Random thoughts

Top 10 Must Haves For a Start-up

via holykaw.alltop.com

Such a refreshing view on things!

Chocolate and vanilla puddings

These are inspired from a Tartine recipe. Really easy to make as there is no baking involved.

The Generation M Manifesto - an awesome description of my generation

You wanted big, fat, lazy "business." We want small, responsive, micro-scale commerce.

You turned politics into a dirty word. We want authentic, deep democracy — everywhere.

You wanted financial fundamentalism. We want an economics that makes sense for people — not just banks.

You wanted shareholder value — built by tough-guy CEOs. We want real value, built by people with character, dignity, and courage.

You wanted an invisible hand — it became a digital hand. Today's markets are those where the majority of trades are done literally robotically. We want a visible handshake: to trust and to be trusted.

You wanted growth — faster. We want to slow down — so we can become better.

You didn't care which communities were capsized, or which lives were sunk. We want a rising tide that lifts all boats.

You wanted to biggie size life: McMansions, Hummers, and McFood. We want to humanize life.

You wanted exurbs, sprawl, and gated anti-communities. We want a society built on authentic community.

You wanted more money, credit and leverage — to consume ravenously. We want to be great at doing stuff that matters.

You sacrificed the meaningful for the material: you sold out the very things that made us great for trivial gewgaws, trinkets, and gadgets. We're not for sale: we're learning to once again do what is meaningful.

via blogs.harvardbusiness.org

This reflects very well the silicon valley spirit. And interestingly enough, this is the core of the European way of life.

Failure is the new win

I think embracing failure is one of the things that makes this country such a great place to do business in. In many parts of the world, if you fail once, you are done. People won't touch you with a ten foot pole. But here in the US, it's almost a badge of honor. And our President explains why.

via www.avc.com

Making mistakes and learning from it seems to be the big theme of back to school this year. My son teacher's had exactly the same message (a few weeks before Obama's speach). I couldn't agree more!

Impossible-to-miss creme brulee

No matter how hard I try, I have never been able to mess up creme brulee. I'd like to think it's because I'm French, or because I'm such a talented cook, but really it all lies into this basic yet fantastic recipe.

1 quart heavy whipping cream

1 quart 2% milk

8 egg yolk

3/4 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, warm the cream, milk and split vanilla bean. Meanwhile, in a bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix the egg yolk (discard the white) with the sugar, until it's a very pale yellow. If you are using vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean, add the extract to the egg mixture.

Bring the milk/cream to a boil, then pour a little bit on the egg mixture (about 1/4 cup). Mix really well. Then add the rest of the milk.

Using a laddle, transfer the warm cream into individual ramequins, filling them up almost to the top.

Now, here's the secret to success: place the ramequins in a large oven-proof dish, and fill the dish with lukewarm water, up to about half the height of the ramequins. This is called "baking in a bain marie". It will allow the creme to cook slowly, which is what gets it the extremely smooth texture.

Transfer the whole thing to the oven, preheated to 300F, and baked for about 45 min.

Let cool then store in the fridge at least 2-3 hours.

Just before serving, make the "brulee" part of the creme brulee (it means "burnt"): sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar (ideally brown sugar but plain white sugar works as well). Then melt it with a torche until it forms a caramel.

That's it! You've got your own creme brulee that's in fact better than in most restaurants.

Enjoy!

What makes Silicon Valley so special

By inverting this list, we can get a portrait of the "normal" world. It's populated by people who talk a lot with one another as they work slowly but harmoniously on conservative, expensive projects whose destinations are decided in advance, and who carefully adjust their manner to reflect their position in the hierarchy.

That's also a fairly accurate description of the past. So startup culture may not merely be different in the way you'd expect any subculture to be, but a leading indicator.

via paulgraham.com

A highly recommended quick read.