Miscellaneous September 2025
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Henri
@Henri
About Me
I've always loved the feeling of opening the mailbox and finding the latest issue of a magazine you've subscribed to for years. Growing up, my favorites were ESPN The Magazine and Architectural Digest. These days, we're constantly sharing videos, photos, and opinions - so why not our own magazines? Qorrum is a platform where anyone can create and share their own monthly magazine, and explore ones made by others. Mine will usually center on cumulative knowledge, major tech developments, and general learnings - though each issue will take a slightly different shape!
Magazines
18 posts
Posts by Henri
“It seems a common experience in the lives of people with high agency is that they, at some point, metaphorically, lean against a wall and discover that there is a hidden door. they get into the habit of testing if walls are actually doors, and the more they do so, the more examples of hidden doors they find, and the more inclined they are to look for them.” (Henrik Karlsson)
A few tech highlights from September 2025 on AI, self-driving cars, and next generation interfaces
AI happenings
- ChatGPT launches a new interaction paradigm: "Every morning, you get a custom-generated set of stuff you might be interested in"
- ChatGPT launches the ability to make purchases within the app
- Google's ChatGPT competitor ‘Gemini’ rises in popularity to number 1 on the App Store
This month I noticed a number of posts/newsletters/articles on China, in particular on how China was innovating technically to an extent not fully appreciated (or always matched) in the US. Below are a few snapshots from what I came across this month.
Violin Covers
People often ask me “Henri, you play the violin, what are your favorite violin covers of pop songs?” (no one has ever said this to me ever…).
Here are 3 of my favorites - some familiar yet different takes on some of your favorite songs!
Where the profits come from (not always the core product sold)
- Restaurants -> Alcohol distributors
- Gas Stations -> Convenience stores
- Insurance Companies -> Float
- Movie Theaters -> Popcorn & Soda (conc.)
- Disney -> Cruise Ships & Theme parks
- Costco -> Membership/subscription club
- Airlines -> Credit Cards
- McDonald’s -> Landlords
- Auto Dealers -> Lenders & Servicers
- E-commerce Sites -> Advertising networks
America’s Phenomenal Geography
Jamie Dimon once said: “America has the best hand ever dealt of any country on this planet today ever, okay. And Americans don’t fully appreciate what I’m about to say. We have peaceful, wonderful neighbors in Canada and Mexico. We’ve got the biggest military barriers ever built, called the Atlantic and the Pacific. We have all the food, water and energy we will ever need.”
Michael Gridley posted a great Twitter thread expanding on the tremendous geographic hand the US has been dealt a few takeaways below:
From 16,000 to 32
At any given time there are 16,000 high school quarterbacks, 32 starting QBs in the NFL (~12 very good ones, ~4 great ones).
"American Kings", a new book by Seth Wickersham, explores the question of what these 32 have in common that the other 15,968 don't.
A few takeaways below - what I found most interesting was that once a minimum athletic baseline is reached, greater intangibles (work ethic, resilience, adaptability, etc.) were more valuable than greater athleticism.
Athleticism - Baseline minimum bar for:
- Height: 6’ to 6’5”
- Hand size: 9+ inches
- Weight: 190-230 lbs
- Arm strength: 50mph+ top ball speed
- Throwing range: 50+ yards
- Accuracy: 60%+ in HS and College
- Quick release: under half a second
- Baseline Lateral Quickness
The Invisible:
- The measurable (arm strength, speed, pedigree, flash you can see) is overvalued; the invisible is undervalued (endurance, intelligence, adaptability, self awareness, confidence)
- Beyond baseline athleticism, the invisible intangibles had the biggest impact on quarterback success.
The Environment:
- Coaching quality (think 2 of the great QBs in Tom Brady & Patrick Maholmes getting coached by 2 of the greatest coaches in Bill Belichek & Andy Reid)
- Coaching stability (system stability allows cognitive mastery and confidence)
- Talent (offensive line to block, receiving talent, running talent)
- Opportunity (QB slot opening up)
The Basics:
- “The game winning drives of Montana, Elway, Brady: what stood out was how mundane and obvious and simple they were. Like move the chains with slight throw to the running back.”
Double Click:
- Tom Brady is arguably the best football player of all time.
- Right before his first start as a QB in high school, he ran to his dad and said he "couldn't do it" because he had "forgotten how to throw". His dad calmed him down.
- Fast forward to his last year in New England 20+ years and 6 Super Bowls later. At the front of his playbook he’s written himself these self affirmations like “you’re the man”, and “you’re built for this”, “you love the big moments”. He’s written these things that he reads every day.
- Playing in front of tens of thousands of people with many more watching and counting on you, failing repeatedly as all QBs do, and maintaining the confidence to make a tight throw under pressure takes a special combination of internal and external support.