Weekend Briefing No. 573
Reshoring -- Hard Truths About Success -- Finland’s Zero Homelessness Strategy
Welcome to the weekend.
Check out my February playlist.
Prime Numbers
739,000,000 — Digital library borrowing through OverDrive's platforms hit 739 million checkouts in 2024, with significant growth across e-books (7%), audiobooks (19%) and comics (20%), while public libraries accounted for the majority of activity with 706.3 million checkouts.
101 — A new study found that people who were facially expressive were more liked by social partners, which may be one reason why people produce on average 101 facial movements per minute during a given social interaction.
80 — The Louvre is undertaking a major renovation project that includes creating a separate space for the Mona Lisa (which currently draws 80% of visitors) as part of an ambitious plan to increase annual visitors from 9 to 12 million while better managing crowd flow.
Reshoring
America's manufacturing prowess isn't dead — it's being dramatically reborn in unexpected ways. From cutting-edge semiconductor plants achieving world-class yields to a burgeoning solar industry that can now meet nearly all domestic demand, the U.S. is demonstrating that reshoring critical industries isn't just possible but already happening. The success stories in solar, chips, and batteries showcase how targeted policies and strategic investments have helped overcome the 30% cost disadvantage versus Asian manufacturers while building entire ecosystems of suppliers and skilled workers. The key question now isn't whether Americans can manufacture competitively, but whether politics will exist to sustain this industrial renaissance that's already proving the skeptics wrong. Noahpinion (8 minutes)
Hard Truths About Success
Behind the glossy Instagram filters and polished success stories lies a messier, more uncomfortable truth about what it really takes to achieve extraordinary things. 1) While success demands enduring long seasons of loneliness as you inevitably outgrow your old environment and connections, this painful isolation actually accelerates your transformation. 2) The crushing reality that your anxiety will scale proportionally with your ambition means even billionaires still battle imposter syndrome before big meetings, learning only to act despite their doubts. 3) Perhaps most jarring is the realization that reaching the summit brings only fleeting satisfaction — the true joy was always in the anticipation and the climb itself, a truth that forces us to fall in love with the journey rather than the destination. Sahil Bloom (6 minutes)
Try Distraction-Free Reading
Sol Reader is the world's first wearable e-reader. Designed for immersive reading and maximum comfort, Sol Reader helps you form a new reading habit or return to an old one. It's lightweight and built to be 100% distraction-free so you can escape pings and doomscrolling on your phone. Adjust the focus, lean back and easily turn the page with the handheld remote. Buy books or upload your own using the Sol app, and deepen your reading comprehension with features like chapter summaries and Sol AutoPilot for speed reading. When was the last time you got lost in a good book? Try Sol Reader today. Sol Reader (Sponsored)
Finland’s Zero Homelessness Strategy
In a world grappling with rising homelessness, Finland stands as a beacon of hope with its remarkable achievement of nearly eliminating street homelessness through a revolutionary "Housing First" approach. The Nordic nation's success stems from a comprehensive strategy that combines immediate permanent housing, integrated social services and substantial investment in new housing supply — reducing their homeless population from 16,000 to just 4,000 over three decades. While many countries responded to COVID-19 with temporary solutions, Finland's long-term approach of providing stable housing before addressing other needs like employment or health issues has proven both cost-effective and crisis-resistant, saving between 9,600-15,000 euros annually per person in social service costs. Their model demonstrates that ending homelessness isn't just an idealistic goal, but an achievable reality when backed by sustained political will, integrated social services and smart housing policy. Ecoscope (10 minutes)
5 Tips on Ruining Your Life
The path to personal destruction isn't paved with dramatic failures, but with subtle mindset traps that slowly erode our potential such as: 1) Think a lot, do nothing: When you become a professional overthinker who never takes action, each abandoned idea chips away at your self-trust until paralysis becomes your default state. 2) Be nihilistic: Nihilism seems like emotional armor but actually strips life of its color, leaving you bitter and disconnected from the very experiences that make existence meaningful. 3) Avoid challenges at all cost: The seductive comfort of avoiding challenges slowly suffocates your spirit, as growth can only occur when you're willing to dance with discomfort and fear. 4) Ignore responsibility: Perpetually blaming others for your circumstances might feel righteous, but it leaves you powerless and stuck, watching life pass by while holding the very key to your prison cell. 5) Be prideful: Pride disguised as intelligence becomes your prison guard, convincing you that you're too smart to learn from others while actually ensuring you remain trapped in mediocrity. @ItsMatDo (3 minutes)
A Critique on FIRE
What sounds like freedom can become a psychological prison of market-watching and purposeless days. The Financial Independent Retire Early (FIRE) movement's allure of escaping the 9-to-5 grind through extreme saving ignores how meaningful work and measured consumption contribute to human flourishing and personal development. While living below your means is admirable, the movement's assumptions about consistent market returns and the fulfillment found in decades of unstructured time reveal a dangerous naivete about both financial markets and human psychology. The real path to contentment might not be in retiring at 35 to play guitar, but in finding work that aligns with your values while maintaining a balanced approach to saving and spending. We're Gonna Get Those Bastards (8 minutes)
Tiny Desk
Electronic producer Fred Again transformed NPR's Tiny Desk space into an intimate electronic music haven. At the desk filled with synths and samplers, he skillfully blended electronic beats with live instruments and video samples. His enthusiasm shone through as he moved between his electronic setup and the piano, creating layers of sound that filled the small office space. The performance showed how electronic music can feel deeply personal and warm, even in NPR's stripped-down setting. NPR (26 minutes)
Should We Work Together?
Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.
Founder Fridays
Check out my other email Founder Fridays — a Friday morning briefing helping startup founders and operators scale smarter.
Weekend Wisdom
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. - Winston Churchill