A New American City, How Habits Reveal Culture, Venture Capital’s “It” Girl
This week’s best links about borderless living.
--
Hej! I’m Lauren Razavi. This weekly(ish) post is where I share the best links about borderless living, plus updates about my writing, speaking, and activism work to enhance people’s understanding of digital nomads and the future of work. To keep in touch, follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my newsletter. Thanks for reading ✍️🌍✌️
Hi friends 👋
Just a short note from me this week as I’m on an away day with two wonderful creative friends who I’ve mentioned many times in this newsletter: Anna Codrea-Rado and Ebony-Storm Halladay.
I know I’m usually the curator around here, but I’ll be speaking on a panel about hustle culture later this month and would love your recommendations of stories, podcasts and anything else that might help with my research. Any thoughts?
— Lauren
📚 Global Natives
The first chapter of my debut book, Global Natives, has launched!
Early supporters get access to a new book chapter each month and invitations to a special live event series featuring fellow creatives from around the world.
If you have the means, please consider supporting my work as an independent creator with a digital pre-order.
👀 Want a sneak preview? You can read a public excerpt from the book here.
🌍 Links of the Week
💡🌆 Bjarke Ingels Is Designing “New City in America” for Five Million People (Dezeen)
A Danish architect is building a futuristic “garden city” from scratch in the U.S. desert. Commissioned by the entrepreneur Marc Lore — former CEO of Walmart — Telosa will be home to 50,000 people by 2030 and grow to a population of 5 million within 40 years.
💰🏘️ Startups Now Spend More on Airbnb Than Office Rent (Skift)
Airbnb has been quick to embrace remote work and digital nomad travel in its pandemic response. That strategy seems to working: New data shows that venture-funded startups are arranging team trips at short-term rentals instead of investing in branded spaces.
🌍✌️ How Finger Counting Gives Away Your Nationality (BBC Future)
People around the world count on their fingers in surprisingly different ways, with the specifics of the habit varying across countries and cultures. This piece delves into research, interviews experts, and highlights our knowledge gaps in this area.
💼🎨 She’s the Investor Guru for Online Creators (NY Times)
Li Jin — formerly of the heavyweight VC firm Andreessen Horowitz — has carved out a niche for herself as an independent investor and creator economy thought leader. This profile tells her story so far and declares her venture capital’s “it” girl.
🎙️🚀 The Future of Work, Decentralized Marketplaces, and Curiosity (Build the Future)
This podcast episode meets Braintrust CEO Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski and explores his vision for a decentralised future of work — from his innovative freelance marketplace to the importance of user-owned tech platforms in the era of web 3.0.
😵💫💡 Do I Have Productivity Dysmorphia? (Refinery29)
Why is there such a disconnect between what we’ve objectively achieved and what we feel like we’ve achieved? Anna Codrea-Rado interrogates her relationship with success, offering thoughtful reflections on professional anxiety and modern work.
🏛️ Nomad Politics
I interviewed Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic poet and politician, as part of the Plumia Speaker Series on how to build an internet country.
We discussed her involvement with Julian Assange and Wikileaks in its earliest days, the years she spent leading the Icelandic Pirate Party, and what drives her art, activism, and work on democracy in the digital era.
Birgitta has been one of my heroes for 10+ years now, so it was a real privilege chatting with her 🤩
