Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
Over the past few years, crypto games like Cryptokitties and Axie Infinity have launched, climbed a steep hype cycle, then collapsed. It’s not that the founders and executives behind these companies are dumb (though that’s certainly possible); rather, they set themselves to an impossible task. First, cryptocurrency needs to be the way a game monetizes; … Continue reading Why Crypto Videogames Won’t Work
Hi folks! I recently finished my first trip to Brazil. As is my custom, here are my thoughts and observations from the trip, along with some pictures. I was invited to keynote the Startup Summit in Florianopolis, but since it’s a very long trip to Brazil, I added a few days in Sao Paulo for … Continue reading Travelogue: My First Trip To Brazil
This is Part 2 of a two-part blog post about my June 2022 vacation. To read Part 1, which focuses on my HBS reunion, go here. Thanks to some pretty severe delays, Alisha and I didn’t make it to Orlando until after 1 AM, which meant that we couldn’t get to sleep until nearly 2 … Continue reading Travelogue: The Disney Galactic Starcruiser
There are two reasons that I write about my travels. The primary reason is to get my thoughts in writing before my memories start to fade (even my memory, though unusually accurate, fades with time). The secondary reason is because I love to share; I hope that people enjoy my stories and photos, and that … Continue reading Travelogue: My 22nd HBS Reunion
This week, my daughter Marissa graduated from Palo Alto High School. While parenting doesn’t end with high school graduation–my parents still help me all the time (including in emergencies)–it is an important milestone, and in Marissa’s case, happened just two weeks after she turned 18. Sitting on the Paly lawn, waiting for the graduation ceremony … Continue reading 20 Years Of Parenthood
It is no secret that I believe that the United States should have a very different firearms policy. I’m not going to litigate that today. What I am going to do is to criticize gun rights advocates for what I believe is a fundamental dishonesty in their approach. Whenever a terrible gun-related tragedy happens, I … Continue reading Why There Isn’t More Honest Gun Advocacy
I have a confession: I almost never feel imposter syndrome. I feel like that means I should be grateful, and believe me, I am. But that begs the question, how can I best contribute to International Imposter Syndrome Day? It’s hard to write a consoling essay on overcoming imposter syndrome when I have so little … Continue reading Five Ways To Inoculate Yourself Against Imposter Syndrome
Fascinating tidbit from Scott Barry Kaufman via Whitney Johnson’s podcast: We like people best if they start off cool or indifferent to us and warm up over time. We dislike people the most if they start off being friendly to us, then ice us out. This helps illuminate something that I have noticed, but never … Continue reading Why Too Much Enthusiasm Breeds Dislike
I have two degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, but I often tell audiences that my work in improvisational comedy has been more impactful on my career than any of those diplomas. I feel very fortunate that I came across improv when I was a freshman at Stanford. Unlike some … Continue reading Improv and Entrepreneurship
We’re in a buyer’s market for capital these days, which means that every day I read headlines about how Startup X raised Y million at a Z billion-dollar valuation from Funds A, B, and Tiger Global. It’s very easy for first-time entrepreneurs to read these headlines and think that the most important number is Z, … Continue reading Choosing a VC based on valuation is like hiring the cheapest job candidate