Welcome to The Nightcrawler, a weekly collection of thought-provoking articles and analysis on technology, innovation, and long-term investing. The Nightcrawler is published every Friday evening by Eric Markowitz, Managing Partner of Nightview Capital and the firm’s Director of Research. Follow him on X.
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In this evening’s email…
Quote of the week: “He who plants a tree plants hope.” — Lucy Larcom
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“Culture lasts. Business is just a tactic.”
I recently had the joy of interviewing one of my favorite modern business minds (and creative philosophers): Seth Godin.
In our Q&A for The Long Game at Big Think, Seth took a lightsaber to short-term thinking and made the case for a more resilient, long-term approach to work, life, and investing. Inspired by sci-fi legends like Asimov and Bradbury, he reminds us that success is not rooted in chasing growth or metrics—it’s about building cultures and belief systems that actually stick and compound.
We covered everything from false proxies to daily habits to why business is just a tactic—and how culture, he says, is what truly endures.
- Key quote: “But here’s what I’ve learned from science fiction, from working with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury: Culture lasts. Business is just a tactic. If you want something to last, you don’t just create a company— you create a community of people who want it to last. Look at the things that have stuck around for hundreds or thousands of years — many of them have a belief system at their core. Religion lasts. Traditions last. And if you’re willing to let go of the business but hold onto the belief system, you’ll create something that endures. That’s why, for example, I let go of the altMBA. It was one of the foundational pieces of online learning. But I let it go, and it’s been imitated in all sorts of ways. That’s thrilling to me — because I don’t have to run it anymore, but the idea persists. So if you think about longevity in terms of abundance instead of scarcity, the number of meaningful things you can build is extraordinary.”
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Betting on atoms over apps
A new essay from Atomic Industries’ founder Aaron Slodov makes the case for a bold shift: from software to manufacturing.
In his view, America didn’t lose its factories—it gave them away. Financial engineering, cheap labor, and regulatory arbitrage hollowed out our industrial base.
Now, with rising geopolitical risks and fragile supply chains, that trade looks increasingly reckless. He argues it’s time for venture capital to step up. Not with another food delivery app—but with real investment in factories, robotics, automation, and the infrastructure of the physical world.
This is the key point: Manufacturing doesn’t have to be low-margin anymore. Done right, it’s high-tech, defensible, and massively scalable. The next great startups won’t just ship code—they’ll ship product.
- Key quote: “In all the infinite wisdom of experts and politicians trying to do the right thing, they may have to chalk up another loss re: globalization. Time will tell, but it seems to be ending in the complete opposite way they predicted. Bringing together the world in a tighter economy—trading, interdependence—seems to have created tension rather than harmony. Why? Because human nature can’t help itself, and nations who gain power want to exert it. Living in a Star Trek utopia sounds great, but it’s currently not an option. Maybe one day we’ll evolve beyond our nature; for now, there are problems to solve.”
A few more links I enjoyed:
Stellar: A World Beyond Limits and How To Get There – via Tony Seba and James Arbib
- Key quote: “Join us in an enlightening conversation with visionaries Jamie Arbib and Tony Seba, as they discuss their groundbreaking book, ‘Stellar: A World Beyond Limits and How to Get There.’ This episode delves into the transformative potential of stellar technologies, a new economic paradigm beyond the extractive systems that have defined human civilization for over 10,000 years. Discover how solar energy, artificial intelligence, and robotics could drive humanity towards a sustainable and equitable future. Key points discussed include the disruptive nature of stellar technologies, the societal metamorphosis needed, and actionable steps for individuals and governments to embrace this new paradigm.
Quality, Trust, and Patience: Alex Morris on Buffett and Munger Unscripted – via Talking Billions
- Key quote: “If you come here just for the money, you might not stick around long enough to see the results of what this pursuit can do for you, both intellectually and the people you get to meet and things you can learn.”
A dozen reasons to read Peter Leyden at this critical juncture in history – via Freethink
- Key quote: “The closest analogy in recent history is what happened during the digital revolution and the opening up of the internet in the 1990s — that’s what is captured in the image just above. The internet was a general-purpose technology with the potential to transform all kinds of industries and fields as the technology was perfected and adoption scaled up throughout America and the world. You can think of the ascending line in the above graphic as the adoption curve of the internet and digital technologies. The descending line represents the old media world of newspapers and television, among other industries that floundered and were superseded during this era.”
From the archives:
The next big thing will start out looking like a toy – via Chris Dixon (2010)
- Key quote: “The reason big new things sneak by incumbents is that the next big thing always starts out being dismissed as a “toy.” This is one of the main insights of Clay Christensen’s “disruptive technology” theory. This theory starts with the observation that technologies tend to get better at a faster rate than users’ needs increase. From this simple insight follows all kinds of interesting conclusions about how markets and products change over time.”
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