Fit startups, Geocities-izer, Tech Berlin, Wild Boys
Relevant Roundup, It's News to Me, Tech Beyond the Valley + Unplug from Tech
🔥Enough to be Dangerous
Talk tech, don’t code it, so you can talk about all kinds of other stuff.
Stay Savvy
Curated links and commentary at the intersection of tech, business, and culture.
Relevant Roundup
Things relevant to the current business and/or cultural zeitgeist
Welcome to the Age of the Fit Startup (The Information)
I personally welcome the age of the fit startup, one in which startups can’t pursue growth at all costs and a WeWork-esque ability to flatten an industry and take out the competition through unfettered access to money and lawyers. I’ll never forget the first time I heard a CEO in 2015 talk about how great his company was doing at “burning cash”, and being very confused. Didn’t businesses need to make a profit to grow? Oh, was I naive, a cute little new Silicon Valley transplant. Or was I?
It’s News to Me
Profound, perhaps never thought-about things RE internet, cloud, and business
The Geocities-izer (Wonder Tonic)
I recently came across this Geocities-izer, which lets you type in (almost) any URL and it’ll transform your favorite Reactifed, minimal sleek, senior UX designed website into the delightfully blocky, pixelated, color-overloaded hodge podge of the late 90s/early 00s relic. If you also wonder what happened to Geocities, you can read about on CNET.
Also, FYI if you’ve tried to access your old MySpace (username: alejandrofiesta) and found it (thankfully) devoid of any embarrassing photos involving Uggs or pookah shell necklaces, they announced in 2019 that they lost 12 years of content in a server migration gone wrong. All songs, photos, and videos uploaded between 2003 and 2015 were lost to the annals of time. Too bad, so sad!
Tech Beyond the Valley
Things happening in tech in literally anywhere else
A City Finding Itself: How Berlin’s Tech Ecosystem Evolved (Medium, Anais Cisneros)
People often ask me why I decided to move to Berlin to start SaaS Savvy. I respond by telling them that Berlin is emerging as the tech capital of Europe, there are tons of burgeoning startups and Europe-focused venture capital firms, entrepreneurs, and legacy giants in one big bumping city. Lower-cost than the last three cities I lived in (London, SF, NYC), I can also afford healthcare here. Dublin may be every corporate giant’s HQ, but Berlin is where ideas take flight!
Also, my boyfriend has lived here for 10 years.
Unplug from Tech
Not tech-related, but rather fodder for more stimulating small talk
Chameleon: Wild Boys (Campside Media)
True crime for the days you can’t take any more true crime. Two very skinny brothers emerge from the Canada wilderness claiming to be from off-the-grid, and a few friendly townspeople rally around them. Others are quickly suspicious, especially as the brothers show incredible deftness with laptops and web browsers.
Wild Boys is not a straightforward scammer story, but more so a story of some people who feel nothing and others who can’t do anything but genuinely care.
In Case You Missed It
Last week’s Shortlisted: The Great A.I. Awakening from The New York Times Magazine
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
Up next week, it’s Stay Savvy - curated links and commentary at the intersection of tech, business, and culture.
Alice Egan, Founder & Educator, SaaS Savvy.
I teach B2B SaaS salespeople the technical SaaS + cloud concepts they need to sell SaaS smarter + talk tech with confidence. Learn about my online course.