Marvin’s Best Weekly Reads March 8th, 2026
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." – Marcus Tullius Cicero
The impact of revolutions. Freedom is not always the outcome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiOCJssqfDs&t=108s
2. The importance of Comms & PR: Storytelling for startup founders. Such an overlooked skill and clear differentiator in such a crowded market right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRoU1T4E9rQ
3. "In 2012, we cared that we used software. Today we care how we use it.
The difference is trajectory.
In the last decade, adopting software was the priority. Moving from on-premise to the cloud or digitizing a manual workflow promised productivity gains. Adoption was the finish line.
Today software is ubiquitous. Every salesperson uses a CRM & every engineer uses an IDE. The edge no longer comes from having the tool but from the specific path & manner in which that tool is used to achieve an outcome : a trajectory through software."
https://tomtunguz.com/ai-trajectories/
4. "It doesn’t matter if you’re a soldier, a human rights advocate, an economist, a financier, a manufacturer, or a farmer. War affects us all. This is certainly the case in wars close to our homes or in which we’re active participants. But it remains true even when a war is seemingly removed by geography or participation.
Wars interrupt supply chains and threaten global trade, increasing prices and destabilizing economies."
https://buildingourfuture.substack.com/p/defense-is-for-everyone
5. "Often when you’re stuck, a better cliche to follow than “just do something” is to double down on strengths. I didn’t use the framing of “double down on what’s working” because presumably if you’re stuck, things don’t seem to be working. If you’re at a low point, even the word “strengths” might fail to conjure up a long list.
Be that as it may, most of us have lived life. We’ve lived in certain places, done particular things, befriended particular people. That’s a good starting point."
https://www.optimaloutliers.com/p/better-than-just-do-something
6. Good episode this week. Lots of good takes and predictions for 2026.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEb2DX0TzKM
7. "Humans evolved around campfires, sharing stories for thousands of years. The power of a story is unlike anything else. My recommendation for entrepreneurs is to exercise their storytelling muscle and actively look for ways to improve their craft. Writing, speaking, and every other form of communication becomes far more powerful when driven by compelling stories."
https://davidcummings.org/2026/01/10/intentional-story-teller/
8. "In life there are many ways to make money. Some restrict you more than others.
Prioritize building income streams that don’t take away your freedom. Because money is far more useful to a free man than to an un-free man.
It is far superior to make $250k a year from an online business that lets you travel whenever and wherever you want than to make $500k a year from a job or an offline business that forces you to be at a particular location all the time.
People often regret working “too hard” and making money they have no use of while the years of their life go by. No one ever regrets enjoying their life, travelling often, and living to their fullest."
https://lifemathmoney.com/dont-waste-your-20s-how-to-maximize-your-twenties-part-2/
9. "Why the US should be expected to have any contact with a country like Kyrgyzstan is a fair query to start with. Look at a map zoomed out and the country seems to be swallowed in an embrace by China to the east and by Kazakhstan and — more distantly — Russia to the north. The country is poor, with a nominal GDP per capita of under $3,000, and has limited natural resources. It’s mountainous and largely rural, with proud nomadic traditions, a culture taking in elements from the Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and Turkic worlds, and its history couldn’t be more remote from America’s.
But spend time here and a certain US influence becomes obvious enough. I am able to teach my journalism course in English at an international university with good comprehension from my students. My students routinely make fun of me for how behind the curve I am in following P. Diddy’s trial or not quite being able to explain who Charli XCX is. Many of them fantasise about living in the US. If I’m in a cab, it’s routine for the driver to suddenly put on speakerphone a brother or cousin who’s living in the States so that we can trade pleasantries with one another. Bishkek is filled with malls that give me flashbacks to the time I spent living in Los Angeles.
And, as an American, I am treated with a respect and an interest that I don’t think I’ve quite experienced anywhere else in the world — there’s just a curiosity about Americanness that I think much of the rest of the world has moved past."
https://unherd.com/2026/01/the-land-that-westernisation-forgot/
10. "Let’s review the state of the chessboard.
The US now has a vertically integrated loop for supplying itself and the entire world the critical medium and heavy crude oil products.
It can play the hand of favorites for those states willing to supplicate. This strengthens its position within the Western Bloc as the de facto Hegemon.
