Weekend Reading
Writing worth reading - 17th/18th May 2025
The Reading Obsession by Frederik Gieschen
“I’m not going to argue with that statement. That is how you compound knowledge. And perhaps it is how Buffett spends most of his time today. But consider Dan McMurtrie’s framework of the ruler and the conqueror. Starting in the 1980s, Buffett became part of the business establishment. CEOs called to hear his advice, presidents invited him to dinner. Almost anyone in business and finance would make the trip to Omaha to see him if invited. Unless you’re also running one of the world’s largest conglomerates, you should probably learn about how Buffett got to the top, not how he rules his empire now...”
Anduril’s Plan to Modernize the U.S. Military by Samo Burja
“It was founded in 2017 by the technologist and entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and a number of alumni of Palantir, the publicly traded government data analytics company. To date, Anduril has raised at least $3.7 billion in funding and, as of February 2025, is seeking to raise an additional $2.5 billion at a valuation of $28 billion.1 This would make Anduril one of the most valuable private startup companies in the world. In 2024, Anduril reportedly hit annual revenues of about $1 billion.2 Headquartered in Orange County in southern California, the company is expanding rapidly and reportedly already employs over 3500 people.3 Anduril seeks to disrupt the slow and inefficient U.S. defense industry and build the cutting-edge technology the U.S. military needs to deter adversaries and win modern wars…”
Diagnosing the decline in pharmaceutical R&D efficiency by Jack W. Scannell, Alex Blankley, Helen Boldon & Brian Warrington
“Abstract | The past 60 years have seen huge advances in many of the scientific,
technological and managerial factors that should tend to raise the efficiency of
commercial drug research and development (R&D). Yet the number of new
drugs approved per billion US dollars spent on R&D has halved roughly every
9 years since 1950, falling around 80‑fold in inflation‑adjusted terms. There have
been many proposed solutions to the problem of declining R&D efficiency.
However, their apparent lack of impact so far and the contrast between
improving inputs and declining output in terms of the number of new drugs
make it sensible to ask whether the underlying problems have been correctly
diagnosed. Here, we discuss four factors that we consider to be primary causes,
which we call the ‘better than the Beatles’ problem; the ‘cautious regulator’
problem; the ‘throw money at it’ tendency; and the ‘basic research–brute force’
bias. Our aim is to provoke a more systematic analysis of the causes of the
olein …”
Founders (need) Focus
This week we shared that we’re starting Founders Focus, a new membership program from 9others; a space for you to carve out time to work on the hard things that really matter. Check out the announcement here.
What does it do?
Founders Focus keeps you focused, accountable and connected.
Who it’s for?
Founders Focus will suit Solo Founders, Remote (Co) Founders, and Freelancers, CxOs and Side Hustlers.
Qs?
Read more and check out the FAQs on the 9others Notion, here.
We hope you’ll join us.