I love celebrating my authors’ work! Two recent projects I’m particularly proud of:
1. Jennifer Brandel and Mara Zepeda are back with a galvanizing essay on startup culture—the ways in which the current model of financing startups and measuring their success is broken, and their vision for how to fix it.
“Developing alternative business models to the startup status quo has become a central moral challenge of our time,” they argue, citing “unicorn” companies’ penchant for disruption over cultivation.
“When VC firms prize time on site over truth, a lucky few may profit, but civil society suffers. When shareholder return trumps collective well-being, democracy itself is threatened.”
Their alternative to the unicorn? The zebra—a strong dose of reality to combat the magical thinking that too often rules Silicon Valley. (Go, read, it’ll all make sense.)
2. Steve Wiley has received a bunch of great reviews for his self-published debut novel, The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan.
IndieReader: “A deeply imaginative and wondrous fairytale for adults who are still young at heart.”
Publishers Weekly: “The talented author takes admirable risks with this enchanting tale of magic, self-exploration, and growing up by remembering one’s youth.”
And there are more. Plus, Steve is donating half the book's proceeds to Chicago Public Schools. Gold star for him.