Writing

I tackle a topic that has come up at each stop in my career: build vs. buy. It’s the all important question companies battle internally when it comes to technology. There isn’t a right answer, only what’s right for your company.

Reading

The hopes and dreams of Pandora (paywall) rides on one genre of music: country.

Ben Thompson writes an amazing newsletter at Stratechery. He spoke to recode about the state of the publishing industry.

Also on recode: Flipboard’s Mike McCue on his company’s continued innovation in the face of competition. I also liked this quote: “It’s not like you finish reading your Facebook feed, after half an hour, and feel like, ‘That was a great use of time!’ It’s like if you ate potato chips all day long.”

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg now enjoys stopping at local newspapers during his vacations.

I respect what Quartz has done with their messaging news app. The app continues to innovate in the space and find a niche audience.

Is dynamic pricing the future of the news business? Monday Note made it seem like we need Facebook and Google to do it. We don’t. We can be doing it right now. (I implemented at Avis Budget Group — it wasn’t easy.)

Golden State Warriors All-Star Kevin Durant gets profiled by The New York Times Magazine about his passion for Silicon Valley.

MMQB’s Peter King interviews Tom Brady about his Super Bowl victory. Fan or not, the way Brady speaks has the perfect tone of leadership.

Finally, it is a dream of mine to do stand-up comedy. Okay, at least one night of it. This NYT story might make me think otherwise.

Rock and Roll.

My last newsletter had an open rate of 36.0% (-4.2%).

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