Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
I just completed my first Drivetime Consulting engagement yesterday. Amr Shady reached out to me via email yesterday afternoon, and we set up a call for my drive home last night. The call was exactly what I was hoping for; Amr is a successful entrepreneur and all-around interesting guy, and he wanted my feedback on … Continue reading Drivetime Consulting: Amr Shady
I was listening to the New York Times Book Review podcast (one of the little ways I stay connected to the literary world) when I heard a debate about the value of literature. As is often the case with literary folk, the debaters were conflicted and ambiguous, pointing out the contradiction between arguing for literature’s … Continue reading Why Reading Literature is Valuable
Like many things in life, the feedback loop on writing is long and uncertain. When I write a post, I don’t know if it will quietly sink beneath the waves, get a reaction or two, or spark a week-long furor. Sometimes, the shortest and least effort-filled posts draw the best. As a result, only people … Continue reading The Writing Feedback Loop
For years, I’ve been saying that I ought to set up a drivetime consultancy. I’m in the car for 20-30 minute chunks each day, and I’d rather be talking with people than listening to the radio. What’s held me back is the work involved. I figured I would need to build a fancy scheduling system, … Continue reading Drivetime Consulting
An intriguing thought, trigger by this Atlantic article, “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Being Jewish“: What is religion is now a luxury good? Consider the following: Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. During an era in which life was brutish, nasty, and short, focusing one’s attention on a glorious afterlife made a lot of … Continue reading Economic Growth and the Rise of Religion
One of the exciting things about Paul Graham handing over the reins of Y Combinator to Sam Altman is the fact that it gives Paul more time to write. Paul has long been one of my writing inspirations, and his concise yet conversational style has always struck me a near-perfect fit for his topics. I’m … Continue reading Gaming The System Doesn’t Work, And Everyone Has Worries
One of my long-term projects is to write a book about the psychology of entrepreneurship. One of the issues I want to write about is what I call the manic side of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are innately optimistic; otherwise, they wouldn’t jump into a field of endeavor that has a 90%+ failure rate. I can assure … Continue reading The Manic Side of Entrepreneurship
I recently dove into Jay Goltz’s New York Times post, How To Be An Entrepreneur, and Stay Married. I thought it was an insightful piece, but to me, it was missing the most important part: What entrepreneurs should do differently to stay married. Having recently celebrated my 16th anniversary (and the 18th consecutive year in … Continue reading What Entrepreneurs Should Do Differently To Stay Married
I’m a big podcast listener because I like to multi-task while I’m cooking and washing dishes (something I do a lot on weekends, since that’s when I prepare our family’s food for the week). Today, I listened to a fascinating TED Talk by philosopher Ruth Chang. It’s worth listening to the entire talk, but for … Continue reading Hard Choices Are An Opportunity
Here, in Silicon Valley, I’ve noticed that we like to talk a lot about values and culture. Yet many of these discussions make a very dangerous mistake: They attempt to justify values and culture based on business performance. This is a very natural impulse. When I’m trying to persuade people, I always try to speak … Continue reading Values, Performance, and Hard Boundaries