michael's update #2
annual letter 2021 concluding tks global virtual innovate year 1, starting activate, and moving to sf
hello 🌊,
first year celebrating the new year in sf feels amazing. the top highlight has been living in the same city as my twin, which is the first time in 10 years.
alongside that i have so much to be grateful for this last year. in this newsletter, i try to capture the highlights of my journey, including
4 second spotlight: tks activate showcase
3 quick updates from me: tks, highlights, themes
2 ideas from the web: my 9 favorite books and ideas
1 photo to enjoy: welcoming the new year
cheers!
4 second spotlight: tks activate showcase
as a forcing function to show progress, our december showcase marked half way through the activate accelerator. a few highlight presentations:
naila sharing her research on 3d printing bioplastics.
ashley using machine learning to screen for respiratory illnesses.
sofia designing lab grown cotton experiments.
3 quick updates from me: tks, highlights, themes
1️⃣ from innovate to activate, highlight moments from the year in tks
united nations global challenge. the problem statement was “how do we get more womeng globally in the digital economy?” check out top ideas in #2 →
neurable 24 hour hackathon. we had a weekend to work with the boston based startup on future of brain computer interfaces. read anush’s reflection →
innovate moonshot hack. to close out the 20-21 accelerator, we did a month long moonshot hackathon imagining a 10x better future. project features →
tks innovate 2021 showcase. stories and projects were shared in our first end of the year virtual global showcase. read more highlights →
activate kickoff. im so excited to be working with the activate community (tks second years) as well as have brandon as my team member. read more →
also, i was surprised how much can be done virtually. for tks community guest speakers, we had aly orady (ceo of tonal), ramses (ceo of neurable), anne (ceo of secure ai labs), directors of google x, and anas (dean of harvard engineering) join us this last year.
for conferences, students were featured at websummit, global citizen forum, and eth amsterdam. some even set up a dao to sponsor other students to go to events, raising $400k in <4 weeks. more on their twitter →
2️⃣ personal highlights, settling into a new city
moving to sf. it’s felt like home since day one. we have an amazing spot in the mission to host community events. people are creative, ambitious, and kind.
in person martial arts sessions. better than zoom. way better. especially with land spaces as a backdrop, like muir woods.
neighborhood block parties in the street of the mission. for slow streets, our block is closed down fridays and saturdays. we use it as a front yard to bring neighbors together.
weekly house dinners. i’m continously trying out new recipes and meeting new people.
setting up our community house intentionally. rather than designing everything at once, it’s been an emergent design for what makes sense in the shared space.
3️⃣ reflecting on themes of the year
every year, i think of an intention or motif for the year in ways i want to explore how to live as well as be my best self.
2021 personal theme was be lighter. that included letting go of different physical belongings (mostly books) to move minimally to sf, learning how to process emotions through martial arts, as well as embrace being in the moment more than distracted by the future.
2022 exploring what it means to thrive. this year, i’m curious to understand what are environments, habits, and people help me feel most energized. pairing personal support with ambition and fullfilment, i want to explore what continued steps on personal path continue to excite me. also, i’m seeking are there variables i’m missing?
2 collections of my favorite content: books and media
top 9 books of 2021
3 favorite books understanding myself, on coaching.
a master's secret whispers: for those who abhor the noise and seek the truth about life and living. kapil gupta (naval’s coach) writes in dialogue from core questions his top clients ask him and shares his perspective.
coach wooden's pyramid of success comes from the top winning college basketball team of all time. he shares his foundational principles in how the sport can include character development and philosophies on life.
life is short, don't wait to dance is a humbling perspective by miss vaal, the ucla gymnasitic coach, with 7 championships to her team’s name, as she shares how she went from not knowing the sport and not being a coach to being one of the best.
3 books on understanding the world, yuval’s trifecta of understanding humanity.
sapiens: a brief history of humankind by yuval is a narrative of patterns and ideas across the creation and evolution of society.
21 lessons for the 21st century by yuval explores ways to make sense on today’s most pressing issues.
how innovation works and why it flourishes in freedom by matt ridley shares ideas on how the process of building something new is emergent and collaborative.
3 books understanding how i fit into the world, an emerging theme of ambitious impact.
the moment of lift: how empowering women changes the world by melinda gates chronicles her work with the gates foundation on solving global challenges.
making moonshots by rahul is a manual for long term deep tech research and development processes.
the third door by alex shares how to discover and take the first step down an unconventonal path.
top 9 ideas on growth 2021
swap finite games for infinite ones. long term thinking changes short term decisions. twitter thread →
maintain a day one mindset. hungry, curious, and experimenting while being willing to fail. bezos perspective →
build in public. share honest updates to bring people alongside the process and journey versus just taking a photo from the top. 30 day challenge on twitter →
write succintly what no one will say in longform. inspired from nietzche’s twilight of idols →
writing is an important tool for new ideas. paul graham’s essay beyond smart highlights writing as a tool. twitter link →
you are only as good as your worst day. back to basics important a reflection on high performance.
make a personal moat. find asymmetric skills, build a portfolio, and meaningful connections to leverage for your future self. it will compound. h/t naval and charlie mungers for inspiration, and navid for designing it in discussion for final innovate session.
resting the body starts by resting the eyes. panoramic vision is a way to release concentrated focus in the brain. huberman podcast →
everything is better with a food analogy. testing the taste of this one, as food is relatable medium to share ideas. twitter link →
1 photo to enjoy: welcoming the new year
wishing you a creative and inspiring new year ahead with a night time twin walk by the bridge with🎈 ,
what’s next for me
in tks, design new weekly sessions. we got great feedback so far and are ramping up for interesting topics ahead:
economic opportunity in the metaverse
blockchain uste in the energy industry
decreasing the costs of battery production.
prepare for our global challenge. details to be released soon as the challenge partner and industry are still a seceret 🤫
enjoy the rest of the new year break with day trips across the bridge, and some home redesign for future community events.
cheers,
michael
✌️
ps. if you made it this far, here’s one of my favorite recipes from the year: mezze, traditional or for autumn. this has been a fun way to design a bite by bite platter while hosting.