So many articles, so little time. Each week I post a small number of pieces which stood out to me and which were well-worth the time to read. Which of your recent reads do you recommend? Let me know at @mobilehelix on Twitter.
I. Why Public WiFi is a Public Health Hazard
We all know that public WiFi is not secure. Maurits Martijin, @mauritsmartijin, writing in de Correspondent, spends the day visiting cafes in Amsterdam with a hacker who makes child’s play of capturing passwords and spying on personal information. Chilling.
II. In Conversation: Marc Andreessen
The Netscape creator turned Silicon Valley sage on why optimism is always the safest bet.
I don’t know how Marc Andreessen @pmarca, does it. I have a hard time keeping up with simply reading everything that he writes and all of the interviews that he gives. Andreessen sees more new technology than almost anyone else alive. He is very generous with his insights, and yes, optimistic, opinions. Terrific interview by Kevin Roose, @kevinroose, in New York magazine.
Twice an entrepreneur, Mark Suster, @msuster, is now a General Partner at Upfront Ventures in Los Angeles. He fittingly calls his blog, BothSides of the Table. His perspective is so clearly that of someone who has been there and who has figured out what works when it comes to building a company. Mark’s writing reflects a lot of wisdom and compassion. I always learn something from Mark. Here he points to reasons to do PR beyond customer acquisition, such as fund raising and business development.
IV. Yahoo, Marissa Mayer and the Leadership Question
Yahoo’s stock was up after last week’s earnings call which revealed results which were better than expected and increased revenue at Tumblr. Katie Benner, @ktbenner, in Bloomberg View, writes about Yahoo and Mayer’s leadership, strategy and team building. I just finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, which is terrific.
Contrast Mayer to Steve Jobs. He got away with being a tyrant because of his sheer genius in product intuition and creativity. Jobs was bursting with vision and was a stickler about building teams of A players.
–Maureen