| | | | | |  Liam Eisenberg | | IN THIS ISSUE | The keys to finding top talent | How to best utilize a mentor | How crypto will change elections | | | | Good morning. The news has been so awful recently I was looking for something, anything remotely hopeful to share in this Sunday note. I came across one curious item that fit the bill: Massachusetts lawmakers formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr. 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft during the peak of the Salem Witch Trials in 1693. She's the final accused "witch" who hadn't been already officially pardoned. That's great, but the story of how Elizabeth was exonerated is even more fascinating. Turns out, eighth graders at North Andover Middle School took an interest in her case during a civic engagement project they were assigned to. According to their history teacher, Carrie LaPierre, the students spent nearly a year investigating Elizabeth's testimony, writing letters to legislators pushing for her pardon, and even crafting the bill that exonerated her. For why it's so resonant, I can't put it better than LaPierre, who told NPR that the legislation will give students an "understanding of how important it is to stand up for people who cannot advocate for themselves and how strong of a voice they actually have." —Neal Freyman | | | | | | | | | Dianna "Mick" McDougall, Photos: St. Martin's Press Identifying top talent is a notoriously tricky business. Some, like SNL's Lorne Michaels, seem to have a knack for it. Most people don't. To help us become better talent spotters in a world where spotting talent is increasingly important, economist Tyler Cowen and venture capitalist and entrepreneur Daniel Gross wrote a book on the art and science of finding talent at the highest level. We interviewed them about interviewing. TikTok rolled out a feature that allows you to make video resumes. Do you think multimedia features like these are a fad or the future of job applications? And who would benefit the most from this? We have found video evidence to be extremely useful for judging a person's energy level and also sometimes degree of commitment. We hope that video resumes are here to stay. That said, they are best and most useful for jobs requiring high-energy levels. For many ordinary jobs, you are looking for more conscientiousness, and the charisma of a video could be distracting rather than useful. Who is the most successful person that is the worst assessor of talent, and how did they overcome that? Many highly successful individuals are terrible at talent assessment. Just look at The Beatles. At first they made wonderful moves bringing Brian Epstein (manager) and George Martin (producer) on board. Then they hired Allen Klein, which led to great discord within the group and damaged their financial affairs. They started a record label, Apple, mostly signing mediocre talents. Their subsequent career choices, after The Beatles split, were not based on stellar advice and critical feedback. What's a common interview question that's overrated? "What was a mistake you made in your last job?" That question is OK, but it is greatly overused. These days everyone comes prepared with a set answer to it, and you will find versions of it in every book about how to prepare for interviews. Really you are just testing for whether the person did any prep at all (which is OK, but it doesn't tell you much). The interviewee has to admit they did something wrong to appear self-reflective and capable of improvement, but rarely are the worst gaffes presented. At the end of the day, you just don't learn that much from this one. What are people's primary biases while conducting interviews and what can we do to combat them? Too many interviewers treat talent search as a repetitive bureaucratic exercise. They go through the checklist of questions and fail to truly engage with the candidate. It is a mutually boring process that leads to a slight but persistent sense of alienation on both sides. Instead, they should be trying to get the candidates into the conversational mode, to gauge their enthusiasm and command over detail rather than just their advance prep. There are also biases when men interview women, at least on average. Men tend to underestimate how smart the very smartest women are. Men also assign too much weight to whether they found the woman "pleasant," and thus they undervalue talented women who don't have quite the personalities the men might be looking for. More generally, many interviewers are trying too hard to look for people who are a lot like them. This interview has been condensed. | | | | | | | Each week, our workplace whisperer Shane Loughnane answers a reader-submitted question about problems at work. Anything nagging at you? Ask Shane here. My company is starting a mentorship program where the mentee is supposed to take the initiative. I've never had a mentor before, so I don't really know how to work with one, especially since we are expected to be in the driver's seat. Any advice on how to best utilize a mentor?—J. from Dallas In the ancient Greek version of this column, I answered a similar question (albeit on wax tablet) from a reader named Telemachus. You see, his dad, Odysseus, was going off to fight in the Trojan War and so he was to be left in the care of his father's trusted friend. That friend? Well, his name was Mentor, and believe it or not, Homer's use of the character in this epic poem is widely cited as the origin of the mentoring concept. The key to figuring out how to utilize a mentor starts with understanding a mentor's purpose. And while they can serve you in many ways, the mentor is principally there to help you hone your problem-solving skills, offer you feedback, and push you along toward your goals. So let's flip that around. In order to best utilize your mentor, you'll want to 1) make sure they know what problems you're running into 2) have some level of visibility into your work and 3) have insight into your short- and long-term goals. I've had a number of colleagues who I would describe as mentors over my professional journey. Most were not officially assigned and, sadly, none were actually named Mentor. I point this out to say that you should always be on the lookout for people worth learning from, many of whom will not be designated for you in any kind of formal capacity. In fact, one of the ways I would look to utilize this mentor is to gain access to the people that they know. Asking questions like "Who can I talk to about X?" might just lead to finding other potential mentors. The more you can broaden your network, the better off you'll be now and down the road. From Socrates and Plato to Yoda and Luke, history (and film) is brimming with examples of highly effective mentoring relationships. Here's hoping that yours will be the next. | | | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Sam Bankman-Fried, the ultrawealthy founder of crypto exchange FTX, has said he wants to give away all $20+ billion of his wealth except for just 1%. We're learning now how much of that money is headed for political commercials. It's a lot. On a podcast this week, Bankman-Fried (nicknamed SBF) said that he expects to give at least $100 million in political donations for the upcoming 2024 election, and could spend up to $1 billion if Donald Trump were a factor. That would put SBF in the major leagues of political donors, if not crown him the GOAT. - The most that's ever been spent on an election cycle (that we know of) is $218 million by Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson and his wife in 2020.
