the lives of peak performers: billionaires, best-selling authors, rappers, astronauts, athletes, comedians, actors, and world champions in every field, all who forged their paths, found financial freedom and harnessed the power to create more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Recommendation 4 - (Podcast & Book) - Driving a truck used to mean freedom. Now it means a mountain of debt.
While growing up, some of us would have wanted to be truck drivers to enjoy being the master of a massive automobile, exploring the world, and delivering things to people. Well, this podcast is about breaking that bubble. This 28-minute-long podcast talks about the dark world of truck companies in the USA. You’ll be surprised to hear that their dubious loan and ownership schemes have been pushing the lives of aspiring drivers into borderline poverty.
In light of such explorative practice, it is only natural that we wonder about our place in this talent market and we can best ensure that we have multiple streams of income to financially safeguard our lives. Here is a book that will guide you to do that - Gonzo Capitalism: How to Make Money in an Economy that Hates You by Chris Guillebeau.Click here for the book
Recommendation 5 - (Article & Book) - Experience: my bungee cord snapped
As much as we love adventure and like to live our lives on the edge, we hate to admit that there is always a risk of breakage leading to grievous injury and death. Here is a harrowing account of how somebody’s bungee cord snapped and she experienced a near-death experience.
While we talk about adventure, here is my friend Manikanta Sharma recommending one of his favourite books - Born to Run. Rated 4.6 out of 5 by over 23K people, here is a description of the book by Christopher McDougall. Before you check out the book, listen to Mani talk to you about why this is such a good read and how it changed his life:Click here for the book
At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world's top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe's secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Travelling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.
Photo of the Day!
A Khasi home located in Mawphlang Sacred Groove & Khasi Model Village, Meghalaya. Clicked by Gautam during a visit to Meghalaya. Check out this YouTube short video to know more.
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