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-Develop programming – social activities – that draw different groups in, without over-optimizing for any one group

At Maxwell we’re trying to reframe social clubs to be around this idea of inclusive exclusivity - you may not be able to get into the Soho Maxwell, maybe it’s full or you just aren’t friends with those people. Or maybe you can’t afford it, but that’s ok because we’re creating a system within which multiple Maxwells can be started at various price... See more

Let me phrase what I’ve been saying in this essay in a slightly different way. What you want to create is a distributed apprenticeship in the art of being you. You want to assemble a set of influences you can observe and imitate, and peers and mentors that can give you feedback on how well you converge with that model of yourself.

Mimetic desire causes people to invest en masse into things that they have little knowledge of beyond who else is a part of the movement.

Like Excel, these products are simple enough that non-technical people can use them, but flexible enough that users will create with them in ways that the product’s creators can’t anticipate.

“I kind of look at Twitter as performance art, I find people who are very literal have a very hard time. The magic happens when you’re smart, funny, and entertaining.” – Jim O’Shaughnessy

The primary function of visual aesthetics in corporate design, in my view, is to send a costly signal to prospective partners that the company is fit to survive. “We are strong, wealthy, and reliable,” they say to your subconscious. Of course, besides visual aesthetics, a company’s marketing materials need to clearly articulate the product’s value... See more

5. Fund Strategy slide: a clear definition for how you plan to source, pick, win and support companies