This book is an old classic by Darell Huff. He went out of his way in the 1950s to explain how cognitive biases and statistical manipulation are used in research, media, and business opportunities.
Every founder and investor should read this book, mostly because it brings to life some of the most basic forms of statistical and emotional manipulation one might try to present to you during a pitch.
As investors and founders, we get paid to have an opinion about the future and to be right ahead of others. As you build your self-fulfilling prophecy, make sure that you are aware of others trying to manipulate information to convince you of their agenda.
My favorite excerpt:
Possibly more important to keep in mind is that the distortion of statistical data and its manipulation to an end are not always the work of professional statisticians. What comes full of virtue from the statistician's desk may find itself twisted, exaggerated, oversimplified, and distorted through selection by salesman, public relations experts, journalists, or advertising copywriters.
But whoever the guilty party may be in any instance, it is hard to grant him the status of blundering innocent. False charts in magazines and newspapers frequently sensationalize by exaggeration, rarely minimize anything.
As we approach significant milestones at Atman, it is time to have an office again. We are all going to adapt to a hybrid way of doing things.
In this episode I talk to Lucas Olmedo, founder and CEO of Fligoo. You can listen to it on Spotify and other podcast apps.
As Stoics, our motto is to "Live According to Nature". Seneca talks about this in a lovely manner on Letter from a Stoic.