While the US controls the “Perfect Machine” (Gulf Coast Coking Refineries), the Eastern Bloc relies on a clumsy, distributed “Symbiotic Chain” where Russia/Iran acts as the crude extraction colony and China acts as the dirty processing lab.
The US also gains a geographic arterial strike advantage by only having to monitor the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and Yellow Sea.
By seizing Venezuelan Orinoco heavy oil, the US also effectively secures the highest-value feedstock for its specialized machine, forcing China to run its “Teapot” refineries on inferior or politically volatile alternatives. This heavy oil sludge can be more easily cracked into lower forms as needed for desired usage.
Heavy oils give US optionality in refining. It is more efficient to “chop” that it is to “glue.”
The US will very likely install governance and corporate structure that is supplicating to its national needs. It can begin to squeeze the Eastern Bloc slowly by reducing exports of Merey 16. Or it can simply increase prices. China was able to buy this sanctioned oil at discount.
Now the US controls this oil supply. It’s categorization is “Clean.” So China pays fair market prices for continuing their infrastructure construction.
The same way that China uses REE controls.
We can make an estimation that China currently relies upon Venezuelan bitumen for roughly 50% of its asphalt production needs.
Depending on the mood of the US administration, this is about to get very expensive or outright disappear from China’s procurement.
Whether by design or coincidence, the US now has a very real wartime advantage against China.
It’s likely the US does not recognize this fully. They just wanted China OUT.
You probably just read an intelligence report that governments pay millions of dollars for to use in war gaming simulations.
“Amateurs talk tactics.
Professionals talk logistics.”
https://endtropy.substack.com/p/trumps-enormous-c-length-win-over
11. "Success often brings a hidden curse: Structural Density. You build a company, then a larger home, then a staff to manage the home, then a legal team to manage the staff. Before you realize it, you are no longer a creator; you are a high-end janitor for your own life. You have built a gilded cage where the cost of maintenance both financial and mental exceeds the joy of ownership. You are “rich,” but you are no longer sovereign.
The ultimate signal of power today is the Ghost Presence. No active social media, no public-facing email, no “About” page on a website. You exist only to those who have your direct number. While the middle class is busy building “personal brands” for strangers, the sovereign elite are busy deleting themselves from the public record. Anonymity is the new private jet."
https://substack.com/inbox/post/184149503
12. "Stop trying to optimize the trivial. You cannot build a sovereign life by managing a thousand tiny leaks. Find the one variable that defines your trajectory and ignore everything else. The gallery is only beautiful because of what the curator chose to leave out."
https://substack.com/@luxlifestylelab/p-182844265
13. "As ice recedes, there’s even talk of future trans polar routes straight over the North Pole—essentially new Panama Canals made of water. You can bet that Greenland—the nearest land for thousands of miles—would be strategically valuable for supporting or monitoring such routes. Every navy with Arctic ambitions would love a friendly port or refueling point in Greenland’s sheltered fjords.
And let’s not forget about natural resources. Beneath Greenland’s icy surface lies a treasure trove of minerals and energy—a fact not lost on world powers. Geological surveys indicate that Greenland is rich in rare earth metals, uranium, iron ore, zinc, lead, gemstones, and potentially oil and gas. In 2023, a survey found that Greenland has 25 out of the 34 minerals deemed critical by the EU for modern economies.
That’s huge, because many of these “critical minerals” (like rare earth elements, cobalt, and so on) are essential for things like smartphones, electric car batteries, wind turbines, missile systems—basically the high tech gadgets and green energy gear that power modern life. Right now, China dominates global supply chains for a lot of these materials. So, the U.S. and Europe eye Greenland’s untapped reserves as a golden opportunity to diversify supply. In fact, Greenland’s rare earth deposits are among the largest outside China, which is one reason the island has popped up on Washington’s radar (pun intended).
