# This edition will cost you 3 quid.

![](../images/67003a5f82b4.jpg)\
I spent last weekend in the UK attending the [Do Lectures
Wales](http://www.thedolectures.com/events/do-wales-2015?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
where 60 people camp in a field at night and attend talks in a
nearby barn during the day. Random highlights:

- Attending such a small conference for such a prolonged time meant
  that, by the end, you pretty much know everyone at least a little bit.
- I learned that Do is part of the West Wales empire of the
  remarkable Hiut Denim founder [David
  Hieatt](http://www.withloveproject.co.uk/david-hieatt/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
  who owned the venue as well as several other businesses in the area.
- It was my first time driving on the left side of the road. Only two
  almost-accidents!
- I ran into 99U writers [Ryan
  Holiday](https://twitter.com/ryanholiday?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
  and [David
  Marquet](https://twitter.com/ldavidmarquet?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
  without even realizing they were attending.
- While driving I stumbled upon the BBC broadcast of "[Just a
  Minute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_a_Minute?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid),"
  a game with rules so simple you'll be shocked it's a radio show.
- Mainly: the issues faced by creatives and entrepreneurs are pretty
  universal, no matter what continent they call home.

To the links!\
\
**Tech news start Re/code unexpectedly sold to Vox Media this month.**
My armchair analysis: Re/code took VC money. [Despite making \$12
million a
year](http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-recode-sold-to-vox-2015-6?r=US&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid),
that level of growth wasn't enough for investors looking for hockey
stick growth, so they sold. Let this be lesson \#1,345: Bootstrap your
media startups, guys.\
\
**The media world was atwitter this week when Apple [announced a News
app](http://mashable.com/2015/06/08/apple-news-app-publishers/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)**
that enables publishers to create iOS-friendly articles. This, of
course, is on the heels of Facebook's [Instant
Articles](http://instantarticles.fb.com/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).
Both allow publications to [push content directly to large existing user
bases](http://www.mondaynote.com/2015/06/14/the-redistribution-game-for-news/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).
Both, unfortunately, are awful ideas for publishers. Most modern
(especially niche/vertical) publishers make money by attracting readers
with free content and then asking them to pay for something. So what
happens when publishers can't control the user experience anymore? They
can't ask the readers to pay for anything. Also: [Why are we
centralizing news distribution within two monolithic tech
companies](https://twitter.com/ryantate/status/608012108396134400?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)? This
will end badly.\
\
**Self-promotion corner:** Inspired by 99U, a reader is [becoming a
digital
nomad](https://medium.com/@davidmahoney/digital-nomads-location-independents-37742c941928?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).
I think this is neat. PBS Mediashift [covers the business model of
Technical.ly](http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2015/06/how-technically-is-using-live-events-to-build-a-sustainable-business-model?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid),
the news network I cofounded in 2009.\
\
**Three years ago David Graeber wrote one of my favorite essays of all
time: [Bullshit
Jobs](http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).**
"Ever had the feeling that your job might be made up?" he asks. The crux
of the essay is that many of our jobs aren't essential to society, and
exist just to keep us working and occupied. Well, um, Europe is just
cutting to the chase and [creating fake
jobs](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/business/international/in-europe-fake-jobs-can-have-real-benefits.html?_r=0&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).\
\
*Related*: During my trip I spoke to several people in the UK who
expressed frustration at the European Union. A few days later [a few MPs
formed a new
group](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/11657082/conservatives-plot-britains-eu-exit.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
with the specific purpose of encouraging UK to leave the EU. Things may
get real.\
\
"Wall Street is dying to have these companies go public. Then Wall
Street treats them like crap once they’re public." [The rise and fall of
Twitter CEO Dick
Costolo](http://pando.com/2015/06/11/the-icahn-was-coming-from-inside-the-house-why-dick-costolos-ouster-changes-the-valley/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid). \
\
**In defense of Sepp Blatter: **By now you've heard all about the FIFA
scandal. It made me wonder: On what legal grounds does the US have to
