Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
In sufficient quantities, money and power are fungible. Just ask Michael Bloomberg. But in lower quantities, they are not. If you are the sheriff of a small town, you have a great deal of power, but even if exploit your power for money, you’re not likely to become a millionaire. If you earn $100K a … Continue reading Money and Power
It’s funny to be called “successful” in Silicon Valley. So often, we think of success as being measured by liquidity events or other markers of worldly success. The reason I think I’m successful is that I have everything that money can’t buy: love, family, friends, health. Yet these are things that we rarely hear about … Continue reading Successful in Silicon Valley
In this post, I’ll argue that the power of love comes mostly from stuff that doesn’t happen, and for bonus points, explain how my theory of love impacts how a startup should choose its investors. *** My life is filled with love. I have family, friends, and last but not least (okay, maybe least) you, … Continue reading The Power of Love (And Investors)
One of the unexpected effects of the rise of social media may be its impact on the perception of inequality. We know that the perception of inequality can have a negative effect on happiness. Comparing oneself to others is a potent and dangerous temptation. Indeed, studies show that most people would prefer a situation in … Continue reading Does Social Media make people miserable?
My friend and HBS classmate, Lindsey Mead Russell wrote a great article for the Princeton Alumni Weekly last year. In it, she meditates on one of the fundamental dilemmas that faces women: Job or Family? Lindsey followed a path that many would envy or consider the ideal–she worked part-time managing recruiting for a private equity … Continue reading How Do *You* Choose Between Job and Family?
The realization struck me as I was listening to Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC tell the story of when he sat in his hotel room while on tour and thought about killing himself. McDaniels thought back over his life and his runaway success and realized that he still wasn’t happy. Many of us go through … Continue reading The Reason The Rich & Famous Commit Suicide
Here’s my recipe for a happy life: 1) Do the things you want to do 2) Accept that you’ll never have the time to do *all* the things you want to do Once you follow those two principles, the rest is simply time allocation!
My friend and HBS classmate Lindsey and I started emailing about her most recent blog post. The exchange ended up lasting much of the Thanksgiving holiday, and touched on optimism, the underrated virtues of melancholy, and the conundrum of memory. Here’s how the conversation went: Chris: In this morning’s blog post, you wrote the following: … Continue reading Thanksgiving, Happiness, And Memory
Charles Dickens once wrote, “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” Yet while many seem to understand this principle when it comes to money, far too few demonstrate such an understanding when it comes to time. When it comes … Continue reading The Unstuffed Life
I recently did a happiness interview with Gretchen Rubin. In case you didn’t catch it, here is a link, and here are some of the highlights: Q: Is there anything that you see people around you doing or saying that adds a lot to their happiness, or detracts a lot from their happiness? A: The … Continue reading The Happiest Man In Silicon Valley