To sum up, today’s Greenland is a weird and potent mix of “old school” strategic geography and “new school” climate tech importance. It’s still that same crucial Arctic waypoint for defense and transit, just like in the 20th century. But it’s also gaining fresh relevance due to melting ice (new sea lanes) and the tech boom (need for rare minerals). Add in its enormous size (did I mention Greenland is three times the size of Texas?), and you have an enticing piece of real estate for any global power. Which brings us back to one global power in particular that made a very public play for Greenland not so long ago…"
https://gbnt1952.substack.com/p/the-strategic-value-of-greenland
14. Understanding American strategy & doctrine under Trump 2.0.
Unrestricted competition against everyone: hard knuckle policy and action (economic and kinetic) by America. Don't like it but here we are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2-eNucEYSg
15. K-shaped economy & living in a trustless society. Society is split between those who have everything to lose and those who have nothing to lose.
Scary time in America & UK (Canada & Europe are not in any great shape either).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnIv60_Y3jc
16. "We live in an era where building a multimillion-dollar company no longer requires massive teams, big offices, or investor funding.
The “one-person business” revolution has arrived driven by technology, automation, and global distribution.
From creators and consultants to software developers and digital product sellers, individuals are scaling businesses to millions in revenue without hiring a single full-time employee."
https://luxlifestylelab.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-one-person-businesses
17. "Let me be specific about what I think we should expect from elites. This is not a demand for sainthood. It’s a demand for something more than nothing.
Use your cognitive capacity for more than career advancement. Spend time understanding problems that matter. Don’t outsource your worldview to whatever your profession tells you. Think, actually think, about what’s broken and what might fix it.
Use your economic security to take risks. You have a safety net that most people don’t. Use it.
That might mean taking a lower-paying job with more impact. It might mean funding something uncertain. It might mean speaking up when speaking up has costs. The security is wasted if you never use it.
Use your social capital to open doors. You know people. You have access. Some of that access could be made available to people doing important work. Introductions, legitimacy, and connections are valuable and you’re hoarding them.
Use your institutional position to push for change. You’re somewhere in the system. Maybe you can’t change everything, but you can change something. The question to ask: “What’s the most important thing I can affect from where I sit?” Most people never ask this. They just do what’s expected.
Rethink the allocation of your time and energy. You probably work fifty or sixty hours a week. How much of that is genuinely necessary? How much is status maintenance, or hedonic treadmill, or just what you’ve always done? The reallocation doesn’t have to be dramatic. Even ten hours a week redirected to something that matters would, across millions of elites, transform what’s possible.
This doesn’t mean becoming an activist or a monk or a martyr.
It’s about the marginal question: given what you have and what you can do, are you doing enough?
And for most elites, the honest answer is no."
https://edankrolewicz.substack.com/p/buried-talents
18. This is excellent. A real debate on the future of America and China, India and Internet civilization. Insight dense conversation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_uIqjmbJg8&t=85s
19. You need to hire obsessed maniacs. Basically that is what startups require.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWFuck9NxVw
20. "The two new notable drivers of USD demand are 1) the building US mega-IPO pipeline for 2026, and 2) the LATAM investment / dollarisation boom. Both force dollar demand as much out of necessity as they do preference."
https://dollarwatchtower.substack.com/p/resurrecting-the-us-golden-age
21. I do think BTC is digital gold as a tech guy. But Giustra is pretty smart though.
"Now, I’m known as a gold guy. Guilty as charged. I started buying physical gold in 2001 when I realized the U.S. dollar was walking into an inescapable debt trap and was bound to lose value against gold. I’ve helped finance dozens of mining companies, and as I recount in my memoir *The Money Dilemma* (out later this year), my faith has paid off.
Is Bitcoin a similar store of value and hedge against failing fiat currencies? Maybe someday. Call me a cynic , but I have my own reasons to believe there is much risk in taking that chance as a store of my wealth, and I prefer to sleep at night. I would rather accumulate an asset that for the past decade has been quietly, and at times covertly, amassed by 120 of the world’s most powerful central banks and nations—an asset they mine, hold, and trade among themselves to sideline the dollar—than an asset being hyped by a cabal of billionaires and their media proxies.
Bitcoin is many things. It’s a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis. It’s a libertarian belief system wrapped in software, an ambitious attempt to create money that isn’t issued by the state. It’s an experiment to see whether code can substitute for governance. It’s a speculative asset fueled by a quasi-cultish belief.
