Danielle Vermeer

We make choices that signal what we wish to convey.Signaling is the act of conveying information about ourselves to people in a way that is costly for us and therefore believable. Without the associated cost of sending a signal, we would not be able to trust the information being sent.

“Nouveau riche” industrialists began to buy their way into high society, and existing aristocratic elites, battling economic upheaval, were unable to guard against this pecuniary emulation. 

7 out of  a16z ’s latest Marketplace 100 are resale marketplaces.  2 of these 7 are in the top 10 (GOAT, StockX).  Since last year, 3 resale marketplaces “graduated” via IPO or acquisition (Depop, 1stDibs, Tradesy).

Writing books is largely a charitable act. Don’t write to make money. Write to get a message out. Seth Godin says “Publishing a book is really nothing but a socially acceptable opportunity to promote yourself and your ideas far and wide and often”. 

But the “rockstars” of any profession usually have another secret: they’ve found themselves in a situation in which they’re able to still do one job. I don’t mean that they’re not doing several things at once. I mean they’re not trying to do the work that three or four people.