Happy Friday! ☀️
Hello from Vienna at the end of the almost last work week of the year. A few more things here and there, some deep work on some internal projects, and some projects closing in time for the year ending.
What I’m reading 📖
Mentioned here and in the New York Time’s list of 10 Best Books of the Year, I started reading ‘Trust’ by Hernan Diaz this week. Set in the roaring 1920 of New York, the story follows a Wall Street Tycoon’s rise and… I yet have to reach the part where there might come a fall. Trust is a collection of four manuscripts at different stages of completion, and they tell different versions of the story of a Wall Street businessman and his wife in the years leading up to the Great Depression. The writing reminds me a lot of one of my favorite writers Amor Towles and the story of Rules of Civility, Towles’ first novel. About half-way in, I really like this book. Here’s the Guardian review of Trust.
What I’m listening to 🎧
I remember the very first tweets and photos that emerged in 2017 from The Bahamas about what would become a fiasco of a festival. In 2017, the story leading up to the fiasco was released in a buzzy Netflix documentary about Fyre Festival and its founder and CEO Brian McFarland. Pleading guilty for wire fraud, McFarland spent 4 years of his 6+ month sentence in a federal prison and was released a few months ago, at the age of 30. He appeared as a guest on the Diary of a CEO podcast and I found the conversation fascinating. It’s rare to hear the person convicted of a crime that went viral share openly about the whole experience, introspection, and time in prison. Spotify link.
What I’m watching 📺
The year closing brings a whole set of great movies and ‘Armageddon Time’ to me is high up the list. Set in Queens in the 1980s and featuring Jeremy Strong (Succession fame), Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, and young actor Banks Repeta, it’s a historic coming-of-age drama that revolves around the themes of friendship, privilege, racism, and antisemitism. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
Great leaders have three things in common: clarity of thinking and communication, excellent judgement of people, and high levels of integrity and commitment. – Ali Rowghani in ‘How to Lead’ on YC Startup School.
What else?! 💯
IDG or Inner Development Goals is a new non-profit focused on developing inner development skills and qualities to support the 17 global goals for sustainable development agreed to by world leaders in 2015. Here’s the link to the PDF with the long version.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
Instagram | Website | 2021 Playlist | Company