Like gold, it’s rare, it’s mined, and it’s often hoarded. Have many investors made a fortune on Bitcoin? Absolutely. But is it digital gold? Not there yet, in my opinion."
https://frankgiustra.com/posts/is-bitcoin-really-digital-gold/
22. "Ohio’s leaders have parlayed this newfound gas bounty into cheap electricity production. According to EIA data, nearly 60% of the state’s electricity is generated from natural gas, a fuel that provides both baseload and dispatchable power. Coal and nuclear power supply about 80% of the remaining balance, while wind and solar combined contribute just under 8% of total generation. Of course, Ohio does not operate its grid in a vacuum, and local price dynamics are heavily influenced by the Pennsylvania–New Jersey–Maryland (PJM) regional transmission organization, of which it is a member.
Given this fact set, Ohio would seem an ideal place for large data centers to set up shop. Indeed, almost unique among US states, Ohio’s political leaders have created a regulatory framework that sets the stage for a massive boom in the construction of such facilities while working to protect consumers."
https://newsletter.doomberg.com/p/intelligent-design
23. "As AI models commoditize, the economics of running them (inference) matter more than the cost of building them (training). Hyperscalers like Google (TPU), Amazon (Trainium), and Microsoft (Maia) are all building internal chips to escape the “Nvidia Tax.” Groq was the only independent startup providing a “good enough” alternative for real-time workloads like voice AI, robotics, and autonomous systems. By neutralizing Groq, Nvidia has removed the escape hatch.
What This Means for the Inference Landscape.
The signal to the market is clear: Inference is where the long-term revenue lives. Training is a massive, one-time CapEx event; inference is the recurring, scaling OpEx that happens every time a user prompts a model.
By the end of 2026, everyone will be focused on inference economics. If you are going to place your investing bets, that’s the place to start."
https://investinginai.substack.com/p/the-inference-land-grab-begins
24. "Unfortunately, European states currently face a substantial capability gap in deep-strike weapons, including medium- to intermediate-range ballistic missile systems comparable to the Oreshnik. While these capabilities are gradually being developed and deployed, Europe is likely still several years away from fielding the types and quantities of missile systems required.
In addition, without the United States, Europe’s nuclear capabilities are limited in both quality and quantity and are insufficient to credibly address Russia’s large and diverse nuclear arsenal, including its pronounced advantage in non-strategic nuclear weapons. In a conflict with NATO, particularly one in which the United States was not involved, Russia would therefore retain significant coercive leverage in the nuclear domain.
Overall, Oreshnik poses a distinct challenge to European security. This challenge stems less from the missile’s technical characteristics, which remain overstated, than from the way it exposes and amplifies existing European capability gaps that require urgent attention."
https://missilematters.substack.com/p/oreshnik-is-overhyped-but-poses-a
25. "TL;DR:
The US is betting on intelligence. China is betting somewhere else!The US frequently frames its competition with China as an AI race, similar to the space race it ran with the USSR. The idea of a race was triggered around a year ago with the launch of DeepSeek. Ever since, much of the US media has been fascinated with the idea of the US winning the AI race against China.
Ironically, it isn’t much of a race if the US is the only one running it.
The American ‘AI race’ is framed around who will build the smartest models, as if superior intelligence alone decides the future.
China’s strategy reveals a different understanding of the game altogether.
It is not trying to win AI at all. It is betting that intelligence will become abundant, and that power will flow instead to whoever can reliably turn intelligence into economic value."
https://platforms.substack.com/p/us-vs-china-how-to-win-the-wrong
26. "Against this background, Greenland must be considered as a denied strategic space, not an ignored one. The Arctic reality in Cold War 2.0 is therefore neither hysteria nor denial: Greenland is not encircled, but the High North remains a real exposure, with the DragonBear risk vector becoming asymmetric, primarily Russian in military terms, and Chinese in shaping the long-term geo-economic environment."
https://substack.com/inbox/post/184203912
27. 1517 is an underrated vc firm, working with founders at the earliest moments and ages. Lots of observations on how to help and work with younger founders. True belief capital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7jIc-9N1ck
28. "When Salesforce throttles Slack’s API, they’re telegraphing where the value is. When Epic locks down patient records, they’re drawing a map. Incumbents don’t build walls around worthless assets. And they don’t build defenses unless they perceive credible & urgent challengers.
