The [Tuesday] Media Diet with Dulma Altan

On Boxing, Piketty, and Didion

Dulma Altan (DA) is a popular business commentator sharing analyses on DTC, creator economy & tech startups. She is also the host of Due Diligence, a podcast interviewing investors, operators & creators. We cited her in a recent WITI on the no-alc business and are happy to have her with us today. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I am an accidental TikTok creator who makes a living creating content about business & branding. Prior to that I ran a private community of women direct-to-consumer/ecommerce founders and before that worked in Silicon Valley. I love podcasts (and now have my own!), Perfect Bars (the plain peanut butter kind), and supporting entrepreneurs through content, advising, and community-building.

Describe your media diet. 

It's 80% podcasts and 20% mindless scrolling on social media—mainly Instagram Stories and these days, regrettably, Twitter. I am partial to nerdy business podcasts like Acquired FM (two VCs doing deep dives into legendary tech companies) and All-In (because I'm an incorrigible tech nerd at heart).

What’s the last great book you read?

On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates—a stunning, slim volume meditating on boxing as art, as life.

What are you reading now?

Currently reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion. Also attempting A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty after giving up on my ambitions to read Capital in the Twenty-First Century but also highly likely I will not finish this one either. TBD.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

In an effort to accumulate less things, I try to find the book the Libby app (my favorite app!) which is connected to the American library system but if I really love something or know I want to own it to reference repeatedly, I will buy a physical copy and read with pen in hand and plenty of scribbling & underlining. For exceptionally useful or moving books I will revisit and transcribe the passages into a dedicated Notion page (which I then make public via a page I call Dulma's Digital HQ.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Maggie Nelson. Claire-Louise Bennett. Steven Pressfield (for the tormented unfulfilled creatives out there).

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

Libby! See above.

Plane or train?

Train.

What is one place everyone should visit? 

I might be biased, having spent the first ~8 years of my life there, but Mongolia is a pretty beautiful place, especially outside of the capital. It's pristine and vast and feels like freedom.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

Recently I became obsessed with the intelligence and unique biology of the octopus. Made for some good YouTube binges.

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Dulma (DA)

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