Weekend Reading #105
This is the hundred-and-fifth weekly edition of our newsletter, Weekend Reading, sent out on Saturday 13th February 2021.
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What we're doing.
Firstly, 恭喜发财 ! Happy Lunar New Year! The joy of being able to celebrate the New Year twice within the space of two months is perhaps something uniquely Chinese, including the diaspora all over the world. This year is certainly challenging, as the option for many to travel home for the traditional reunion dinners with family on Lunar New Year’s eve has been curtailed in the wake of a global pandemic. Restrictions vary from complete lockdowns to travel limitations to limitations on shouting the traditional auspicious phrases when tossing yusheng - one can only hope that this year’s circumstances are the exception rather than the new norm.
The good news is that the Lunar New Year also heralds the coming of Spring, hence being called 春节 (Spring Festival) in Chinese. As the celebrations continue over the weekend all around the world, we can take comfort that we have indeed survived another winter and that the sunshine of spring is just around the corner. At the very least, good food is always available for takeaway/delivery - a reminder that delivery businesses like Uber Eats and Deliveroo (the latter thankfully rescued by Amazon last year in a dramatic sequence of events) have grown for themselves a critical, near-essential niche in these trying times. Time will tell if things “go back to normal” in the coming year.
The bonus is that we are now (by the time this newsletter hits inboxes on Saturday) in the year of the Ox (or a Bull?) - perhaps the markets take the hint and put that into practice in 2021.
This week we have had our heads down and been razor focussed on building out our three business lines: the fund, 3BC and Nachas Networks. We’ve overcome a whole host of challenges from MiFID reporting to MS 365 lockouts. Despite all this, we’re getting through it better than ever and are on track with all our goals. In the coming few weeks, you’ll be hearing more from us as we rollout our first beta testing invites to the mobile edition of our execution management system (EMS). It’ll be available on iOS and Android so make sure to drop us a line if you want to be involved.
Another week in lockdown, means another week of home schooling. In addition to the three business lines mentioned above, a number of us have to prioritise the day that incorporates facilitating kids school work and let's not forget nursery coverage too. Maths, English, Science and Reading in the new world of tech! We’re personally finding new ways to solve maths equations (who would have thought) and blown away by how quickly the next generation has adapted to online learning, zoom calls and collaborative school software applications. It's been a humbling experience to say the least and not enough credit can be given to the teachers during the times we are experiencing. Teachers out there - we salute you!
What we're thinking.
With snow on the ground in London over the past week, it was pretty cold and dark. Waking in the pitch black, trudging through snow, scraping ice off the car... You knew you were stuck in the depths of winter, and with a long road ahead of all of us in our escape routes out of COVID-19, it felt reasonably bleak.
But sleepily making our way downstairs towards the end of this week and heading for the first cup of coffee of the morning, we noticed a small but certain change. As the snow faded, it was replaced by sunshine and the distinct feeling that spring was in the air. Yes, it’s still February, and yes, the news is still jammed with the same bad news and uncertainty that has dominated the last 12 months, but there is a feeling, as snow melts and skies lighten, better days are not too far away.
January and February are always a bit of a bore, even in years when pandemics are confined to Matt Damon movies. And this year, more than ever, they have been challenging. But tough times pass and bright mornings and sunshine return. If you want to see it for yourself, look to the sky at 6 am and there, sure as spring follows winter and morning follows night, you'll see them brightening.
On the other end of the universe, the Metaverse this week saw the largest ever sale of digital land in the world of Axie Infinity, with a land parcel (in the form of an NFT – a non-fungible token) sold for US$1.5m in the biggest ever NFT sale made. So far. The buyer was an anonymous account only known as “Flying Falcon”, who published his (or her?) rationale for his purchase on Twitter here. One can only imagine the opportunities that may arise from the birth of the Metaverse, perhaps in the same vein as buying up a plot of land in downtown Manhattan when it was still “just an island”. This is one of the emerging opportunities we have a close eye on and we will continue to watch these developments closely.
