Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
When we lost Misty, I read a lot of advice, but very little that was specific to our area. Now that we have Misty back, I thought I’d do my part by explaining what we did, and what I thought worked. 0. You’re chances are actually quite good. Many times during the subsequent four days, … Continue reading Finding A Lost Dog in the Bay Area
UPDATE: MISTY HAS BEEN FOUND! THANK YOU EVERYONE! On Friday, shortly before noon, our family dog, Misty, escaped from our yard. We’ve been searching for her every since we discovered her absence. Now we need your help. Misty is female, two years old, weighs 30 pounds, and was wearing a pink dog collar with Palo … Continue reading Help Us Find Misty (Lost Dog in Palo Alto/East Palo Alto)
A new study by Yale economists shows in numbers what we’ve always intuitively known: “Practical” majors like Finance, Engineering, and Nursing have a huge wage advantage over “impractical” ones like Art History, Drama, and Philosophy: http://nyti.ms/1qAaQvo During a recession, a Finance major, for example, earns 32% more than the average college graduate one year after … Continue reading The College Major Dilemma
The world bombards us with conflicting advice. On the one hand, we’re told that quantity is the key factor in success. Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule states that practice is the only path to mastery. The Beatles played 10,000 hours of gigs in Germany before returning to England and stardom. I’ve certainly leveraged the benefits … Continue reading Quantity, Quality, and Inactivity
I enjoyed reading a recent Fortune article that provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the judges at a Rice University startup competition. It didn’t hurt that my old friend Robert Winter was prominently mentioned! http://bit.ly/UffMcc However, I think it’s hard for a reporter to truly understand the dynamics of a judging team. I’ve been a competition … Continue reading What’s It Like To Judge A Pitch Competition
A friend’s husband was laid off, and he had trouble finding another job. Was he unskilled? Hardly–he has a Stanford MBA and an engineering Ph.D. The real problem, they realized, is that he was the father of two boys in college, and dressed that way. My friend gave her husband a makeover–new haircut, trendy jeans, … Continue reading Silicon Valley, Ageism, and Hipster Jeans
I try (not always successfully) to avoid politics. As a young Michael Jordan once noted after being asked to endorse a Democratic candidate, “Republicans buy shoes too.” But one thing I have noted is is the liberal (in the US political sense, not the classical “The Economist” sense) tendencies of most comedians and humorists. Frank … Continue reading Want To Make Political Humor That’s Funny? Target Self-Importance And Hypocrisy.
As is a bit of a tradition around here, one of my friend Penelope Trunk’s blog posts lured me into commenting at such length that I decided to do an actual blog post: http://bit.ly/1k2cqCC In her recent post, Penelope writes about her struggle to avoid branding herself as a mom: “I intuitively knew to hide … Continue reading Are Women Penalized For Talking About Family At Work?
The internet is abuzz with the rumor that Google is about to acquire Twitch, the videogame-focused spinoff of Justin.tv. The price? $1 billion. http://bit.ly/1sNODH9 A lot of the coverage has focused on Twitch’s monthly audience of 45 million unique viewers, which is certainly impressive. Just about the only TV program that exceeds that level of … Continue reading Live Video Is About The Broadcasters
I have a lot of admiration for people who are willing to say unpopular things. Experience has taught me that popularity is only weakly correlated with correctness, and that a willingness to say unpopular things may often be the only way to say true things. Penelope Trunk is one of several friends who have made … Continue reading You Can’t Avoid Putting In The Time