extradite and prosecute citizens of other countries?
[*The* ](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/27/how-the-us-can-arrest-fifa-officials-in-switzerland-explained/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)[*Washington
Post*](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/27/how-the-us-can-arrest-fifa-officials-in-switzerland-explained/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)
has a fantastic explainer here. Basically: if a file passes through a
US server or a cent passes through a US bank, the US can get involved.
However, the Swiss don't have to allow extradition if they don't want
to. Sepp Blatter isn't a paragon of human morality, but it seems
troublesome if the US were to extradite him. Imagine if the tables were
turned and the Swiss extradited an American because a file passed
through their servers. None of us would be okay with that, right? And
isn't it fishy that, after 17 years of Blatter's reign, the Swiss
suddenly woke up to the fact that he's corrupt? \
\
**Last week The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers
handily 103-82 in game 4 of the NBA Finals.** Most people (myself
included) attribute the result to the insertion of veteran (and beloved
former Sixer) Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup. What most people
don't know is that the idea didn't come from head coach Steve Kerr, it
came from [a low-ranking Warriors
staffer](http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/12/warriors-steve-kerr-nick-uren-andre-iguodala-andrew-bogut-nba-finals-cavaliers?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid). Also,
[here's why you should also be cheering for Andre
Iguodala](http://deadspin.com/fuck-yeah-andre-iguodala-deserves-all-this-shine-1709352056?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid),
the man often tasked with guarding Lebron James in the most important
moments of the season.\
\
**Crowdsoured-based product design shop Quirky announced this week it
would [shut down its manufacturing
arm](http://fortune.com/2015/06/12/quirky-wink-funding-products/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid)**.
Just a few weeks ago, The Verge [profiled the financial troubles of the
NYC-based
company](http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/24/8488531/quirky-invention-powered-by-quirky?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).
Choice quote: "\[Founder Ben Kaufman\] wanted to run the company based
on the fantasy he thinks it should run on."\
\
**We keep talking about a "podcast boom" but the podcasting industry as
it stands is sponsored by a relatively few number of companies.** In
fact, if Squarespace, Stamps.com, Audible, MailChimp, and Dollar Shave
Club pulled their marketing dollars, [that would wipe out 35 percent in
podcaster
earnings](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/but-first-a-word-from-100-podcast-sponsors/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).\
\
**It seems like every week another food exec is blaming Chipotle for
declining sales.** Like, say, [Subway and
McDonalds](http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-rise-and-fall-of-subway-the-worlds-biggest-food-chain/2015/05/29/0ca0a84a-fa7a-11e4-a13c-193b1241d51a_story.html?postshare=3721433073692946&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid). \
\
**Men are less educated, less employed, and more violent than women.**
Men also still occupy a disproportionate amount of leadership roles. But
a rise in gender equality mixed with globalization has a [devastating
effect on uneducated
males](http://www.economist.com/news/essays/21649050-badly-educated-men-rich-countries-have-not-adapted-well-trade-technology-or-feminism?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).\
\
**I** constantly find myself chatting with** people who think that if
they just should quit their job and that would make everything ok.** Or
the person that thinks that, if they could just take that super-awesome
trip, they'd be totally satisfied with life. Drastic action like this is
not a panacea. Sometimes, [wherever you go, there you
are](http://ryanholiday.net/seneca-on-travel/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).\
\
**It's the day after flag day!** To celebrate [here's a chart of every
American
flag](http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2015/06/20150614_flag.jpg?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid).
I'd also like to begin a new newsletter tradition: the official
newsletter flag (for now). Kicking us off....\
\
**Official newsletter flag (for now):**\
![An awesome flag!](../images/b652fe20388a.png)This is the flag of
Pembrokeshire, Wales. I was told in Wales that the rose represents
the roses of York and Lancaster—also known as the two combatants in the
war of the roses. The background is a play on the [Flag of Saint
David](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Saint_David?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=this-edition-will-cost-you-3-quid),
the patron saint of Wales.\
\
Thanks for reading. I'm flagging you as awesome,\
-Sean