$10 Billion for Rebuid: The Canadian Infrastructure Bank will spend $10 billion to improve infrastructure, with a focus on broadband, energy efficiency retrofits, and agriculture infrastructure such as irrigation.

 

Senate Subpeonas Tech CEOs: The Senate Commerce Committee voted to subpeaona the Chief Executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify about online censorship. The comittee hopes to hold the hearings before the election, hold on tight. 

 

AC Embraces Rapid Tests: Air Canada has ordered 25,000 of the newly approved Abbott Laboratories quick testing kits, to be rolled out initially with employee volunteers. The airlines hope to use testing more broadly among passengers in a bid to roll back the restrictive covid related rules that have hammered the industry.

 

Google Spends on News: Google is pledging to spend $1 billion to license news for a new product called Google News Showcase. Sounds neat, but we expect you to stick with The Peak. 

 

Restaurant Inusrance Skyrockets: Insurance companies are hiking rates on restaurants as they're being squezed by the pandemic. In some cases insurance costs have gone up 300% or outright refused to renew, citing unknown liabilities if a patron were to contract covid-19. 

Jobs Numbers: The US Bureau of Labour Statistics will release September's numbers at 8:30 this morning. Canada's Labour Force Survey will be released on October 9th. 

Thank A Teacher: Monday is World Teachers' Day, remember to send your kid to Zoom U with an extra shiny apple.

VEEP Debate: If this week's presidential showdown wasn't enough for you, VP candidates Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will be squaring off in Utah on Tuesday night. 

Spy vs. Spy: It's a bit of a secret, but private detectives are everywhere now. On one hand they can be used to create transparency, on the other, private spies are used to push corporate power. 

Magic Mushrooms: Not those kinds of magic mushrooms, actually those kinds of magic mushrooms and many other amazing mushrooms are having a moment; being grown in restaurants for ultra local dishes and being used to develop sustainable building materials. 

Winning: Mike Postle went on a winning streak the defied all odds, eventually his opponents called him a cheater, then things got messy. 

MY WIFE: If this line never got old to you, you'll be pumped that Borat is back with a new movie. Play the trailer on repeat to escape reality. 

It's Friday, so that means it's time for Peak Q&A. 

 

Every Friday we feature someone in the Canadia tech, finance, or startup space doing something cool and pick their brain to get practical and actionable tips and advice for the rest of us. 

 

This week we are featuring Chris Spoke, founder of Toronto digital agency August.

 

 

Chris Spoke: Titan by Ron Chernow, which is one of the all-time great biographies. The lesson came from a JDR quote: "As soon as you can, get some one whom you can rely on, train him in the work, sit down, cock up your heels, and think out some way for the Standard Oil to make some money.”

Work hard, understand the role, delegate, and think of something else to do.

What evening and/or morning routines do you have that set you up for success?

CS: I'm most productive when l go to sleep early and wake up early. Nothing special beyond that. Gym first thing most mornings.

What are you involved in outside of your company? As in mentoring, boards, volunteering or other activities? How do you recommend others engage in activities outside of work and how do you give and get the most out of them?

CS: I'm the founder and lead organizer for a yimby (yes-in-my-backyard) organization in Toronto that advocates for increased housing supply. I think that this is an underrated issue in terms of importance, and think that we need to do more to ensure that Toronto is a city that's affordable and welcoming to all.

What advice do you have for students or young professionals who are trying to position themselves in a competitive job market. What can they do to make themselves stand out?

CS: Write and publish your thoughts online. Your resume tells me almost nothing. A longform essay on a topic you're passionate about can tell me a lot.

What's one app or another piece of technology that improves your productivity and you couldn't live without?

CS: Roam. I like it so much that I'm getting a dedicated ipad for it.