Links 7/18/26
MMORPGS, Baker, Management
this feels embarrassing (what kind of brainrotted maniac needs to microdose short books to build up to bigger books?) but it actually works. Sort your to-read list by number of pages. Reading short books generates evidence for the belief that you are the kind of person who can decide to read a book, and follow through. Reading five, six, seven-hundred page books feels vastly less daunting now.
The Revolutionary Business of Multiplayer Gaming - Above the CrowdAbove the Crowd | By Bill Gurley
Bill Gurley’s analysis of MMORPGs in the early 2000s.
Network Effects / Increasing Returns. There is no better online barrier to entry than a strong community. Witness how Amazon and Yahoo both failed to distract eBay users even when offering a free product. For most MMOGs, the more users a particular game has, the more compelling the experience is for incremental users. This self-reinforcing form of Metcalfe’s Law is alive and well in many MMOGs.
This is a glossary of terms used by Philip K Dick (hereafter referred to as PKD). The description of each term is based on my (or someone else’s) best guess at the meaning, with opinions, criticisms, bad jokes etc. Hopefully this approach will keep the thing interesting, instead of it being just a dry, dusty description of words that PKD used. It could be argued that some of the words here are not exclusive to PKD, but I’ve included them because I think he put a spin on the usual meaning. What I’m trying to achieve is an overview of the ideas that Dick grappled with - all of them, even the silly/trivial ones - via the terms that he used to label them.”
The Untold Religions of SpongeBob
Episode 56: Gavin Baker - Managing Partner of Atreides Management
Touchstones for going through a hard time
Have a hobby where you can move a number go up
If you love the product, you’ll like the stock - Peter Lynch
How powerful it is to have a product that is inflationary vs deflationary as a retailer
This is why ecommerce got started in deflationary products, where the capital cycle works for you. (Tim Cohen)
Carlota Perez Framework
Michael Mauboussin - Breakdown in Diversity
Debt vs Cashflows
We’re not in a valuation bubble
Tech is at the same multiple as 5-6 years ago, multiples have compressed since 25
Blackwell chips are an immense expenditure and used for training
Early checkpoints of blackwell models, agentic AI is here: ChatGPT 5.2 Grok 4.2
From first principles EVs are superior
Core inputs are deflationary (battery)
Lower center of gravity / better handling
Front and rear crumple zone (better safety)
Antonio was a giant part of Tesla story, an entire chapter in Isaacson biography on Musk on him
We’re constrained by watts and wafers
Be kind and scrappy
Keiretsu’s in venture
People remember how you treated them
Only be an investor if you love it
https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/michaeldearing
Disciple of Daniel McCallum
Daniel McCallum, a railroad executive from the mid-1800s. McCallum rose through the New York and Erie Railroad from carpenter, to bridge builder, to superintendent of bridges, and eventually to the equivalent of the company’s CEO.
McCallum wrote an 1855 treatise on general management that Dearing still uses in his Harrison Metal management course. Dearing reduces McCallum’s philosophy to five responsibilities:
Align everyone behind the right projects and investments.
Allocate responsibility and authority appropriately.
Measure progress along the way.
Stop and correct course when things are going badly.
Do all of this with humanity and respect for other people.