Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
The New Yorker recently ran an essay on the problem of female beauty: http://nyr.kr/1ec2DFd The author, Adelle Waldman, points out how fiction tries to avoid a real examination of the issues: “In a recent essay in New York, the novelist Lionel Shriver argued that “fiction writers’ biggest mistake is to create so many characters who … Continue reading The Problem of Attractiveness
The great Eric Barker notes that the #1 negotiation principle that HBS teaches its MBA students is being likeable: http://bit.ly/19qRqeG “Here’s the equation for getting what you want. Cutting to the chase: You want to get more. You want more money, a better offer, a better deal; here are the components of what you need … Continue reading “They Need To Like You”: Friendship & Raising a Series A
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece on the decline of telephone usage among young professionals. Their thesis (which actually has some data to back it up) is that young professionals approach the phone as a tool of last resort, behind email, chat, and texting: http://on.wsj.com/17OfKGk “Stephanie Shih, 27, says phone calls are an … Continue reading Why You Still Need To Talk On The Phone
It’s always dangerous for old married guys like me to opine on college culture and relationships. It’s kind of like retired athletes arguing that the darn kids today don’t have any respect for the game. But hey, that’s never stopped me before. The New York Times just ran an extensive article about college women and … Continue reading The Smoking Gun of College Hook-up Culture
I really loved this passage from Jonathan Safran Foer’s commencement address: “Being attentive to the needs of others might not be the point of life, but it is the work of life. It can be messy, and painful, and almost impossibly difficult. But it is not something we give. It is what we get in … Continue reading The Work of Life
I have an inordinate fondness for outdated references. Just one of the pleasures of getting old! Yet while the famous bestseller, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” was a cringe-inducing self-help book, it did touch upon a theme of gender differences that later, better writers tackled. More recently, I read the fascinating book, … Continue reading Entrepreneurs are from Mars, VCs are from Venus
I struggle all the time with the contrast between public perception and private reality. On the one hand, we see others who seem so together, so comfortable in their skins, and who always seem to know the right thing to say. On the other hand, we know how we ourselves feel–sweaty, nervous, with the faint … Continue reading Let Them See You Sweat
My latest post on Ask The Harvard MBA seems to have struck a nerve…click on over to read my thoughts on applying market segmentation to racial profiling in the dating world.
My old friend Andrew’s dictum now has scientific proof…the part about assholes, that is. (Monet will have to wait for another day, though an unscientific survey of freshman dorm rooms seems to confirm the assertion) New Scientist reports that two separate studies confirm what the nice guys of the world have always known, and the … Continue reading Chicks Dig Two Things…Monet, and Assholes