Sunday Snapshots (11/29/20) – Obama's biography, Subways at peak hours, Black Friday strategies
Sunday Snapshots (11/29/20) – Obama's biography, Subways at peak hours, Black Friday strategies
In which I question most Black Friday strategies
Hey everyone,
Greetings from Washington, D.C.!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving here in the US and that all readers not in the US got a break from us on the internet! It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend here in the national’s capital and I made the most of it by spending time walking along the National Mall.
Before we get into this week’s issue of the newsletter, I want to share a couple of pieces where I got to share some lessons I’ve learned by writing this newsletter every week for 19 months:
Tips From 15 Newsletter Writers On How To Build Your Own on Avoid Boring People by Leon Lin featured a who’s who of newsletter writers like Lenny Rachitsky, Li Jin, Sarah Noeckel, Ian Kar, and many more. Yours truly is easily the least accomplished person in this cast of writers but I did get the opportunity to share how to make your writing more personal and connect with your readers.
My interview on Steal Your Marketing about how I choose topics, think about growth, and the inexplicable link between content and distribution.
If you find anything valuable in either of these, please let me know by replying to this email.
Now on to this issue of Snapshots, where I want to talk about:
A first look at Barack Obama’s A Promised Land
How subways can manage operations and minimize congestion at peak hours
Some quick thoughts on Black Friday strategies
Mason Jars, Dynamic explanations of paintings, and Prediction markets
Book of the week
I guess it’s the book of the season and with my interest in presidential bios, I’d be remiss to not feature it. This 701 page doorstopper is part memoir, part political explainer, and part behind-the-scenes life of one of America’s most consequential Presidents.
Three things stand out from the first 200 pages:
Well-written: This is an exceptionally well-written book. How do I know? Because cracking open a random page gives you such considered phrases as “the cracks and crevices of our home life”, “reluctantly but with love”, and “a raw hunger, a blind ambition wrapped in the gauzy language of service.”
Does his writing ooze with coastal elitism? It does. After all, nothing is more coastal than Hawaii.
Do I expect anything else from a Harvard-educated lawyer who was the editor of the Harvard Law Review? I don’t.
Is being extremely articulate a good quality for a President to have? Yes.Political upsets as arbitrage: The story of Obama’s first Presidential campaign (and really of any political upset) is a story of arbitrage. It’s the arbitrage between what the pundits in Washington D.C. thinks is important vs. what a critical coalition of voters think is important. For Obama, this was the ability to speak to voters as an “outsider” despite being a part of the educated elite and a US Senator.
Thinking like the other person: Perhaps the quality that seeps through these pages most is Obama’s empathy. When he’s pulling ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries of 2008, he notes:
On the flight to Des Moines, I tried to appreciate the frustrations Hillary must have been feeling. A woman of enormous intelligence, she had toiled, sacrificed, endured public attacks and humiliations, all in the service of her husband’s career – while also raising a wonderful daughter. Out of the White House, she had carved a new political identity, positioning herself with skill and tenacity to become the prohibitive favorite to win the presidency. As a candidate, she was performing almost flawlessly, checking every box, winning most debates, raising scads of money. And now, to find herself suddenly in a close contest with a man fourteen years younger, who hadn’t had to pay the same dues, who didn’t carry the same battle scars, and who seemed to be getting every break and every benefit of the doubt? Honestly, who wouldn’t be aggravated?
It’s a long book and I’ll likely another couple of weeks to finish it up. Stay tuned for more on the book over the next two weeks. If you know others who are also reading the book, share Sunday Snapshots with them by sending them a link to getsnapshots.com or sharing this issue on social media:
Long read of the week
Congestion in near capacity metro operations by Anupriya, Daniel J. Graham, Prateek Bansal, Daniel Hörcher, Richard Anderson
The queuing theory nerd in me can never get enough of these papers. The problem that this one is trying to solve?
During peak hours, metro systems often operate at high service frequencies to transport large volumes of passengers. However, the punctuality of such operations can be severely impacted by a vicious circle of passenger congestion and train delays. In particular, high volumes of passenger boardings and alightings may lead to increased dwell times at stations, that may eventually cause queuing of trains in upstream. Such stations act as active bottlenecks in the metro network and congestion may propagate from these bottlenecks to the entire network. Thus, understanding the mechanism that drives passenger congestion at these bottleneck stations is crucial to develop informed control strategies, such as control of inflow of passengers entering these stations.
What’s most interesting to me?
Add a layer of social, legal, and political considerations (think Robert Caro’s The Power Broker) and you dramatically diverge from these mathematically preferable solutions. Doesn’t make this work any less neat though!
Business move of the week
Some thoughts on Black Friday strategies
In a pure, unadulterated celebration of American capitalism, millions of shoppers go around town or (increasingly) log on online in search of the best deals on all sorts of goods and services.
From last year’s Black Friday issue of Snapshots:
In the age where brands are competing for wallet share and attention, being one of the thousands of brands offering discounts will only work if your discounts are the deepest – cutting into your margins. For smaller retailers, it’s a losing gamble.
Brands need to be differentiated and have their own day when they can curate the attention of their audiences without the mad frenzy of Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
What was relevant last year is relevant still.
Particularly interesting is the approach taken by AllBirds. The wool sneaker-first company is increasing prices by $1 and matching that extra dollar as a donation to Greta Thunberg's global climate strike movement, Fridays For Future.
Other strategies could include:
Dropping a limited edition product
Offering a bundle
Some version of “lifetime” memberships.
A focus on branding and exclusivity will work better than cutting into margins. I would love to hear what folks think about this – just reply to this email with your thoughts!
Odds and ends of the week
Three very different articles this week:
Why Everyone’s Suddenly Hoarding Mason Jars: In exhibit 43243 of “anything is interesting if you look closely enough,” this article looks at the history and the cultural relevance of the lowly mason jar. Amazing work.
The Myth of North America, in One Painting: This interactive article is exactly the kind of stuff that digital media can allow for. It’s no surprise that the New York Times is not failing.
Limits of Current US Prediction Markets: This is a classic example of something that supposedly smart people will bring up as a contrarian view but actually the conventional view happens to be correct. Some interesting nuances on the structure of traditional betting markets as well.
That wraps up this week’s newsletter. You can check out the previous issues here.
If you want to discuss any of the ideas mentioned above or have any books/papers/links you think would be interesting to share on a future edition of Sunday Snapshots, please reach out to me by replying to this email or sending me a direct message on Twitter at @sidharthajha.
Until next Sunday,
Sid