Gianfranco's Best of November 2023 Reading List

My favorite articles from November 2023:

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of my monthly reading list, where I share the best pieces I've discovered in AI, economics, leadership, venture capital, and life. These resources have been instrumental in shaping my thinking and perspectives over the last month, and I hope they provide you with the same.

Intellectual Curiosity

• Remove the Legend To Become One

  • A retrospective look at a 2017 piece about the deeper meanings and implications behind line graphs and charting. Read more

• What Do You Do About Externalities?

  • Explores the concept of externalities in economics and various approaches to managing their impact, including taxation and property rights allocation. Read more

Artificial Intelligence

• The Open AI Keynote - Stratechery

  • Highlights from OpenAI's keynote include the launch of GPT-4 Turbo API with improved features, cheaper pricing, and the introduction of specialized GPTs. Emphasizes the advancement in ChatGPT's integration abilities and the challenges in universal access. Read more

• Working with AI: Two paths to prompting

  • Discusses two methods of prompting AI: the conversational and structured approaches. Emphasizes the benefits of AI in improving work efficiency and the potential of structured prompting to enhance AI utility. Read more

• Almost an Agent: What GPT Can Do

  • Explores the capabilities of GPTs as near-autonomous agents and the role of structured prompts in their creation and optimization. Highlights the communal benefits of shared GPTs. Read more

• 2023: The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise

  • Analyzes enterprise investment in generative AI, highlighting potential growth areas for startups and the importance of context-aware, data-rich workflows in AI adoption. Read more

• Incumbents vs. Startups: The Showdown Over Generative AI

  • Discusses the competitive dynamics between established companies and startups in the generative AI space, emphasizing potential opportunities for disruption by startups. Read more

• Reinforcement learning: The Security Layer for LLMs

  • Examines the role of Reinforcement Learning in enhancing the security of Language Model Platforms, positioning it as an essential layer for compliance and model alignment. Read more

Startups:

• B2B payments aren’t payments, they’re workflows

  • Argues for a redefinition of B2B payments as complex workflows, emphasizing the importance of addressing the underlying data and process challenges. Read more

• What is -1 to 0? A Philosophy of Ideation

  • Explores the early stage of starting a tech startup, focusing on the ideation process, building conviction, and strategic decision-making. Read more

• The pre-PMF guide to product management

  • Provides guidance for product management in the early stages of a startup, outlining strategies for effective prioritization, MVP development, and learning collection. Read more

• How an AI sidecar product drove 30% of sign-ups

  • Case study on DiagramGPT, an AI tool for generating diagrams, which significantly contributed to new sign-ups for Eraser, a tool for engineers. Discusses the impact and challenges of integrating AI features. Read more

Industry Musings:

• Intel Sales - Choose Your Adventure

  • Analyzes Intel's strategic changes, focusing on the restructuring for Intel Foundry Services and the implications for sales operations. Read more

• The Bond villain compliance strategy

  • Analyzes a common strategy in the cryptocurrency industry, using Binance as an example, where businesses operate independently of specific jurisdictions to access global banking systems. Read more

• Seeing Like A Bank

  • Explores the challenges banks face with their complex systems and regulatory compliance, highlighting customer service issues and potential solutions. Read more

• The Most Important Chart in Finance

  • Examines the cyclical nature of trading strategies in finance, underscoring the need for adaptive investment approaches in a constantly evolving market. Read more

• The Federal Reserve and Critical Moments in U.S. Monetary Policy

  • A historical overview of the Federal Reserve's role in shaping U.S. monetary policy, discussing its inception, key reforms, and responses to various economic crises. Read more

• LLMs and Sneaky Big Markets

  • Discusses the impact of large language models on vertical software markets, expanding and creating new market opportunities. Highlights applications in various industries and the successful combination of vertical SaaS and payments. Read more

• Discount Rates in Venture Backed Startups

  • Analyzes the significance of discount rates in venture-backed startups, emphasizing the relationship between internal and external rates of return and their impact on investment strategies. Read more