FutureBlind is a blog devoted to covering four general topics: business, investing, innovation and creative problem solving. It was initially launched in 2007.
The Substack newsletter will essentially just duplicate posts from the blog feed. I might throw in an additional short intro or an interesting link here and there. A newsletter will only be sent when there's a new blog post (every 1-2 months or so).
The name “FutureBlind” comes from the fact that we can’t predict what comes next — in business, investing, and life. We can't make detailed plans because the circumstances inevitably change. But what we can do is set broad goals while finding creative ways to protect our downside and push humanity forward. My approach towards both inventing and investing exemplifies this view.
A little about me
My name is Max Olson. I currently run product strategy at Mashgin, where we’re reinventing the checkout experience. I also run Explorist Productions, a media company that published Warren Buffett’s Letters to Shareholders, and Braewick Holdings LP, a family office that invests in public and private equities. I’ve been involved in and have a passion for many things: building companies, investing, programming, writing, storytelling, and learning anything new that comes my way.
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Posts to get started with
Advantage Flywheels — Competitive advantage can be represented visually as 1 or more feedback loops.
Mashgin: The Future of Computer Vision — Our vision at Mashgin as of 2016.
Book Notes — Detailed notes on some of the books I’ve enjoyed.
Atlastory: Mapping the History of the World — A rundown and post-mortem of a project I worked on on mapping world history.
Product Strategy: Falcon 9 — A short product case study on SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
The McDonald’s Success Story — A summary of the early history of McDonalds and what made them successful.
The Restaurant Investor — A long-form article on the turnaround of Stake-n-Shake and what it takes to succeed in the chain restaurant business.
The Progression of Innovation — About knowing where a company or product fits in the progression of innovation.