AI’s speed enables both startups & incumbents to own a stack end-to-end. That’s offense in an era of walls."
https://tomtunguz.com/defense-comes-to-software/
29. "In conclusion, there were three big geopolitical losses inflicted by Mr. Putin on Russia. Economic, political and ideological loss of relations with Europe; reduced national security due to the presence of NATO on Russia’s borders and willful disregard of national treasure; and finally, the creation of a Ukraine that, by its very construction, will remain an anti-Russia for a very long time. While the war was justified by arguing that it would improve Russia’s geopolitical situation it achieved the opposite."
https://branko2f7.substack.com/p/the-long-term-political-consequences
30. "2026 is when the AI story stops being about a fairytale of infinity and starts being about proof. Proof of economics. Proof of defensibility. Proof that scale compounds instead of hollowing out the core. Who will survive when the narrative meets reality?"
https://snailmail.slow.co/p/the-only-ai-questions-that-matter-for-2026
31. Nuff said: Palmer Luckey of Anduril! Always a fun and interesting interview with him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHLiA76hVps
32. "The use of an Oreshnik missile in Lviv makes strategic sense to Putin. Their use is the sign of a fearful, worried leader and not one that is confident and anticipating victory."
https://mickryan.substack.com/p/the-russian-oreshnik-strike-on-lviv
33. "It is easy to fall for the average trap and start designing your life according to it. Average people are everywhere around you. They are your colleagues. Your friend. and the people you pass on the street. Does that mean they are bad people? No. Does that mean you should be like them? Absolutely not.
Ask yourself whether you want to live the life they are living. The answer will tell you everything.
Most average traits are ownership issues. Once you take control of your actions, emotions, and thoughts. It will all click.
Three months is all you need to get rid of a pattern or behavior you want to change."
https://www.beautyofsaas.com/p/traits-of-the-average-people
34. "Copper has emerged as a foundational metal of the 21st century, uniquely critical to the electrified economy underpinning artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), grid expansion, and defense systems. As global electrification accelerates, demand for copper is projected to rise sharply — yet supply is not keeping pace, creating a widening gap that could constrain economic growth, technological advancement, and global infrastructure development.
S&P Global recently published a report titled “Copper in the Age of AI: Challenges of Electrification”. The S&P Global report frames copper not just as another industrial commodity but as the “connective artery” of modern infrastructure — essential wherever electricity flows, wires are deployed, or advanced digital systems are installed. It highlights how AI’s energy and hardware needs intensify demand on an already stressed supply chain.
When you think of copper as the connective artery of all modern infrastructure, you quickly come to understand the strategic importance of the red metal and why the price has to move higher over the coming years."
https://robertsinn.substack.com/p/the-essential-role-of-copper-and
35. "We are talking about fifty people, maybe even fewer. That’s because there’s so much overlap. The CEO of Google alone is a key decision maker for search, apps, videos, music, podcasts, and much more. The same is true of Amazon, Apple, and Meta. They have their fingers in every pie, and an insatiable appetite for more.
The story gets even worse. If you look at the background of these fifty people, you find that most of them lack experience or credibility in arts and culture. They are technocrats or administrators. There’s no evidence that they love music or books or paintings—or anything except their share price and pay checks.
But they get to decide almost everything in the culture sphere. And they’re incentivized to make decisions out of financial self-interest, totally divorced from aesthetic concerns.
2026 will be a struggle. The legacy institutions and tech platforms are consolidating, and this gives them more power. It’s reassuring to see how poorly they exercise that power—churning out reboots and retreads. (If they were smarter, the culture would suffer even more.) Their mistakes offer an opportunity for the outsider.
And the next new thing always comes from the outside. The culture stagnates without fresh infusions from the fringe.
This year we need to keep that fringe alive. We need to help it on the indie platforms and the indie labels and the indie cinemas and indie galleries and indie media outlets.
But that requires action from us, both as creators and members of an informed audience—those fifty culture elites in positions of power couldn’t care less. They’re too busy looking at the share price.
This is the defining tension in the culture ecosystem. On one side, we have consolidation of power among a tiny number of elite insiders. On the other, we hear clamoring outsiders with their alternative voices and independent perspectives."
https://www.honest-broker.com/p/fifty-people-control-the-culture
36. Some Alt-Geopolitics. Lots of this stuff is wacky and conspiracy theorist. But listen to everyone to try to understand all the crazy that is going on in the world.