Happy Valentine's Day | Excerpts From My Sunday Read

Exponential Technologies, cryptocurrency & next post announcement

the curious kid

Feb 14, 2021

Happy valentine’s day from mine to y’all.

Today I am making love to Chris Dixon, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, Dan Romero, & Ray Dalio.

Yeah, all guys.

Over my laptop.

I know - kinky stuff.

It’s been 7 hours now.

Got away with biscuits, chai and bread for breakfast. It’s better to keep it light.

And we’re back at it again.

COZ WE GOT NO CHILLLLL!!!!

Before you guys create a vivid picture in your mind of me gangbanging some random dudes, let me tell you, I am talking about my reading activity.

That’s how I am spending the day.

Been hopping over different blog posts of the above-mentioned geniuses and trying to understand more about crypto & underlying technologies.

Why, you ask?

You open Instagram and all you see are cute-cuddly pictures of puppies holding on to each other to eternity. It’s annoying AF. But cute.
I am single so no “valentine” plans.
“Yeah, that explains your frustration Gops.”
I don’t have much to do apart from never-ending client works. Thought of taking a break.
I got into this “crypto-financial-economic” rabbit hole in the month of Nov (2020) and still digging deep.

And when it comes to crypto, being from a non-tech background kind of sucks as I tend to read a topic 2-3 times - just to comprehend the surface level information.

Loading so much all at once kind of turns your brain into an “I’m about to explode” time-bomb.

So I use this newsletter (also your screen space) to climax my intellectual orgasm.

Thanks for bearing.

This post actually started off as a Twitter thread but then my marketing 💡 switched on and I thought “Why not write a newsletter and then use that to drive traffic to this page?”

Not as if I have a lot of followers on Twitter, but something is better than nothing no?

So if you guys have landed here after reading my tweet or WhatsApp status or Linkedin post or Instagram Story (yeah I am “garyvee-ing” all over my social media) then you can skim through for a quick read.

For the uninitiated, this post is a gist on disruptive technologies and how people (even geniuses) tend to dismiss them at first.

And I feel that is what is currently happening in India with cryptocurrency and our so-called “proposal” to ban it.

Not a long read, just some pointers - which might look random & abrupt.

If you wish to deep-dive, I have added some links towards the end.

Also, in the end, I have my next post-announcement which might be of interest to some of you.

This piece was inspired by this excellent post by Chris Dixon, dated 01/03/2010. His blog is a knowledge dam.

Disruptive technologies are dismissed as toys because when they are first launched they “undershoot” user needs.

- Chris Dixon

When Alexander Bell first invented the telephone, he offered to sell the patents to Western Union – then the world's most important communications company.

They refused.

Why? Because back then, the telephone could only carry voices a mile or two.

Same happened with PCs.

Mainframe computers dismissed the ideas of personal (micro) computers initially.

Ken Olson – founder of computer company Digital Equipment Corp – said in 1977, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

To cellphones:

In 1981, Marty Cooper, Motorola’s then director of research, said that "cellular phones will absolutely not replace local wire systems. Even if you project it beyond our lifetimes, it won’t be cheap enough."

To remote shopping:

Time magazine in an article once wrote: "Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop – because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds."

To Netflix:

John Antioco, then the CEO of Blockbuster, literally tried hard to not "laugh" at Netflix's offer to sell to them for $50mn in 2000.

10 years later, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy.

It's not that the ones who dismissed these radical ideas were not highly intellectual, experienced, or qualified individuals.

It's just that human brains often tend to underestimate the outcomes these disruptive technologies can produce in the long run.

Technology adoption is usually non-linear due to so-called complementary network effects.
- Chris Dixon

Here’s this genius who usually used to pick up on these conversations:

I'm no crypto savant (just a buff) but the more I read about it and the more my tiny brain tries to comprehend the underlying technical information, the more I understand that this is going to stay here for long.

Imagine making internet illegal in 1996.

Naval Ravikant on India’s proposal to ban Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Here's a great piece by Balaji Srinivasan on why India should launch a digital rupee – and back it with digital gold (bitcoin).

Just FYI: Balaji Srinivasan was the man who called COVID.

However, that being said, I'm still sceptical about BTC (yet) being a store of value.

This piece by Ray Dalio provides a critical yet constructive view on why Bitcoin feels more like an option (contract) because of its highly volatile and speculative nature.

Reading Links:

On understanding the trends, patterns of disruptive technologies:

Understanding Ethereum:
(which I read today. In case you want aid with a structured crypto reading diet, ping me - I can help.)

Next Post Announcement:

I bought health insurance a couple of days back. I’m working on a piece which would detail out every tidbit of information I could gather during my research process. Spent over 25-30 hours on this before finalising the one.

So if you’re a 20-something-old and haven’t purchased a health insurance yet, then this could help.

It’ll be a simple, to-the-point article with supporting links intended to help you pick the best one.

Just subscribe to receive a notification when it’s out.

Fin.

stay curious
@gkp1996