Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
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
Provocative assertion of the day: People don’t really believe in equality of opportunity. In order for there to be true equality of opportunity, every child has to have the same opportunities to succeed. Yet what parent among us has ever resisted the urge to give our child an advantage? Move to a better neighborhood for … Continue reading People Don’t Really Believe in Equality of Opportunity
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?
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since I became your dad. While I knew that it would change my life, I didn’t know how much it would affect both my daily activities and my overall perspective. I still remember being 11 years old, and wishing I could stay that age forever. Even … Continue reading A Letter To Jason On His 12th Birthday
I’m always looking for ways to apply insights from other disciplines to the startup world. The other night, I was at a parenting seminar, when the presenter (Kirk Steupfert) talked about the importance of “No, because.” What me meant was that when you’re a parent, it’s very tempting to respond to your children’s constant requests … Continue reading No, Because
When I was 7 years old, I started attending The Mirman School for Gifted Children. It was pretty intimidating. I had to take an IQ test just to get in, and when I arrived at Ms. Rubin’s 3rd grade class, most of my classmates had already spent a couple of years together, rather than sitting … Continue reading The Math Test That Changed My Life
I live in Palo Alto, which is a pretty wealthy neighborhood. Add in the fact that there are a lot of only children, and you have a lot of kids whose rooms look like an FAO Schwarz showroom. Under those circumstances, a lot of parents are tempted to make sure that their kids get all … Continue reading The Material Doesn’t Matter
These facts come from Po Bronson’s book, “NutureShock,” a survey of the science of parenting. For a complete outline, visit the Book Outlines Wiki.1. Self-Esteem Doesn’t Do SquatNone of the 200 scientifically valid studies on self-esteem showed that high self-esteem has any impact on grades, achievement, alcohol use, or violence. 2. Tiger Mothering WorksControlled experiments … Continue reading 11 Surprising (but crucial) Scientific Facts About Parenting
The thought of the day, triggered by this Ben Casnocha post that quotes a book review by Eric Falkenstein: He states that the key factor in one’s happiness–not experiential happiness, but ‘remembered happiness’ that is more correlated with ‘life satisfaction’, see Kahneman on the difference–is ‘perceived earned success’. This is the willingness and ability to … Continue reading Happiness Cannot Be Given, It Must Be Earned
I thought this New York Times article from Tim Kreider was one of the best (funniest, insightful) things I’ve read this week. Kreider discusses a phenomenon that strikes many of us as we get along in years: The tendency to evaluate the lives of our friends to ponder paths not taken. Some money quotes: * … Continue reading “The Referendum”: Great Essay On Mid-Life Angst