Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 1035

I really like the post that Seth Godin wrote on his blog today called:  The four elements of entrepreneurship .

He defines entrepreneurs through their actions and behaviors. In his view, this is what they do:

1. They make decisions.

2. They invest in activities and assets that aren’t a sure thing.

3. They persuade others to support a mission with a non-guaranteed outcome.

4. This one is the most amorphous, the most difficult to pin down and thus the juiciest: They embrace (instead of run from) the work of doing things that might not work.

As far as I can tell, that’s it. Everything else you can hire.

He then goes on to say:

All four of these elements are unnatural to most folks. Particularly if you were good at school, you’re not good at this. No right answers, no multiple choice, no findable bounds.

Perhaps this is why many VCs seem to favor young founders . They’re not old enough to think they know what will work and what will not work.

Architect Rem Koolhaas recently unveiled a backpack that he designed for Prada’s autumn winter 2018 menswear collection . 

It looks like this: 

It’s more of a frontpack. Actually, maybe the right name is chestpack.

What stood out for me, though – perhaps more than its frontality – was the way that Rem Koolhaas described his reasoning behind the design.

Here is an excerpt from Dezeen :

“Today, waiting in line for a typical airport check of carry-on luggage, it is surprising to note how the shapeless container of the backpack, is inhabited by strict, orthogonal devices like the laptop, the charger, books, toilet bag, and how awkward it is to liberate these objects from their containment in the backpack,” he said.

“This project proposes a reinterpretation of the backpack, more suitable to the contemporary urban citizen,” he continued. “The frontal position gives a more intimate sense of ownership – a better control of movement, avoiding the chain of oblivious collisions that the backpack inadvertently generates.”

Leave it to an architect to talk about a backpack like the wearer is about to go to war.

P.S. I’m a fan of Koolhaas. I just found this funny.

Image: Prada

City Observatory tracks something that they call “ The Young and Restless .” It refers to the segment of the US population that is between 25-34 years old and has a bachelor’s degree or higher.

We know that people in this age bracket tend to be relatively mobile and that the likelihood of moving decreases as people age. So it’s a potential leading indicator for the city regions of the future. It also adds a bit more nuance to the urban vs. suburban growth debate. 

According to City Observatory , between 2012 and 2016 the number of 25 to 34 year olds with a 4-year degree living in one of the 53 largest largest cities in the US increased by 19%. This is compared to a 4% increase in the overall population in these cities.

This increase in young well-educated adults is also happening 50% faster in the largest cities. So the young and educated still seem to be demanding city living, even if the world is arguably still suburbanizing .

Below is a snapshot of City Observatory’s latest data. I’ve sorted the list by total change in population (2012 to 2016). Happy to see Philadelphia near the top. If you do it based on percentage, Detroit wins with a 64% increase.

For the full list of cities, check out City Observatory .