P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #204

🔌 As is true for so many in Texas, this week didn’t go exactly as planned. Thank you to everyone who reached out to check on us. We did not have to make our own candles from oranges, though I’m glad to learn it’s an option.

Protecting your capital during a war. This is hopefully completely useless to all of us. “Wars are one of the greatest destroyers of capital… The book chronicles the experience of investors during World War II: whose wealth was destroyed and why. And what you could have done to protect your wealth.” | learn more

The long hundred. “The long hundred, also known as the great hundred or twelfty, is the number that was referred to as "hundred” in Germanic languages prior to the 15th century, which is now known as 120…“ | learn more

Missed the internet wave. “In the interview [Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress] talks about how early in his career he felt like he missed the wave of the Internet revolution.” | learn more

SpaceX wants to be a phone company too. SpaceX’s petitioned the FCC, “aiming to offer cheaper phone plans for people with lower incomes through Starlink.” They’re thinking $9.25 per month for broadband and $5.25 for phone service. Move over, AT&T! | learn more

How to get better introductions. Troy Henikoff of MATH Ventures explains in this 3-minute video. “The best way to get that introduction? The forwardable email.” | learn more

Bus factor 1. “A company dependent on a single person’s work has a single point of failure. In tech jargon, they have low Bus Factor, the number of people who would have to get hit by a bus for the project to fail. The higher your Bus Factor, the greater your institutional resilience.” | learn more

The best-case outcomes are statistical outliers. “There’s nothing wrong with hoping for the best. But the best-case scenario is rarely the one that comes to pass. Being realistic about what is likely to happen positions you for a range of possible outcomes and gives you peace of mind.” | learn more

Breathing and your immune system. I’m just now learning about how breathing impacts our bodies beyond the obvious. I’m fascinated. If anyone has insight or personal experience on this topic, I’d appreciate a chance to learn from you. | learn more

Former Eaze CEO to be charged for illegal cannabis payment processing. I managed to uncover this scheme in July 2019, so it clearly wasn’t well-hidden. They used a shell company in Cyprus and websites like (no longer online) easy2udelivery.com and ezdeliveryshop.com to masqueraded as delivery services for innocuous products. “Federal prosecutors reportedly plan to charge a former CEO of California cannabis delivery platform Eaze in connection with a case accusing two businessmen of deceiving banks into processing $100 million worth of credit and debit payments for marijuana products.” | learn more

The meltdown of Ample Hills, Brooklyn’s hottest ice cream company. In short: ops matter—a lot. “Ample Hills had $19 million in funding, a deal with Disney, and dreams of becoming the next Ben & Jerry’s. Then everything fell apart.” | learn more

New skin patch promises comprehensive health monitoring. A game changer for health if this makes it out of the lab. “Scientists have developed a thin, flexible skin patch, worn on the neck, that can provide all-in-one health monitoring capabilities, including the wearer’s heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels.” | learn more

Drug brings significant weight loss in obese patients. This already-approved drug [Semaglutide] just showed remarkable results. “Nearly 2,000 participants, at 129 centers in 16 countries, injected themselves weekly with semaglutide or a placebo for 68 weeks. Those who got the drug lost close to 15 percent of their body weight, on average, compared with 2.4 percent among those receiving the placebo.” | learn more

The science behind intermittent fasting. This is an excellently thorough yet approachable summary of the research into intermittent fasting. Well-sourced and cited. | learn more

New concept for 10x rocket thrusters. “[The] new plasma thruster concept can generate exhaust with velocities of hundreds of kilometers per second, 10 times faster than those of other thrusters.” That’d help us get to Mars faster! Much faster, in fact, because the gains of faster acceleration are compounding. | learn more

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