Brigadoon Weekend
May 29, 2021
Are you listening to Richard Sorge?
He is out there.
He is speaking to you.
He is sending you the signal.
But you fail to recognize him. You can't hear what he is saying. You think it is all noise.
Richard Sorge was a man of many identities.
Sorge was a German journalist, a member of the Nazi Party, and a part-time press staffer in the German embassy in Japan.
But his most meaningful identity was that of an officer in the Soviet foreign military intelligence service. He was considered by many to be the most important Soviet spy in Asia.
And at the height of World War II, Sorge used his secret Soviet agent identity and operated out of Tokyo in 1941.
Sorge repeatedly warned the Kremlin back in Moscow that Nazi Germany would soon invade the USSR.
Specifically, on May 15, he told his Soviet handle that the invasion would come on June 20-22.
But Sorge's information displeased the big boss - he didn't want to hear it.
At the time, Joseph Stalin was then still in alliance with Nazi Germany. Even though Hitler had advocated the conquest of the USSR as early as 1924 in his book, Mein Kampf, Stalin famously believed Hitler to be the only person he could fully trust.
Stalin dismissed Sorge as "a little shit who has set himself up with some small factories and brothels in Japan."
How could someone operating in such an environment know what Nazi Germany was planning?
Stalin knew best. He was the big boss in Moscow, after all. He wasn't running in the underbelly of Tokyo. It didn't matter what was written in 1924.
Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi German codename for the invasion of the USSR, commenced on June 22, 1941.
Launched by someone Stalin trusted entirely and against the terms of the existing non-aggression treaty, Hitler was doing what he always believed and was doing what some lesser person said he would do.
Are you listening to Richard Sorge?
Is someone telling you something that you don't want to believe?
Is someone telling you something that goes against your station?
Are you overwhelmed by the noise and failing to hear the signal?
WHAT BRIGADOON IS WATCHING THIS WEEKEND
Los Angeles to Tokyo in about an hour? Yes, please: Venus Aerospace Corp., a startup pursuing a hypersonic space plane, aims to have a pilot hit rocket boosters and blast an aircraft to the edge of space at more than 9,000 mph, or about 12 times the speed of sound. The plane would travel at that speed for about 15 minutes, finally gliding against the atmosphere to slow itself down, cruising back to Earth to land at a conventional airport.
Bloomberg reports, Venus now has 15 employees, most veterans of the space industry, and has received investment from venture capital firms, including Prime Movers Lab and Draper Associates.
"Every few decades, humans attempt this," says Andrew Duggleby, Co-Founder and CTO of Venus Aerospace, in a tacit acknowledgment of the idea's repeated failure. "This time it will work."
Read: Why we invested in Venus Aerospace: Unlocking one-hour global travel at the edge of space
Brandon Simmons @ Prime Movers Lab - Medium
The secret psychology of sneaker colors: A favorite color of one of my girlfriends from back in the day was cobalt blue. Not blue, but cobalt blue.
As well as my favorite NFL team, the Detroit Lions, using "Honolulu blue" for their jerseys, and my grad school, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, using "Carolina blue" for their kit.
A simple blue just won't work these days.
The New York Times reports increased use of aqua blue, acid lime, grape purple, and electric orange interspersed with neon pink. Plus, gray suede and cheetah print mixed with white and gold. These are not descriptions of a minimalist's worst nightmare, but new color combinations from Adidas, Reebok, and New Balance. And they are jarring by design.
In the age of the infinite scroll and the era of sneaker culture, where the competition to make the hottest, rarest, most wanted kick is more intense than ever, athletic shoe companies are increasingly becoming fluent lovers of that old art: color theory.
"Between 70 percent to 90 percent of subconscious judgment on a product is made in a few seconds on color alone. It can excite or calm us; it can raise our blood pressure. It's really powerful." -- Jenny Ross, the head of concept design and strategy for lifestyle footwear at New Balance
Kanter's Law: According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor at Harvard Business School, "in the middle, everything looks like a failure" (Kanter's Law). Everyone feels motivated by the beginnings, and obviously, we love happy endings, but it is in the middle where the hard work happens.
Guy Fieri signed a new contract with the Food Network worth $80 million over three years: This makes Fieri Discovery Network's top-paid star. His longest-running show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives generated more than $230 million in 2020 ad revenue.
At $26.6 million per year, Fieri would be the 36th highest paid CEO in the S&P 500, making more than the CEO's of:
Bank of America
Salesforce
PayPal
Citigroup
Johnson & Johnson
GE
Blackrock
Visa
Facebook
Goldman lobbyist joins crypto exchange Coinbase: FT reports a senior Goldman Sachs lobbyist has joined Coinbase as its new chief policy officer. The hire will bolster the cryptocurrency exchange's connections in Washington as US regulators voice concerns over lax rules in the crypto sector.
Pro-tip: Fundematlly crypto has three massive challenges: government acceptance (think regulation, control, and management), beating back the"fear, uncertainty, and doubt" advocacy campaigns from incumbent big banks, and reducing the carbon footprint from crypto’s mining and hosting. Hiring a public affairs pro and top lobbyist from a blue-chip multinational bank is super intelligent to help overcome these challenges.
BRIGADOON EVENTS
Thought Leader Communications How To Workshop
June 8, 2021
Speak Globalization | How To Workshop
June 15, 2021
Adventures with Fiat Pandas + Autogrills + Negronis | Brigadoon Monthly Call
Matt Hranek | Founder + Editor @ Wm Brown Magazine
June 16, 2021
More details and passes - click here.
Thanks for supporting Brigadoon. See you next week.
-Marc
Curation + commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder + Chief Curator @ Brigadoon
Brigadoon is always powerpoint free and conversation-driven for better insights and connections.
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