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Midweek greetings to all, as we unveil the 273rd chapter of Weekly Olio—a delightful concoction of laughter, insight, and a sprinkle of mystery. Within these pages, you'll discover a handpicked selection of fascinating finds from the vast realms of the internet.
Keep your eyes peeled for this week’s Publisher’s Parmesan, arriving this Sunday!
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The Quote 💭
“Far too many good brains have been afflicted by the pointless enthusiasm for useless knowledge.”
The Tweet 🐦
How to win as a founder? Great answer to a very tough question. Recommend reading the thread in full for useful tips and insights.
The Infographic 💹
Who were the top content creators in the last one year? Mr.Beast continues his reign on the top followed by a lot of familiar names.
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The Short Read 📝
The curious case of the green cars (or the one with the Vinfast story) - by Srijan Mahajan
This article traces how VinFast, a nine-year-old Vietnamese carmaker, came to sell vehicles across three continents. Founder Pham Nhat Vuong, born poor in Hanoi, built his fortune selling Mivina instant noodles in Ukraine before returning home to create Vingroup, a conglomerate spanning hospitals, schools, and real estate.
Riding Vietnam's export-driven manufacturing rise, Vingroup built a car factory on a half-submerged island in under two years, licensing BMW platforms, hiring Magna Steyr and Pininfarina, and echoing Hyundai's 1973 playbook. After a rocky all-electric pivot and the poorly received VF8, Vuong solved the EV chicken-and-egg problem by founding GSM, a taxi company that bought his own cars, generating durability data, visibility, and paid test drives. GSM overtook Grab in Vietnam's ride-hailing market, deliveries tripled to 197,000 EVs by 2025, and the cyan taxis expanded to Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. Read more…
The Long Read 📜
The End of Reading is Here - by The Atlantic
The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic) argues that America is entering a "postliterate" age. Opening with the Library of Alexandria's death by neglect, the author shows that fewer than half of American adults now read books, reading scores are collapsing across all demographics, and even elite students struggle to comprehend complex texts—Kansas English majors couldn't parse Bleak House. Though people read more fragmented text than ever, they're losing deep comprehension and synthesis.
This shift toward "secondary orality" favors demagogic, meme-driven politics—Trump being the first "post-literate president"—while AI threatens writing itself, eroding the thinking that writing enables. Reading survives only as a niche subculture: 20 percent of adults account for 80 percent of books read, while cultural power flows to streamers and influencers. Despite hopeful signs like school phone bans, the author warns we risk losing humanity's inherited wisdom—and the capacity to think for ourselves. Read more…
Expense receipts shouldn't require a search party
Adam spent 20 minutes looking for a $36 receipt. His finance team sent three Slack messages. Someone made a sticky note.
Ramp would have matched it automatically the moment he swiped. Auto-coded, in-policy, synced. Nobody had to ask Adam for anything.
This is what finance looks like when it runs itself.
Your team can be Adam. Or they can not be Adam.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this edition, we’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend, family member or colleague.
We’ll be back in your inbox 2 PM IST next Wednesday. Till then, have a productive week!
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.