NB
The PT and the founder-focused Quest sessions followed the Bring Your Own Read format this Sunday. Folks often continue reading the books they pickup during the week (or month). Hence the large number of books featured in the dispatch.1
Let’s find out what everyone read.
Three Books and An Essay
Every new cultural idea, however radical or subversive, gets absorbed into the mainstream...
That's one of the three reasons Ian Leslie cites, in his essay How Advertising Consumed the Counter-culture, for why rebel branding or using counter-cultural cues in advertising no longer works the way it used to.
For decades, brands borrowed rebellion to project identity. But over time, the tone of culture shifted and rebellion stopped landing.
This essay offers a way to think about
1️⃣ how advertising absorbed counter-cultural sensibility to sell belief,
2️⃣ why that approach no longer matches the mood,
3️⃣ and what it means when a once-powerful posture no longer connects.
The essay isn't about advertising tactics, but about seeing the moment we are in and what led to it.
I had featured it in one of designindya’s weekend RE:AD as well. It is a useful invitation to think if your work touches brand identity, voice, or cultural storytelling.
Here are some of the other reads from the sessions:
1️⃣ The Book: The Venture Mindset by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang
One of those rare VC books that's not anecdotal generalization but born out of eye-opening research and interviews by the authors. Though it aims to help corporate big-wigs use a Venture Capital approach for identifying opportunities and handling risks in their industries, it is a great read for founders and budding VCs as it pulls the curtain back on how venture capital and its capitalists operate.
2️⃣ The Book: Stock Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
An oldie but a goodie. This collection of interviews with some of the top traders of the day led to a great discussion on investing strategies in the PT session.
No single strategy, prioritizing risk management, mental resilience, and discipline emerge as common threads among successful traders with heuristics and methods strewn across the pages of this fascinating read.
3️⃣ The Book: The Widow by John Grisham
A legal tale of greed and murder with a (probably) wealthy widow surrounded by a cast of sleazy characters, all after her money. Does she have it and is she leading everyone on? Her new lawyer (also after the money) wants to find out, but the widow dies, and the lawyer gets accused. How he fights back is what The Widow is all about.
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In addition to the reads above, some members used the sessions to catch up on work-related reads ranging from Term Sheets to Chapters from Conference Proceedings. Versatile af.
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This about wraps up the social readings from Feb 08, 2026. Just one more thing…
An Invitation
Before I end this summary, let me invite you to the social reading sessions. Come for cozy reading, great company, and stimulating conversations. Read curated surprises or bring your own read. You can find the schedule and session links here.
Ciao.
The IST session was a lonely affair (as it has been for a while now). I used it to listen to older podcasts in designindya’s the weekly DIAL series.
We will release a quarterly Signals report on shifts and trends in the Indian Advertising and Marketing landscape. These weekly roundups will come in handy for that.