Why “Grab Any Seat on the Rocketship” is a bad career strategy; this VC thinks people are right to hate today’s capitalism; look for founders who play RTS games; and a Chrome extension which blocks slop ecom brands ++ [link blog]

Hot August URLs coming right up!

Picking Rocketships Is a Bad Career Strategy [Molly Graham/Lessons] – We all know the legendary advice from Google’s Eric Schmidt to Sheryl Sandberg, “When you’re offered a seat on a rocketship, you don’t ask which seat. You just get on.” While it certainly worked well for Sheryl, Molly suggests a different approach to career management: “My ultimate litmus test for a job is: If this company struggles or fails, will I still be glad I took the job?”

Why? Because narratives – and company trajectories – can change quickly. But a good decision isn’t simply about the financial outcome, it’s about the lessons, the people, the experience, and the reputation effect.

The Creator Economy Has a New Middle Class [Melos Ambaye/Bloomberg] – Covering how a variety of monetization streams (affiliate links, brand deals, loyal fans) has helped influencers beyond the top of the pyramid construct annual incomes at/above salaries they would otherwise earn from standard jobs. It’s a lot of hustle though and most still don’t come anywhere close to these levels.. That said, one of the most fun implications is that you can niche up – becoming a voice in areas that otherwise might not have pop culture level awareness – like dentistry, accounting, etc

Why People Hate Capitalism [Vijay Pande] – Entrepeneur turned VC Vijay Pande has been writing a series of what is ailing our asset class and capitalism more generally. Here he notes how capitalism has become captive to entrenched rent seekers, which pull opportunity away from the individual. While some might disagree with one of his optimistic takes [AI is going to kill some – but not all – of the rackets], I love him engaging in this question and evangelizing that there *is* a massive problem in today’s economy and culture.

Knockoff – Ok sharing this one because it’s fascinating to me. A Chrome extension which tries to focus on product quality while you shop Amazon: “Knockoff filters trademark-squat pseudo-brands (the SZHLUXes and HORUSDYs) out of Amazon search, and can tell you when an Etsy “handmade” listing is mass-market catalog stock. What’s left is brands with a reputation to lose.” More details in this Fast Company article.

The Post-Agentic Founder [Rex Woodbury/Digital Native] – VC Rex Woodbury shares his list of ‘post-agentic’ founder attributes – that is, what are some things he notices/looks for in this wave of startups. To best enjoy this post don’t think of it as canonical but rather what one investor believes fits the type of founder he seeks out. One of my favorites:

Founders who are good at RTS games. The best chess and StarCraft players don’t win with a single move or unit. They win by maintaining a model of the entire board, allocating scarce resources, sequencing actions, and directing many pieces toward a unified objective. Post-agentic founders do the same. They are unusually good at decomposing large problems, assigning work across agents, deciding which tasks should run in parallel, and knowing when to intervene themselves. It all becomes about orchestration. And that only grows in importance as the agents can do more and more.

Have a great sunday!