The Swiss Army Knives

Have you ever met someone so talented that you thought they could do nearly anything? These people are truly the Swiss army knives of the labor market — they’re good at many things, but only do one or two of them. You probably know of enough examples of this that it hardly seems surprising: the 3-sport athlete from high school, the bookworm who could play the piano blindfolded, the serial entrepreneur.

Though it may not be surprising that these people usually wind up sticking to just one of their talents, it should be surprising. Consider that successful people tend to…

Revolutionary progress is happening right before our eyes, even if it’s not at the forefront of the news cycle. From Big Tech to Big Pharma, popular culture and mass media would have us believe that technology is more likely to be our demise than our savior. Concerns about how technology’s impact on our daily lives are valid, but advancements in technology are enabling a lot more than increased ad engagement on your Facebook feed. Here are some of the breakthrough technologies to watch when you feel like restoring your faith in humanity.

1. Precision Medicine: Bioinformatics and Genomics

With each passing day, the human genome becomes…

The Decentralized Prediction Market

On July 28th, 2020, Augur v2 will launch as one of only a few mainstream, decentralized prediction markets. What does that mean? Augur users can bet currency on real world events, and anyone, anywhere is financially incentivized to report their accurate outcome. Here is how that works:

1. A user submits a “market” to be bet on. That could be nearly anything, like whether it will rain in Amsterdam on November 28th. In this case, there are 3 possible outcomes: yes, no, or invalid

• yes = it rained in Amsterdam on November 28
• no = it did not rain in…

The Problem

You’re a sharp young professional on your way to interview for a job at InfoTech GigaSystems corp, the hot new startup in town. You’re almost there when suddenly, a grumpy troll appears in your way, blocking the only bridge with access to your destination.

It’s me, and I’ve got a twinkle in my eye as I offer you access to my bridge, but only if you solve the following riddle:

Ansel, Brooklyn, Cathy, Diego, and Ethan are all perfectly rational, equally intelligent friends. One day, they’re out fishing and they catch a briefcase stuffed with 1000 ordinary $1 bills.

Inside…

(This is the solution to an interview puzzle problem. Go here if you’d like to see some helpful hints and examples first.)

Final tally:

After taking a moment to think, you’re certain you have the correct solution.

• Ansel (votes yes): $998
• Brooklyn (votes no): $0
• Cathy: (votes yes): $1
• Diego: (votes no): $0
• Ethan: (votes yes): $1

Explanation

I accept your answer begrudgingly, but insist upon an explanation. You reply:

Ansel must earn 3 out of 5 possible votes, but can only do so by offering a better plan than Brooklyn will. …

(These are examples to help break down an interview problem. When you’re ready, you can move on to the solution)

For these examples, you can pretend that everyone behaves a certain way. The key is to relax one of the constraints of the riddle, and play out what would happen.

In the first two examples, we pretend everyone has the same reasoning, but that reasoning is less than rational. In the final example, we pretend there are fewer people. Each example will get you closer to the final answer without actually revealing it.

Greedy Example

Suppose everyone is irrationally greedy. Pretend everyone…

Have you heard of TikTok, the latest trend in social media? Of course you have — it’s bigger than Catholicism and spreading faster than COVID-19. Expert analysts cite TikTok’s recommender systems, content-oriented interface, and aggressive growth strategies as key factors in the platform’s success. I think they’re right, but what leaves so many non-adopters saying “I just don’t get it”?

The First Law of Social Media

A major social network will go viral roughly every 2 years, as new users seek a medium away from their parents, teachers, and older counterparts. See the timeline below*:

08/2008 — Facebook reaches 100 million users

03/2011 — Twitter reaches…

Introduction

You’re in Las Vegas for a business convention when you’re approached by a funny-looking guy on the street.

It’s me, and I’m holding an ordinary, 6-sided die. I propose a game, as follows:

You roll the die, and either:

1. Receive the amount shown on the die in dollars, or
2. Roll the die again, and forfeit this roll

You can roll the die at most 3 times, and you only get to keep your last roll. If you re-roll, you forfeit the previous roll.

Here are 2 examples:

1. You roll a 4, re-roll a 5, and take the $5.
2. You roll…