- George Soros is funneling $125 million into Democratic causes and candidates for the upcoming midterm elections.
- Democratic billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer have spent between $75 million–$150 million in the previous three elections.
So how is SBF spending his money? Sam and his brother/philanthropic partner, Gabe, are proponents of "effective altruism," a philosophy that recommends using scientific reasoning to do the greatest possible good for the greatest number of people. Right now, the brothers are focused on funding lawmakers who will help stop the next pandemic from happening. During this election cycle, they already spent more than $12 million backing an underdog congressional candidate in Oregon who has been researching pandemic prevention through the lens of effective altruism. (It didn't go well—he got walloped in the primary.) Some think that SBF has other motives with his political giving. Is it simply a coincidence that an executive of a company in an unregulated industry is spending huge sums on elections? Critics say no—and they accuse SBF of using these donations to secure friendlier treatment for FTX when those regulations do come down the pipe. Big picture: Should the crypto industry continue to grow and mint new moguls, crypto wealth will shape the US political landscape for years to come. After all, SBF is just one of several crypto moguls who have stepped up their political giving recently, including Fred Ehrsam (co-founder of crypto investment firm Paradigm), Tyler Winklevoss (co-founder of the Gemini crypto exchange), and FTX's co-CEO Ryan Salame.—NF | | | | | | We're a third of the way through 2022. Have you checked on your investments yet? Stabilizing your portfolio could be a sound idea in these ~uncertain~ times. Find out if real estate investing should be your next money move in this article we created with our friends at Fundrise. | | | | Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that thinks Prospect Park > Central Park. We'll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.  ZillowToday's listing is a beautifully updated 4,838 square-foot home in Brooklyn two blocks from Prospect Park. The only catch is that it was built in 1950 and the lower level was originally used as a doctor's office, so the vibes in the former exam rooms are most definitely bad. Other amenities include: - 4 beds, 5 baths
- Wood-paneled office with built-ins and pocket doors
- Two-car garage with a private driveway
- Bathrooms tiled for whatever mood you're in
How much to risk running into an old-timey doctor ghost in exchange for a real yard? | | | - The billion-dollar all-star cheerleading industry is beginning to see glimmers of a more open market. (Sportico)
- Nothing could slow inDriver's rise from Siberian startup to global Uber competitor. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. (Rest of World)
- A lovely oddity: the European Tramdriver Championship. (TRAM-EM)
- Coffee bad, red wine good? Top food myths busted. (The Guardian)
- The YIMBYest city in America. (Discourse)
- Akin's laws of spacecraft design. (Dave Akin)
- Man on wire. (AFP)
- The US has spent more than $2 billion on a plan to save salmon. The fish are vanishing anyway. (ProPublica)
- Training a CEO to be human. (Morning Brew)
- The legacy of Gone Girl. (Esquire)
Are you a leader or just the boss? The Morning Brew Leadership Accelerator teaches you the tactics of modern leadership that you need to succeed, including hiring, delegating, strategy, and execution. Apply now to get started. | | | Welcome back to Morning Brew's Meme Competition, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday. Today's winner: Brady in Salt Lake City, UT  This week's challenge: It's another meme free-for-all. Head to this site, select any meme template that's calling your name, write your joke, then submit it at this link for consideration. This is going to be chaos in the best way. | | | | |  | Written by Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt, Max Knoblauch, and Jamie Wilde Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - Emerging Tech Brew: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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