The best stories of the week, as chosen by the editors of Longreads.
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Living In The Disneyland Version Of Startup Life
It’s becoming increasingly possible to live where you work. Tiki looks at the rise of “co-living” spaces springing up in cities all over the U.S.
A Sociology of the Smartphone
Smartphones have altered the texture of everyday life, digesting many longstanding spaces and rituals, and transforming others beyond recognition.
Why Big Food Is Feasting on ‘Natural’ Startups
Fortune writer Beth Kowitt reports on the packaged-food industry’s response to an existential crisis: Shoppers are seeking alternatives they deem healthier and more authentic than legacy brands. In addition to selling fruit and veggie drinks, Bolthouse grows and packages fresh carrots—an old-fashioned, weather-sensitive farming business that Morrison suspected would be a turnoff for any packaged-goods […]
Doughnuts, Witches and Start-Ups: Five Stories About Secret Subcultures
What makes a secret society? Is it the codes and the handshakes, the physical language?
Why Homejoy Failed
Can home cleaning services be Uber-ified? How a promising startup grew fast and failed hard.
Longreads Turns Seven Years Old: Unfinished Business
I’m quite proud of what this community has accomplished.
Doughnuts, Witches and Start-Ups: Five Stories About Secret Subcultures
What makes a secret society? Is it the codes and the handshakes, the physical language?
Reddit: A Nine-Year Case Study in Absentee Management
In 2006, Condé Nast bought a promising information-sharing and online-discussion startup called Reddit. Then they more or less ignored the site, letting it evolve into one of the least manageable media properties on the Internet.
Will Technology Eventually Replace Marc Andreessen?
One challenge for Andreessen is whether venture itself has a skills problem. If software is truly eating the world, wouldn’t venture capital be on the menu? The AngelList platform now allows investors to fund startups online. Its co-founder Naval Ravikant said that “future companies will require more two-hundred-thousand-dollar checks and way fewer guys on Sand […]

