Weekend Reading
Writing worth reading - 7th/8th June 2025
No other investor has a life story quite as unbelievable as Li Lu by Eleanor Olcott
“Some student leaders had spoken to Wang Juntao about Li, wondering why he’d arrived in Beijing without any ties to the organizations behind the movement and why he wasn’t carrying identification. They wondered if Li was a spy. A veteran of past protests, Wang Juntao shrugged off their suspicions. But Li did seem different. When they shook hands at their first meeting, the older activist felt in Li’s grip the rough hands of a manual laborer, not a scholar…”
How emotions shape our decision-making by Rory Sutherland
“In advertising, B2C (business to consumer) is what you do when you advertise to an individual consumer – typically a person who will be paying for and using the product or service themselves (think shampoo). B2B (business to business) is when a business sells goods to other businesses. The general assumption is B2C is designed to appeal to the emotions whereas B2B exists to make a rational appeal to the business buyer’s inner accountant.” …
Is the Next Great American Novel Being Published on Substack? by Peter C. Baker
“ I’d signed up for Woman of Letters a few months earlier, and I had been enjoying its mix of prickly takes on contemporary literature, reflections on the Great Books, reports on reading through the Mahabharata, and short stories that Kanakia called “tales,” which felt like a crossbreed of classic parables, polemical essays, and literary fiction. Two days later, Kanakia’s novella, titled “Money Matters,” arrived in my inbox, and before I knew it I had read halfway through. The experience felt a little like getting unexpectedly absorbed in a trashy episode of reality TV, but also like suddenly realizing that a conversation that started in the shallows of small talk has at some point drifted into the deep waters of meaning. I reached the end in a happily disoriented daze. No other piece of new fiction I read last year gave me a bigger jolt of readerly delight…”
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.
Upcoming meals (and party) with 9others
Thursday 3rd July — Cheltenham — details and signup here.
And a Summer Party
Thursday 10th July — London — details and signup here.