Joan Westenberg

The DAO Joan Index 🍕 tech + humans + economics. Founder @ Idle Ventures.

Link: https://linktr.ee/joanwestenberg
Reach out: [email protected]
Website: https://www.joanwestenberg.com

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npub1wkrakhgrnccsq7ny6gm9zfadmhxmmg4vdhacd33cdc6m8v5353dstjyvj6

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[email protected]

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nprofile1qqs8tp7mt5peuvgq0fjdydj3y7kamnda52kxm7uxccuxuddnk2g6gkcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsf24dmv

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npub1wkrakhgrnccsq7ny6gm9zfadmhxmmg4vdhacd33cdc6m8v5353dstjyvj6

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Last Notes

2024-07-11 09:52:22

HR onboarding for AI bots.
This is absolute clown shit.
No other way to spin it.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/766/768/980/602/604/original/46631a31c476b639.jpeg

2024-07-04 11:53:20

Doctor Who writers: here’s a complex, evolving, decades long lore about regeneration that explains why the Doctor changes to different faces and personas
James Bond writers: lol new Bond

2024-06-24 00:58:10

TED offered a vision of the world where complex societal issues could be solved with a lightbulb moment and a well-designed PowerPoint presentation.
Climate change? There's an app for that.
Poverty? A social entrepreneur with a TED talk has it figured out.
It was a worldview that flattered millennials' sense of ourselves as changemakers while conveniently ignoring the systemic barriers to real change.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/ted-talks-the-picotop-of-millennial-pop-intellectualism

2024-06-22 01:33:26

RSS isn't dead—it's the secret weapon of info-savvy rebels.
Here's why RSS is more relevant than ever:
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/rss-the-forgotten-protocol-that-still-matters%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B

2024-06-21 00:58:51

- reply

just so…divorced from reality

2024-06-21 00:33:36

Zume—and its enablers, including and particularly SoftBank—are a classic example of the blind tech optimism that has become emblematic of Silicon Valley's culture—a culture that values flash over substance, disruption over understanding, and hype over hard-earned insight.
A culture that is intent on leaving the same flaming bags of shit on the doorstep of our society over and over again.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-dollar375m-slice

2024-06-20 02:12:43

There will always be those who shout that progressive legislation doesn't go far enough.
Folks who are one bad tweet away from insisting that incremental progress is somehow worse than no progress at all.
By setting an impossibly high bar for what constitutes "true" progressivism, the purists effectively create a circular firing squad, one in which no one can ever measure up to their exacting standards.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-perils-of-purity-politics

2024-06-19 14:26:52

Burning down my career in tech by actually telling the truth has its drawbacks.
But on the bright side; I haven’t logged into Slack in 6 months.
Worth it.

2024-06-15 01:33:47

- reply

Fans of Orwell’s opposition to totalitarianism seem passionate about being allowed to be fucking rude to trans people but have no problem with governments breaking up protests, banning books or criminalising wearing medical masks.
It’s almost like “Orwellian” has come to mean “something I personally don’t like.”

2024-06-15 00:40:55

The ven diagram of people who complain about the world becoming Orwellian and people who have actually read George Orwell is 2 seperate circles.

2024-06-14 08:15:50

Tesla’s rise is one of the great business narratives of the 21st century.
But it’s no longer an open question whether its founder is a victim of his own hubris, laid low by his inability to get out of his own way.
At least Howard Hughes fucked off and became a recluse; Tesla should be so lucky.
https://medium.com/westenberg/decline-and-fall-tesla-under-musk-69e03fd72f15

2024-06-13 10:17:34

The reason VCs don’t fund women: they make a choice not to fund women.
It is truly that fucking simple.
We run the same panels every year talking about this like it’s a complicated problem.
“Maybe it’s
-Social standards
-Lack of daycare infrastructure
-Confidence
-Education”
Nope. The truth is ugly.
VCs make a choice, over and over and over again to give another million bucks to another 4 dudes with another productivity startup and then blame anything except their own decisions.

2024-06-12 03:36:49

Folks in the 1850s thought of democracy as an unchanging entity that would never get too far off track.
They thought democracy was self-correcting.
That assumption of the guardrails holding feels uncomfortably familiar today.
The dumpster fire of the 1850s shows how far off the rails any democracy can go when contempt for democratic ideals calcifies into a flamethrowing, win-at-all-costs ethos.
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it-how-2024-rhymes-with-thenbsp1850s

2024-06-12 01:04:42

The intractable debates, the splintering factions, the radicalizing rhetoric, the eroding norms and the scorched earth threats of the right-wing…
Change a few names and dates, and the yellowed newspaper headlines from 1860 could almost be confused for the rage-filled tweets and op-eds of 2024 punditry.
History, as always, has an uncanny way of rhyming.
https://medium.com/westenberg/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it-how-2024-rhymes-with-the-1850s-3090129fe770

2024-06-09 00:43:46

Don’t ignore what’s going on in Sudan.
@npub12k8…r809 is one of the few social news publications actively covering the crisis.
This is a humanitarian flashpoint, happening in real time, while most of the world stays silent.
https://mastodon.social/@theindex/112583375261302698

2024-06-07 02:58:07

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a VC-backed startup in possession of an overblown valuation and zero product market fit, must be in want of an LLM.
- Jane Austen

2024-06-03 14:09:56

Had a few folks reach out and ask why we're no longer connected on the dumpster fire that is LinkedIn. Here's the gist of it.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/552/613/771/599/144/original/7656824dd66a01a9.png

2024-06-03 02:25:58

Anyone who claims the Republican Party today is good because Lincoln was a Republican 164 years ago is not a serious person.
https://mastodon.social/@Daojoan/112549630721471321

2024-05-30 00:04:03

Every single time:
“We created Bullshit Startup ™️ to empower teams to do their best work through AI and collaboration tools blah blah blah”

2024-05-29 13:43:52

There are few professions I respect more than librarians. We need them.

