Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
People throw themselves into 100-hour work weeks because they are afraid to make choices that others might not understand. If you work 100-hour weeks, no one (investors, co-founders, employees) can blame you if things don’t work out, right? I had a moment like this during my first startup, when I was held late at a … Continue reading Workaholism Is A Choice (Usually The Wrong One)
My buddy Ben Casnocha has written an excellent summary of the book, “Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters”. It’s well worth the read. Here are two of my favorite paragraphs: “Male high school teachers and college professors in the United States (but not their female colleagues) have a higher-than-expected rate of divorce and a lower-than-expected … Continue reading Why Teachers, Professors, and Presidents Have Affairs
I wonder what makes a scientist decide to conduct a study of older virgins? (In this case, Michael Eisenberg of UCSF) And how does that scientist find honest research subjects? And finally, how do that scientist’s funders feel when they see the results? We may never find out the answers to those questions, but thanks … Continue reading All About Virgins
I happened to glance at Google News today, and saw that their image matching algorithm was on the fritz. These are actual, non-Photoshopped screen captures: I’m not quite sure what Hillary Clinton has to do with the presidency or gay pride, but apparently Google thinks she’s the best match. Freudian slip, perhaps? Special bonus points … Continue reading Google News Fail: Gay Pride & Prostates
A new study by a pair of retired Cisco and IBM execs (covered in this PE Hub piece) argues that Asians are disproportionately underrepresented at the senior management level. After surveying the 25 largest companies in the valley, they found that just 6% of board members and 10% of officers were of Asian descent. In … Continue reading Is There a Glass Ceiling for Asians in Silicon Valley?
Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker has penned a biased but thought-provoking hit piece on Chief Justice John Roberts. Toobin’s thesis can be summed up in his article’s subtitle: The Supreme Court’s stealth hard-liner. Essentially, he argues that behind Roberts’ admitted charm and legal chops lies a hardline conservative, dedicated to serving the interests of … Continue reading Hard Questions Don’t Have Easy Answers: Thoughts On Chief Justice Roberts
“The Flash of Insight, The Grand Gesture, The Rousing Speech, The Last Straw. All of these are doppelgangers of The Big Thing, which too many of us wait for to come along and change our lives. The secret is, of course, that it’s not coming. Worse, by waiting for The Big Thing, you could let … Continue reading Paragraph of the Day: “The Big Thing”
A well-crafted and worthy addition (I just saw it yesterday as well…my wife and I were able to sneak off for a 10:15 AM matinee, since my parents are in town for Mother’s Day, and they watched the kids). It was definitely less cerebral and philosophical than Treks past, and I must admit that I … Continue reading Star Trek Review (No Spoilers): A Worthy Addition With More Character Backdrop
Mistakes 1-10: Not listening to Chris Yeh. But seriously, my friend Chad Lynch at Orrick has organized another great event. It’s short and sweet–a quick morning panel on the Top 10 Start-up Mistakes. You can duck in for breakfast, and be back at work before 11 AM. Among other folks, the redoubtable Rob Hayes of … Continue reading Top 10 Start-Up Mistakes (5/14)
Fred Wilson has posted a very thought-provoking piece, arguing that the VC industry is raising too much money. His essential argument is that VCs are raising so much money that the total number and amount of exits cannot possibly deliver a good industry-wide IRR. I agree with Fred’s analysis, but wanted to go a little … Continue reading Why Venture Capital Is Limited In Scale