I’ve taken some time off due to training. Furthermore, I’ve also been trying to determine what it is I want to get from my website and what I want others to resonate with. I’ve missed publishing Sunday Shares, and I’m okay with it just being for a while. I don’t need to have it all figured out right now; I’ll just keep having fun.

PRODUCTION

Writing

I’ve got two rough draft posts waiting on a few things. One is on how I used a question to discover a path for reaching a future goal (i.e. living in Germany), and the second is on perverse incentives in the military. They’ll get published eventually. Let me know if you’re interested, and I can expedite them.

Website

Personal Site Overhaul

I’ve been diving into some favorite personal websites of others and compiling notes. I’m working on overhauling my own site. I’m sure I’ll turn it into a blog post down the road, but for now, here are my work-in-progress notes.

Book Notes—Check out my tweetstorm on using HTML5 to update some notes. Here are all the ones I’ve added to my Book Notes page:

• The Prodigal God

• Antifragile

• Every Tool is a Hammer

• A History of the World in 6 Glasses

• Trump: The Art of the Deal

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things

• Zero to One

• Raising Men

CONSUMPTION

Read

Article: The Segway’s Inventor Has a New Project: Manufacturing Human Organs by Liz Brody

I love how many different projects Dean is involved in. I get so excited reading about people working on physical projects, and there’s no disputing the influence Dean has had on society.

Article: Alone Time: An Extrovert’s Cheat Code to Life by Shelby Smith

I had never made this connection before, but I absolutely value my alone time. In fact, I usually get 1.5 to 3 hours every afternoon when my girls (daughters and wife) take a nap. I relish that time. I read, write, and organize. I’m grumpy when I don’t get that solitude.

Article: I quit my job at the start of the pandemic to launch a company. Here’s what I’ve learned in the first 90 days. by Polina Marinova

She’s gotta work on how she names her articles, but this was a great read on entrepreneurship and “taking the plunge.” It’s also where I got the video below. Thanks, Polina! 👋

Watch

Video: Ten Meter Tower | NYT Op-Docs | The New York Times

It gave me chills watching it, but over those 14 minutes, I talked myself into jumping. It was a valuable exercise, and I know I’ll revisit this video when I’m headed into something scary.

Listen

Song: “Smile” by Katy Perry (Spotify | YouTube)

She’s done it again! I’m so pumped for #KP5!

Artist: “BLACK PARADE” by Beyoncé (Spotify | YouTube)

I’m not normally a huge Beyoncé fan, but this song is a bop! Lyrics here.

Podcast: Ring: Jamie Siminoff | How I Built This with Guy Raz (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

The legendary Guy Raz (@guyraz) interviews the founder of Ring, Jamie Siminoff (@JamieSiminoff). It’s so refreshing to hear about a product founder instead of (no offense) just software. As a mechanical engineer, I’m obviously more infatuated with excellent product design and invention, and Jamie delivers (no pun intended)!

Learn

Concept: The Bill Gates Line

Back in 2018, Ben Thompson outlines what he dubs “The Bill Gates Line” which is the threshold defining what a platform is. I had never really taken the time to understand and differentiate what dictates a platform, but this makes a lot of sense. A connected idea (h/t @thepitchshow) is asking whether something is a product or a feature. Their investors often asked whether a platform could clone their idea quickly. If so, it’s a feature, not a product (think Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories).

Ponder

Idea: Reclaiming Father’s Day

I’ll revisit this to turn it into a full post, but I’ve never liked the limelight that comes with Father’s Day or birthdays. This year, I made it about celebrating those I am a father and husband to, not about being celebrated as a father. That totally changed my outlook, and I’ve started a new tradition for myself.

Quote

(Feel free to download and/or share)

As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).