If you are interested in the concept of NFTs, which is exploding into activity in recent months then this podcast featuring Metakovan (Tamil translation of “Kovan” is King), the pseudonymous owner and collector of everything from digital art to land parcels, is a must listen. In it he provides background to how he began collecting NFTs and his vision for the future. This is an incredible interview and for non-native crypto readers it's well worth a listen. Metakovan conducted an experiment where he purchased digital land inside Decentraland (a blockchain based virtual world), and also 20 pieces of digital art by blue chip artist, Beeple. He then displayed the art inside a virtual gallery inside Decentraland. And who said the Metaverse was far away? The coup de grace was the tokenising of all of this as a bundle representing a share in the land, the gallery and the art together. The token is called a B20 token. A taste of things to come no doubt!
At the intersection of the Metaverse and our own software development efforts is this massive long-form piece by the great Matthew Ball, systematically laying out all the moving parts behind the dominance of Apple as a platform: Hardware, Software and Apps, and making the case for how the efforts that Apple are taking ostensibly to “protect” the privacy and security of its users are actually anticompetitive and risk hurting the ability for the Metaverse to reach its true maximum potential. It’s a long read, but well worth the time, especially in a time when the laws around antitrust and abuse of monopoly power are starting to prove archaic and outdated. More than a century after the breakup of the Standard Oil company, “monopoly” means something very different – in terms of the risks, the detriments and the remedies to it.
What we're playing.
Having broadly ignored the game since its release, this week we were tempted back into Call of Duty’s Warzone following which we claimed several victories within the Battle Royale. We first played the game on its initial debut but had quickly moved on in favour of other games at the time. With lockdown still in full effect and the weather outside too cold for much exercise, we thought we’d give it a go and was overall quite pleasantly surprised. Unlike some other games of the genre, the specifics are quick to pick up and hold true to Call of Duty’s signature style. The game play is smooth, and lobbies were bountiful with so many players all enjoying the free game.
What we're reading.
As we've written in the newsletter previously, we’re huge fans of Haruki Murakami’s ode to running, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. If you’re a runner (or even if you’re not) it’s a wonderful book that explains, to some extent, what a lot of us feel when we lace up our trainers and go for a jog. Without diving too deep, for a lot of people, running isn’t simply exercise. Rather, it’s a meditation, with the mental benefits matching the physical. Especially in these extraordinary times, when we’ve been confined to small spaces and burdened with new stresses like never before, running has acted as a constant, low cost, low effort means of escape, fun and peace. It’s a vital activity and one that we could read about and seek to deconstruct all day.
An excellent book we recently read that pays homage to Murakami and builds on the themes in his master work is from Irish writer, John Connell, whose book, The Running Book: A Journey through Memory, Landscape and History, has been moved from our tsondoku to our ‘read’ pile. It is a beautiful, short read that, if you are a runner, does much to remind you why you love it and, if you’re not, might inspire you to take it up.
The premise is simple – Connell sets off on a marathon of 26.2 miles through his native Longford in the centre of Ireland. And as he runs on farmland, woodland, fields and lanes, he tells the story of his life and contemplates Ireland’s history. He also recounts tales of the other great runs he has done in his life in far flung corners of the globe and meditates on his running heroes, that include the likes of Haile Gebrselassie, Colm O'Connell and our friend, Haruki Murakami.
At a little over 40,000 words, this is a book you can read in one sitting which is, above all, about finding happiness through life’s simple pleasures, be that sunshine, a great view, or singing along to the music in your earphones as you run for home.
On the topic of DeFi, which is always front of mind for us, we stumbled across this excellent primer on DeFi from none other than the St Louis Fed. Up until now we have been less than impressed with regulators attempts to understand and get ahead of the DeFi space but this is a comprehensive intro to anyone looking to understand more and shows that they are thinking deeply about the space.
Whilst very much unrelated to anything we do, this week we read about the mystery of volcano snails. With shells made of solid iron, and strange scaly feet, these creatures are often called ‘Sea Pangolins’ and lurk in deep sea volcanoes and hydrothermal vents in searingly hot temperatures. For the first time in history, scientists have been able to decode their genome sequence and uncover a genetic evolution dating back 540 million years ago. It makes you realise how much we still must discover in the natural world.
As we approach the one-year mark of the country being in “lockdown” in conjunction with a whole host of changes that have been thrown at us along the way, we found it necessary to take a step back and ponder the new norm. With that in mind, there's no better time to read James Clear’s best seller, Atomic Habits. It sets out to prove that improving your life doesn’t have to mean making enormous changes. As the COO and someone who has experienced “enormous changes” of late, we found it necessary to focus on making small changes to my day in order to revolutionise my life and stay productive, motivated, and happy. Clear reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. These small changes will have a revolutionary effect on your career, your relationships, and your life. We still have a few changes to make but so far so good.
