This month, read some very cogent reasons why an entrepreneur turned down $5 million in venture funding, or go the other direction and get Paul Graham’s advice on how to raise money, and if you have already tried, take comfort in some reasons why you can’t raise money; elsewhere there is Tim Harford on 10 email commandments to stay efficient; Freakanomics explains why losing for a high draft pick is not a winning NBA strategy, and for the holiday season, some thoughts on kids as technology trend predictors.