🤣 Issue #21: You're Missing An Important KPI
A reminder of why humor is a secret weapon in business & life and how to wield it professionally
💬 Welcome to issue #21 of Between the Lines
I think it goes without saying, that these two years have been an incredibly challenging, tragic, different, and (insert myriad of other adjectives) year for most. Hopefully, this issue spreads some positivity, though, and helps remind us that laughter and humor are still powerful weapons in all aspects of life! Dig into the next book on your reading list, some fresh Claremonster features, and some interesting articles, tweets, and job postings coming out of the community.
I should also mention that we here at Between the Lines take humor incredibly seriously. I mean, have you seen Miles’ mustache? ;)
~ Josh (& Miles)
📢 👥 Community Voices: Humor, Seriously is Seriously Good.
Author: Rachel Alaynick
Naomi Bagdonas (CMC) is a Claremont and Stanford graduate. She is a bestselling author, innovation strategist, media coach, and Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A few years ago, she teamed up with Jennifer Aaker, and together they wrote Humor, Seriously. If you haven’t read it, let Rachel convince you.
This piece and book review was authored by Rachel Alaynick, a CMC graduate, media specialist, and a serious lover of laughter and all things humor. After spending time at Accenture as an analyst and the govtech startup, GovPredict, Rachel has joined Bliss Point Media as a media specialist. She wanted to shed some light on some of the important takeaways from Naomi’s book as well as some of her own experiences with the power of humor. Give it a read, seriously.
Two CEOs walk into a bar, one who’s read Naomi Bagdonas’ and Jennifer Aaker’s book Humor, Seriously and one who’s not.
Only one had to make the company happy hour mandatory.
Naomi Bagdonas (CMC) and Jennifer Aaker take on the arduous mission of identifying how humor in business impacts a company and its employees, why that impact occurs, and outlining tangible ways to wield humor as a tool in your professional life. This is not an instruction manual for becoming the next John Mulaney or Iliza Shlesinger. This is, however, a thoughtful look at why the very human experience of humor cannot get lost in the rise of automation and remote work. There is a missing KPI on the dashboard of a company’s success, and it’s no laughing matter.
The book is, first and foremost, engaging and enjoyable to read. In fact, it might be the only piece of writing to reference Ratatouille before the end of its first page, which foreshadows just how interesting and quippy the analogies, examples, and explanations are.
Some may argue that humor doesn’t have a place in difficult conversations, and not only are those people wrong, but they’re also probably having awful conversations. Bagdonas and Aaker also illustrate how important levity is during difficult moments, like when you’ve made a mistake.
Humor, Seriously is seriously good and pertinent, and as with any book, you need to meet it halfway. Find the courage to take its advice. If a cartoon rat can cook the finest food in Paris, any of us can learn to tell a joke.
Read the full article to hear more insights from the book and how you can start taking the importance of laughter and humor to heart in our remote, pandemic world! 👇
Want more? Join the Humor Seriously Bootcamp, a coaching experience delivered to your phone. Over the course of 21 days, in less than 10 min/day, you’ll practice honing your humor style and putting it to work. Use the code CC15 to get a special Between the Lines discount as well.
🚨Claremonster Call-Out: Jeff Wu
After spending time at Epic, Atlassian, and Splunk, Jeff Wu (CMC) is over a year into his DeFi startup - Notional. Notional is a decentralized protocol for fixed-rate, fixed-term lending and borrowing of crypto assets on Ethereum. Users can lend or borrow stablecoins at fixed rates of interest for terms of up to six months using a variety of assets as collateral. A few weeks ago, Notional had the week’s highest TVL Growth on the CryptoRank Platform. They also recently launched Notional V2, which is now live and bringing the $100 Trillion fixed income market to DeFi.
💼 Who’s Hiring?:
Roble Ventures is a seed/post-seed venture firm that enables equitable human progress by investment in Human Enablement Technologies. Roble is founded by Sergio Monsalve, a successful investor and entrepreneur who has operated global tech businesses in Silicon Valley and invested in unicorns like Kahoot!, Udemy, and Adaptive Insights during his decade-long career as a Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. He currently serves on Harvey Mudd's Board of Trustees, and he is hiring a part-time, remote analyst from the Claremont Colleges who can provide data-driven support to the firm. This is a paid position with an expectation of a 10-15 hour commitment per week. Interested candidates should email Sergio directly here with their CV and 3-5 sentences outlining their background and experience with data, low-code solutions, and/or Airtable or similar tools.
Chris Temple (CMC) is the Co-founder and Director at Optimist. Founded over two years ago, Optimist is a team of independent filmmakers who create character-driven documentaries. Their films explore complex issues through real, human stories for viewers who want a new perspective! Chris and co. are looking for a full-time Director of Development who ideally has 7-10 years of experience in development and/or fundraising role:
Recently, Steven Willinger (CMC) has joined the Ventures team at Coinbase. Steven and the rest of the team are looking for investment associate(s) to join the Coinbase Ventures team who are demonstrably passionate about crypto and have direct experience in the space!
Check out all the other 5,000+ open jobs at 400+ Claremont-affiliated companies here on our Storyboard!
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Check out the 30+ part-time roles
Over 750 remote jobs are available
180+ internships available at companies like Cruise, Cisco, & Samba TV
As always, if any of these roles catch your eye 👀 , apply and mention Between the Lines! Or if you are an employer and are looking to hire tip-top Claremont talent, fill out this form to have your jobs featured!
🗣️ Conversations on the Interwebz:
This week’s top read 🔥
Lanzatech and CEO Jennifer Holmgren (HMC) are turning our global carbon crisis into a feedstock opportunity. Check out this Forbes article on how they are rethinking the industrial business model as well
Everything else you need to know….📖
Yohei Nakajima, Claremont founder and investor, helping us enter the season of thankfulness!
Harvey Mudd investor, Ho Nam, sharing his cautionary advice.
Can’t get enough Between the Lines? Follow and connect with us on Twitter!
🍽️ BTL Snacks:
💸 Reimaging money for everyday people….. Listen in to Erikan Obotetukudo (CMC) unpack the making of her new crypto VC firm - Audacity
🏘️ A big splash in luxury design and real estate….. Founder and CEO of Vesta, Julian Buckner (CMC), talks about the tech aspects of design, real estate, and the post-pandemic real estate boom
🎉 Congrats to Ari Wes and Ostiio….. Ari Wes (CMC) and Ostiio are improving the lives of children with craniofacial differences and winning awards along the way
🌊 The Next Wave of B2B Go-To-Market Investment….. 3x Founder, Adam Schoenfeld (CMC), weighs in on his thoughts about Product Marketing and Marketing Operations
Feedback? We love to hear it. Hit us with an email. 👊🏼