Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #471

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• Power Racing Series. “Here’s a sport I can get behind. Startupfest happens next week, and this year it’s in the middle of the Gilles Villeneuve Formula One circuit in Montreal. And I find myself wishing we could do more with it. So, you know those tiny electric cars parents buy their kids in certain well-gated parts of North America? You know the Maker movement? Well, this is what happens when you put the two together. Go-Karts in an electric era? Yes please.” (Alistair for Hugh). 
• How a Cash-Strapped Start-up Became the Internet’s Food-Nerd Utopia – Grub Street. “I’ve said before that I love oral histories. They’re great behind-the-scenes stories, smoothed by memory and revisionist history. And they often demonstrate that things don’t happen by plan, but rather, by careful opportunism. Here’s how one of the great food blogs and Internet brands got started.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The World Needs Shock Therapy – Bloomberg. “I don’t know if the author is right about everything, but his diagnosis of the weird economy we’ve lived in for the past decade+ (incredibly low interest rates driving incredibly high debt) seems right. And it seems like it has to end some point? But how?” (Hugh for Alistair). 
• China’s War on Trash Is the World’s, Too – Bloomberg. “Seems like shipping all our trash to Asia ain’t going to cut it for much longer. It doesn’t seem like we’re ready for the alternatives.” (Hugh for Mitch)
• Learning Synths. “I found out about this site via Recomendo (which is a weekly newlsetter that always has something interesting in it from links and products to more smart stuff… it really is great and nerdy). Here’s how Mark Frauenfelder (one of the great minds behind Recomendo and many other awesome tech and culture insights) explains it: ‘I spent 45 minutes interacting with the sliders and buttons at Learning Synths and now I understand concepts like envelope, attack, decay, sustain, and release. I was having so much fun I didn’t realize I was being taught a lesson, either.’ Which is exactly how I felt. So, if you want to futz around and learn all about synths… this is a real treat!” (Mitch for Alistair).  
• How Costco quietly became a $7-billion fast-fashion powerhouse – Fast Company. “When you think of fashion, do you think of Costco? I don’t. My friend does. My friend is nice, kind and loves simplicity. His theory is this: if Costco doesn’t have it, he doesn’t need it (it’s a joke… not really a joke). He’s perfectly comfortable with the fact that his underwear, dress shirts, steaks and cookies all come from the same brand. Costco is a fast-fashion powerhouse. Look at the numbers. Dig into this story. Great brand stories are everywhere.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.