Top 10 Most-Read Essays of 2024 (so far)

From Huberman to Seurat, Gen Z Behaviors to AI Applications

Weekly writing about how technology and people intersect. By day, I’m building Daybreak to partner with early-stage founders. By night, I’m writing Digital Native about market trends and startup opportunities.

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Top 10 Most-Read Essays of 2024 (so far)

We’re in the dead of August, so I’m pausing on a new piece this week. Instead, here’s a look back at the year so far.

We’ve put out 28 pieces so far this year, and below are the 10 most-read. We’ll be back soon with a fresh essay; in the meantime, catch up on any you missed!

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1️⃣ The Huberman-ization of America

This piece argues that the rise of Andrew Huberman is emblematic of a broader mega-shift: society’s growing emphasis on health. We care a lot more about our bodies and brains—and consequently, we’re willing to spend a lot more to make sure they’re in good shape. This piece delves into America’s growing fascination with health.

Andrew Huberman embodies the rise of health awareness and spend, covered in February’s “The Huberman-ization of America”

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2️⃣ 10 Charts That Capture How the World Is Changing

From LLMs to electric vehicles, church attendance to AI game development—this piece looks at a wide range of topics, each captured in a chart capturing a broader, multi-year shift.

One of the charts covered in March’s “10 Charts That Capture How the World Is Changing”

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3️⃣ Water Bottles and Lessons in Viral Growth

We use the mania around Stanley Cups to examine savvy marketing tactics, and look at how startups should approach brand, marketing, and growth in a moment when distribution is a constant challenge. We talk Crocs, Disney, and Mario Kart.

Stanley success was born from viral tactics that savvy startups can also use; from January’s “Water Bottles and Lessons in Startup Virality”

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4️⃣ Business-in-a-Box 2.0

AI is reinventing the “Business-in-a-Box” playbook, and we’re seeing startups underpin entire new ecosystems of work—work as a dietitian, as a hairstylist, as a travel agent…all made simple with software. This piece digs into this startup trend and what categories are ripe for the taking.

The steady growth of SMBs in America; from March’s “Business-in-a-Box 2.0”

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5️⃣ Crazy Ideas

A few weeks before Emma Stone won her second Oscar for Poor Things, we use the film as a lens through which to explore social constructs—and to question which parts of life are about to change. Crazy ideas are crazy until they become reality…and then eventually boring parts of everyday life. We talk AI language translation, interactive media, and augmented reality.

January’s “Crazy Ideas” tackled social constructs and what far-fetched ideas might become reality

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6️⃣ The 10 Forces Shaping Commerce

Ozempic, overstock, AI personalization. This piece looks at the biggest trends shaping the $25 trillion (!) global retail market.

Nike shoes I designed with AI, from May’s “The 10 Forces Shaping Commerce”

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7️⃣ Seurat and the Opportunity in Vertical AI

We use a forced metaphor of Seurat’s pointillism—bear with me—as a metaphor for building a vertical software company. Then we look at how AI changes the vertical SaaS playbook.

Seurat’s most famous work; from February’s “Seurat and the Opportunity in Vertical AI”

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8️⃣ Tech’s Blind Spots: The Startups Building for Underserved Markets

One thing about Silicon Valley is that Silicon Valley disproportionately builds for….well, for Silicon Valley. This piece looks at who gets left out: older Americans, kids, industrials workers, internet workers. Two groups are overlooked demographics, and two groups are overlooked segments of workers. We dig into each one.

Older Americans are one of the four “underserved markets” covered in January’s “Tech’s Blind Spots”

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9️⃣ Two Roads Diverged: The Splitting of Venture Capital

A “State of the Union” for venture capital, first analyzing capital availability and trends in VC fundraising, then zooming out to look at the broader trend: a cleaving of venture into Artisans and Asset Managers. Daybreak is an example of the former, and we end with the “why now” for a new venture firm that returns to VC’s roots.

An example of the Artisans vs. Asset Managers bifurcation covered in March’s “Two Roads Diverged”

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🔟 Weapons of Mass Production

This piece makes a simple argument: what the Industrial Revolution was to physical production, the AI Revolution is to digital production. While the internet was a distribution revolution, AI is a production revolution: generative AI makes it really, really easy to make stuff. We analyze what that means, and which companies might capture the value.

Asking AI to turn my headshot into a Family Guy character; from April’s “Weapons of Mass Production”

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