ivanagas

Don’t Forget The Goal

We forget that we forget. People and organizations forget all the time. We trick ourselves into believing we remember more than we do. Do you remember what you had for dinner three days ago? Or who you had a meeting with last Thursday afternoon? What is an important fact of an article you read earlyContinue reading “Don’t Forget The Goal”

TikTok Succeeds by Making Copying Easy

What you notice on social media is that people copy each other a lot. We do this in all aspects of life, but within the constraints of social media, it is especially noticeable. Most social media gives you a format to do what you want with. We naturally copy each other. Social networks want youContinue reading “TikTok Succeeds by Making Copying Easy”

Be Irreplaceable

Do you ever think about what would happen if a team replaced their star player with an average one? The team would obviously be worse off, but how much worse? In baseball, they created a stat for this. It is called WAR, wins above replacement. It measures a player’s contribution to their team in wins.Continue reading “Be Irreplaceable”

How To Fix The Future: Make More Values Legible

This Could Be Our Future is a book about what we value. The author, Yancey Strickler, argues that society values the idea that every action should aim to maximize financial wealth. What he calls financial maximization. Financial considerations dominate the world, and we don’t know what the other options are. Strickler gives many examples ofContinue reading “How To Fix The Future: Make More Values Legible”

Curation and Creation

Life is better when you think of yourself as a curator. You are always curating. You curate your life, experiences, and knowledge. Being conscious of this opens the possibilities of creation and refinement.

Unbundling YouTube

YouTube has been the undisputed home of video on the internet for a long time, but that title is eroding. YouTube is a successful bundle of internet video services and categories that are being unbundled by new entrants. Understanding YouTube’s bundle, where it has been unbundled, and further opportunities for unbundling provide insights into theContinue reading “Unbundling YouTube”

How to Be a Better Listener: Always Be Collecting Dots

Listening is always mentioned as a critical skill to succeed in business and life. I’ve been taught many ways to improve my listening, and my listening has improved, but I can’t remember much of the advice specifically. Out of all the advice on listening I’ve received, I can only point to one piece that hasContinue reading “How to Be a Better Listener: Always Be Collecting Dots”

TikTok’s Viral Video Growth Machine

TikTok is a viral video machine. It has blown up over the past year and now I see videos from the platform everywhere. I notice them because they are distinct. Videos on other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, even IGTV) all look the same. TikTok videos on other platforms stand out, and that is a keyContinue reading “TikTok’s Viral Video Growth Machine”

Posthuman Brands

It is impossible to judge or think about Tesla without thinking about Elon Musk. Tesla is the embodiment of Elon Musk. Tesla succeeds in an extremely competitive market with massive public pressure and little marketing spend. How does Tesla continue to do so well? Among other things, it is a posthuman brand. Every time someoneContinue reading “Posthuman Brands”

3 Ways to Read More Books

Everyone should read more books. Books are good for you. People do not read enough books; the world would be a better place if they did. Selfishly, I would like the people around me to read more, and I hope this helps. When I talk with my friends about reading, they often say “I’d likeContinue reading “3 Ways to Read More Books”