What You Need to Know Today: February 4

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

Uber’s cringe-worthy rebranding process. On Tuesday, Uber rebranded. Check your phone app, I’ll wait… What was wrong with the old brand logo, you ask? Nothing. But, according to Wired, “This is a problem [Travis Kalanick] has been working through for more than two-and-a-half years.” Two years. Seriously!? It gets better, “Kalanick is not a designer. He’s an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by nature. Yet he refused to entrust the rebranding to anyone else,” says Wired. By now I hope you’re thinking, ‘C’mon, how involved was Kalanick really in the rebranding process?’ The answer: too involved. “At least once a week [the design team] would invite Kalanick to the war room for jam sessions that could last up to four hours.” Most C-level executives I know would cringe hearing that number. Four minutes is too long. But are there any times when branding does matter? Here’s your answer.

Are you hacker bait? Unless you already read this article, the answer is yes. Save this one-hour drill for a lazy Sunday.

How Facebook celebrates its birthday. Facebook turns 12 today. HBD, Facebook! Forget the cake, presents, and bowling, Facebook wants to make today about you. Mark Zuckerberg announced that today is officially “Friends Day.” 

CAREER

The Art of the Deal revised. In 1987, Donald Trump published The Art of the Deal. Part memoir, part business advice, the book reached #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. If you haven’t read it, I recommend you do. The book reads like Trump talks and offers an interesting look into his day-to-day. In 1981, Trump’s daughter Ivanka was born. Ivanka now works in the family business, manages Trump’s presidential campaign, and is the CEO of her own lifestyle brand. So it should come as no surprise that Ivanka has picked up a trick or two about making deals and negotiating from being around her father. In fact, Ivanka says she has 9 negotiation rules she follows.

How did this employee NOT get fired? Here’s an email that Jim, a client adviser at Bridgewater, one of the richest hedge funds in the world, sent to Ray Dalio Bridgewater’s founder after a meeting with an important potential client:

Ray — you deserve a “D‑” for your performance today . . . you rambled for 50 minutes . . . It was obvious to all of us that you did not prepare at all because there is no way you could have and been that disorganized at the outset if you had prepared. We told you this prospect has been identified as a “must-win”. . . today was really bad . . . we can’t let this happen again. 

“At a typical company, sending an email that critical of a boss would be career suicide. But instead of reacting defensively, Dalio said this.” (Business Insider)

+ This guy should actually get fired — LOL.

LIFESTYLE

Toys in the bedroom. “There was a time when the idea of bringing gadgets and gizmos into the bedroom might get you excited. But our generation has ruined all that, says Dave Pell. “These days, the only toys we’re bringing into the bedroom are intended to help us get better sleep. Do they work?” The New Yorker investigates.

+ Dave Pell says: This is another classic case of trying to use technology to solve a problem that technology helped create. The Answer is a Click Away.

Kids [adults] need to learn philosophy now more than ever. “When people hear the word “philosophy” they might think first of something like a set of guiding principles or a general worldview. The New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick may have a coaching philosophy, for instance, while someone like the rapper Drake encourages us to have a YOLO attitude toward life. But academic philosophy is that discipline of the humanities concerned with clarifying and analyzing concepts and arguments relating to the big questions of life.” says The Washington Post.

#NOWYOUKNOW

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