2024-05-28 01:51:17

The fallacy at the heart of trickle-down economics is the notion that making the rich richer will somehow benefit everyone else.
But when so much wealth is concentrated at the top, that simply doesn't happen.
The rising tide does not, in fact, lift all boats.
Instead, yachts rise while many other boats spring leaks or sink.
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/trickle-down-economics-were-always-bullshit

2024-05-27 05:55:43

The world came through the Cuban Missile Crisis by the skin of its teeth, thanks to the good judgment, steady nerves, and calm of those at the helm.
Every generation since has been faced with a sobering question: In a similar situation, would the leaders they have chosen exhibit that same prudence and composure?
Or would they give in to bluster, fear, panic, and violence?
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/the-power-of-patience-restraint-and-nerves

2024-05-26 13:48:36

"Embrace AI or be left behind" is a condescending and heartless ultimatum. A false dichotomy that reeks of debunked social darwinist horse-fuckery.
Tech should adapt to people's needs.
Not the reverse.

2024-05-23 14:38:55

No algorithm can replace human wisdom and analysis.
But no algorithm will need to if we have already abandoned — wholesale — a millennium of critical reading and thinking skills.
https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/the-death-of-critical-thinking-will-kill-us-long-before-ai-781fdd23cc7c

2024-05-21 23:55:41

I don’t need an “AI PC”
I need a laptop with a word processor and an internet connection.

2024-05-20 12:29:51

What does this remind you of?
“The majority of middle-class Germans treated the National Socialists along the lines described by the historian Friedrich Mei-necke in December 1930: 'People laugh at their economic demands, and the upper ten thousand dutifully berate their rowdyism on the street, as the conventions of polite society demand; yet these very circles continue, quietly yet unabated-ly, to murmur about how useful National Socialism might become.’”
(Via Volker Ullrich)

2024-05-18 05:12:24

The "spell" Hitler cast is what we often call a "reality distortion field"—an ability to bend perceptions, convincing followers to believe the impossible and disregard facts and reason.
We've glorified this trait, especially in charismatic business leaders.
And it's a terrible mistake.
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/the-reality-distortion-spell

2024-05-13 09:20:41

Forget Silicon Valley - the future of startups is global, remote-first, and built by solopreneurs and micro-teams. SF is over. Proximity covens are over. Distributed is the new default. Solo founders and small agile teams will outmaneuver slow, bloated companies.

2024-05-13 02:20:08

I’m excited to launch @npub12k8…r809 on Mastodon!
- social native news (full story in one toot)
- just the facts, zero opinion pieces
- no clickbait, no misleading headlines
- human verified sources and content
- no AI hallucinations
- stay informed in your feed
📰

2024-05-10 05:38:20

It is a mistake to treat any social media platform as a personal diary. Some thoughts should be kept for you - and you alone.

2024-05-07 23:22:43

You can’t judge a book by its cover.
You *can* judge a Presidential candidate by his impeachment, civil suits, criminal charges, Russian associations, racism, misogyny and sexual assault allegations.

2024-05-07 04:21:09

I don’t particularly care what celebrities are wearing to the met gala.
But some people do.
Some people are passionate about fashion. Some people have had a shit week and just want to talk about something fun and not think about hard things for a few minutes. All of which is ok.
You can just let folks enjoy things.

2024-05-03 08:01:15

"The best way to fight Nazis is to shine a spotlight on their beliefs and debunk them."
It's a popular idea.
The notion that exposure and rational argument will inevitably triumph over bigotry and hate.
But history tells us - it's bullshit.
We've been down this road before.
It was called World War II.

2024-05-02 02:30:06

The conservative paradox is a desperate need to be seen as both powerful dominators and persecuted victims.

2024-04-30 00:42:44

90% of people cannot tell the difference between an opinion piece, a news article, and the Onion.

2024-04-29 05:01:23

Resist the urge to self-commodify.
Embrace what makes you different, not what makes you blend in. Focus on the process, not just the outcome. Pour yourself into your craft and trust that your tribe will find you.
The internet is becoming a sea of sameness. But what we crave most is something genuine. Something real. Not a hollow imitation; an artist who has the courage to be fully themselves.
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/you-are-not-a-commodity

2024-04-27 12:19:54

Life was a lot easier when we were all just mad at Bush

2024-04-22 14:24:05

We like to think we’re free.
Don’t we?
Free to choose our path, pursue our dreams, and be who we want to be.
But for most of us, that freedom is an illusion.
We’re so tied up in the shit that we don’t want to do, the shit we trapped ourselves into, that our freedom is long gone.
https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/audit-your-obligations

2024-04-14 05:10:34

The real cancel culture is Netflix who can’t let a single good show get past season one

2024-04-02 02:37:09

"it's important to recognize" = this post was written by chatGPT

2024-03-27 03:48:18

No, AI generated video doesn't democratise film making. Film making has already been democratised. By having pro level cameras and video editing on smartphones. Anyone can already make a film.
You don't actually want democratisation.
You just want to remove as much effort and skill from the process as possible.