In Over Your Head: Learning by Doing

  • Writing for its own sake

    I forgot why I liked blogging, so I am trying hard to remember. For a very long time, I intertwined it with my career and now that it’s disentangled, I realize it can become a much purer version of my thoughts, a kind of diary of sorts, and can provide value for interested people without […]

  • Some thoughts from the future / past

    Do you believe the past was simpler, or more complex, than the world is now? Is it more difficult to make decisions in? Is it fundamentally easier, or harder? Is tomorrow going to be better, or worse, than today was? There are a set of assumptions so fundamentally deep inside of you that they are […]

  • Do you know your sweet spot?

    I’ve been asking a ton of interviewees this recently. I think it’s very important. You only learn your sweet spot by finding it and being in it – or, if you’re close, by listening to your feelings. They might be big or small so you might have to get very quiet. At Breather I ran […]

  • To those of you that don’t eat marshmallows

    You know who you are. If you think back, you have always been avoiding the marshmallow. You eat it occasionally – but rarely. You likely live like a monk or abbess. You have some serious austerity to your life. You are pursuing some greater thing – you always have been. You don’t always know what […]

  • What happened after the credits?

    Some things will change here shortly. No expectations as to what. Comments will likely go off. The internet has changed and there are too many places for comments – too few for just pure writing. There are too many places owned by others – so it’s important to own something yourself. Less links, and less […]

  • The Myth / The Reality

    It’s very easy to become obsessed with the supposed glamour of running a company instead of actually doing the work – the unglamorous, tedious, hair-pulling fucking work. Over the past few days, all over my Facebook stream, I can see pictures of entrepreneurs looking successful, when I know for a fact that they are not […]

  • How To Name Your Company

    (Also on Medium here.) Basic thesis: Everyone’s mind is crowded. Your idea needs space in the brain to survive. The right name enables this, and more. Here’s how to find a great name— for your company, your project, or whatever else. Why I wrote this: I’m really good at naming things, for a few reasons. One, I […]

  • 9 Ideas About the Future

    Edit: I seem to have pretty good at predicting things accurately here. I may end up updating the post. Stay tuned. Here are a few ideas about what the future could look like. I wouldn’t consider these holy writ; more like provocations to think about. A. Bitcoin becomes extremely popular, replaces gold as a stable […]

  • Peak Advertising – When Ads (and Content) Become More and More Useless

    I came across this paper the other week via Chris Dixon’s Twitter account describing a possible phenomenon: Peak Advertising. Who knows if it’ll end up being true or not. But it makes some sense and it’s worth discussing. If you’re familiar with Peak Oil, you’ll inherently understand this too. Here’s the theory. Key indicators for online […]

  • Wanna Start a Company or Raise Venture Capital? Listen to Rap Music

    It’s pretty much undisputed at this point there is a connection between successful venture capitalists & entrepreneurs, and listening to hip-hop music. This is totally unscientific, of course. But it makes total sense to me now. I don’t know when it started, but these days, I’m seeing it everywhere. And I know it’s crazy, and […]