Fresh finds for your content queue

Books

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

Sometimes the day-to-day founder life can seem like an epic journey. We feel you. If you’re looking for inspiration and great perspective on leadership and perseverance for the long haul, check out this adventure tale — a favorite among purpose-minded founders and CEOs. 

Deep Work by Cal Newport

You’ve felt the frazzle of fragmented days — pinging notifications, overlapping meetings, 20 minutes blocked for something that needs an hour — and experienced the results: little progress and lots of anxiety. If you’re nodding along, take a breath and then check out Deep Work. Cal Newport’s book is a great place to start rethinking your workflow and understanding the upside of distraction-free time for your work and your overall well-being.

Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones

As a founder, chances are good you’re going to have to do things that scare you. It’s going to get uncomfortable (and probably already has). Luvvie Ajayi Jones says that making a habit of getting past that discomfort and showing up unapologetically as who you are is the way forward to the life that exists on the other side of fear. Getting there means causing some trouble, so here’s the manual to inspire you to live courageously and make some noise. 

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith 

So you’ve launched a company, and things are going well. Just keep on keepin’ on, right? Renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith says not so fast. If you want to continue to scale successfully, it’s time to take a hard look at your behavior patterns and understand the essential changes that can truly fuel growth.

Newsletter

The Distance 

Need help thinking and planning ahead? Look into the future with The Distance, a weekly newsletter published by Fundrise and written by veteran journalists. Each week looks at one subject (doomscrolling, friendships, managing risk — to name a few) through a long-term lens.

Podcasts

A Better Workplace by Wistia

Who doesn’t want a better workplace? But what does that look like, and how can we get there? The folks at Wistia want to help companies think it through, specifically the role of intentional DEI work in moving us all forward. This series of thoughtful conversations with experts is a great launching pad for founders and teams who want to get to better.

How’s Work by Esther Perel 

Renowned therapist Esther Perel says, “It is the quality of our relationships that determines the quality of our lives.” Her podcast takes us inside recorded therapy sessions with co-founders, colleagues, and teams to learn how to navigate common issues and improve the quality of our connections at work. 

Follow

@tara_mcmullin on Instagram

Interested in hearing “what works” in small business? Follow Tara McMullin, host of the What Works podcast, for tips and deep dives on process and purpose and everything in between from entrepreneurs and experts focused on growing their companies and sharing ideas. 

@MacConwell on Twitter

The founder of pre-seed fund Rare Breed Ventures is looking beyond the established networks and hubs to fund innovative ideas that might otherwise be overlooked. His feed is an inspiring and honest glimpse into his approach to VC and the founders and businesses that spark his interest.

Articles

Be Intentional About How You Spend Your Time Off

Turns out age-old notions of R&R — those involving many hours on the couch and many episodes streamed — are not actually the cure for burnout. In this Harvard Business Review article, researchers explain why “passive rest and relaxation” during time spent away from work won’t necessarily revive you — and how to make the most of vacation time to “proactively recover.”

What If We Just Stopped Being So Available?

Are the consequences of the “sin of unavailability” as significant as we think? Writer Joe Pinsker suggests we reconsider the urge to respond immediately to absolutely everything — or to apologize if we don’t — and recognize the possibility for greater change if more people did the same.