Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
So many are obsessed with wealth, but how many know how to spend it? For years, I’ve given a simple three word answer to the question, “What would you do if you became a billionaire?” My response? “Take more naps.” A bit flippant perhaps, but telling. The true value of wealth is freedom. It’s up … Continue reading How To Live Like A Billionaire
The Internet is bigger than the lightbulb, but its effects are subtler (and colored by the massive popularity of porn, Facebook, etc.). When I was growing up, I had two choices for getting “news”. I could read the newspaper each morning (which I did) and I could watch either network or local news on VHF … Continue reading The Internet is Bigger Than the Lightbulb
(image appears courtesy of Aeioux) I’ve done about 10 angel investments in the past couple of years, and there is definitely a trend towards higher valuations and more competitive deals. The problem is that every investment asset class obeys Newton’s Law: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The logic many follow … Continue reading Is Angel Investing In A Bubble?
From America’s greatest living dramatist, David Mamet: “[Every scene] must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.” You can read Mamet’s entire manifesto here. One other tidbit I loved: “ANY TIME TWO CHARACTERS ARE TALKING ABOUT … Continue reading The Best Fiction Writing Advice You’ll Ever Receive
“When you love something, you want to write about it. But you never know enough about it to write it in an interesting way until you know it closely enough to hate it as well.”—Penelope’s Trunk’s advisor at Boston University
Going all the way back to 1995, I’ve speculated that promising young people should be able to sell a claim against their future income stream. Back then, I called it the Personal IPO. The original idea came to me after rock star David Bowie sold the infamous “Bowie Bonds,” backed by the royalties from his … Continue reading From the Archives: Personal IPO
Today, I resigned from an advisory board position. The CEO of the startup in question, a man whom I like and respect, told me that if I did not delete this blog post, that he would ask for my resignation. His opinion was that by not deleting some of the comments (written by others, not … Continue reading Free Speech: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
“If a genie asks a guy to make three wishes that she will make come true, what would the guy say? “I want $1 billion dollars, a swimsuit model wife and the chance to play golf every day.” Tiger had all that and apparently it wasn’t enough to make him happy. Now I’m just depressed.”(Letter … Continue reading Paragraph of the Day: Three Wishes
John Edwards and Tiger Woods. Both famous, powerful men who projected one public image while living a completely different life in private. Both certainly deserve our scorn for their behavior. But the lesson to draw here is not that politicians are scumbags (though, by and large, they are) or that famous athletes are philanderers (though, … Continue reading John Edwards and Tiger Woods in the Boardroom
I’m trying out a new service, Postling, which allows you to manage all your social media accounts in one place. So far, I’ve hooked up Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter. Very smooth. And, it’s from the founders of Etsy!