What we're watching.
We try not to talk about sport every week in this newsletter, but when the sporting calendar is this rammed full of the good stuff, it's hard not to!
Last week, it was rugby, this week we’re talking cricket, with England in India and the second Test match starting today in Chennai. England convincingly won the first Test last week and that result perfectly sets up the series, with a couple of world’s best Test sides going head-to-head in India’s backyard where, traditionally, they have been so strong. Can England produce back-to-back performances? Will a Virat Kohli-inspired India turn it around? Either way, it’ll be a great watch.
And in the same way as we felt when England played in Sri Lanka last month, when you wake in cold London to watch the cricket from baking hot India, the urge to travel and explore the world cranks up a notch or two. Chennai is a beautiful southern Indian city, and the cricket ground, a lofted cover drive from Marina Beach and the Bay of Bengal, is as picturesque as they come. High quality sport and a healthy dose of sun-filled escapism... name a better way to spend your weekend.
Whilst on the topic of India, this week we sat down and watched The White Tiger, a film that’s just been released and with glowing reviews. It stars Adarsh Gourav, an actor we had previously not encountered as well as Hollywood actress and Nick Jonas’ wife, Priyanka Chopra. The film explores the rising of a working-class Indian village boy through the rigid caste system and his path to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Throughout the film, Balram must use his wit to outsmart his masters and break free from eternal subservience; it explores themes of crime, corruption and the deeply entrenched political divide that still exists in modern India. Overall, it was a fascinating film and definitely one to watch.
On a different note, in case anyone hasn’t had enough of market chatter, here’s something to have a bit of a chuckle about: a rap video about SPACs. No further spoilers from us!
And finally, in this video from the Nigerian senate, we listen to senator, Sani Musa, complain about the effect that Bitcoin has had on the Nigerian Naira. In his words “Bitcoin has made our currency almost useless or valueless”. While this may seem somewhat funny, there is seriousness to this. Especially when one looks at the Nigerian volumes on Binance, the world’s largest centralised crypto exchange. Our base case is that Bitcoin is the precursor for what is to come with stablecoins. Once a US Dollar stablecoin becomes pervasive and permissionless, why on earth would anyone living in a frontier, or even emerging nation, hold the sovereign currency? Our base case is for the next seismic shift to be the exponential scaling of stablecoins across the developing world. Whether it’s the digital renminbi or the digital dollar, that is for each individual to decide!
What we're listening to.
Regular readers of this newsletter will know we are big fans of Tim Urban and his delightful blog, Waitbutwhy. In previous editions of the newsletter we referred readers to his multiyear blogpost series on “The Story of Us” which breaks down human behaviour and societies into superbly explained blocks. This podcast with JP O'Shaughnessy (father of Patrick of “Invest Like the Best” fame) is a joy to listen to as Tim unpacks the essence of this blogpost series and much more. We have built our fund process on his concept of an “idea lab” and the search for truth to avoid confirmation bias.
Musical escapism has also been getting us through lockdown. Picking a part of the world and listening to the music that emanates from that region is a great game that can allow you to enjoy an inkling of being somewhere other than your home office or kitchen.
This week, we tucked into many hours of Orchestra Baobab, a Senegalese band that established themselves back in the 1970s in Dakar. The story of how they came to be such a great act makes their music even more alluring.
The group was the house band of Club Baobab, a basement nightclub owned by Senegal’s minister of finance, who just happened to be the younger brother of the Senegalese president, Leopold Senghor. The band played at Club Baobab for seven years, playing week after week, night after night, to a sophisticated, appreciative audience that often included the president, his guests and a range of overseas dignitaries. In the process, Orchestra Baobab became the best-loved band in Senegal, outgrowing even Dakar’s fashionable Club Baobab, and putting themselves on the world map.
From those early beginnings, the band is now one of the most iconic African dance acts and they’re rhythms have been energising our workday this week. Check out their 1982 album Pirates Choice or their 2007 release Made In Dakar for a great introduction to the sound of Senegal.
Russian-British composer Alissa Firsova’s album Album Lugubre Gondola with music by Chopin, Bartók, Liszt, Wagner/Liszt, Mahler/Firsova and a masterful rendition of Beethoven’s last piano sonata op 111 is an amazing journey.