Work Life Hack: Turn Your Desk Into a Snack Stand
I’m undertaking a new writing challenge: write one post a day for as many days as possible based on things at my desk. This is day 4 of that challenge. I’m currently in a bit of an arms race at […]
Fictional Flags, Bad Odds, and Defiant Hope
I’m undertaking a new writing challenge: write one post a day for as many days as possible based on things at my desk. This is day 3 of that challenge. There are two flags hanging at my desk at work. […]
Cheap Google Sunglasses, Over the Top Startup Bro, and Leaning Into Tech Stereotypes
I’m undertaking a new writing challenge: write one post a day for as many days as possible based on things at my desk. This is day 2 of that challenge. Hanging up by my desk at work you’ll find a […]
Resilience, Rebounds, and Soybean Crops
“. . . If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two impostors just the same. . .” – If, Rudyard Kipling There’s photo hanging by the desk at my office that perfectly captures what it takes to succeed […]
Use Better Tech (Not Laws) To Reduce Texting and Driving Deaths
In the past year or so I’ve started to notice a new feature on my phone: with simple artificial intelligence the text messaging app is able to auto-generate simple, relevant replies to text. So if someone says “hi”, you can say […]
Design Your Plans Like You Would Design a Product
I’ve started and abandoned many projects in my time, in work and out of it. But that’s not the worst of it. I’ve even procrastinated on things procrastinators love: planning. I have about as many plans lying dead on the […]
To Understand a Thing’s Value, Gain and Lose It
Where should we put personal status and reputation in our priorities? What about friendship? Wealth? Philosophers have been working on this one for a while, but I’d like to propose a heuristic. I’d argue that it takes both gain and loss to […]
The Blue-Collar Knowledge Worker Manifesto
n. Knowledge worker – Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include software engineers, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, public accountants, lawyers, and academics, and any other white-collar workers, whose line of work requires the one to “think for a living“. The more I’m exposed to the industry of marketing, the more I learn […]
If You Like Someone, Don’t Make Excuses for Them
One of the most disrespectful things you can do to a person is not to blame them, but to make excuses for them. At their deepest level, most people desire self-realization, which requires responsibility, which implies capability. At the same […]
Businesses Need Psychotherapy, Too
Since Freud came on the scene in psychology, the practice of psychotherapy has given countless people insight into their unique psychological issues. But what could businesses learn from psychotherapy for solving their own problems? One of the main assumptions of most mainstream* psychology […]
You Can’t Be an Entrepreneur and Normal
For a while I’ve entertained the notion that it might be possible be an entrepreneur without coming off as weird or salesy to some people. This is a very easy illusion to maintain when you work for a company – even […]
Fire Drills as Social Occasions
Modern life has a lot of quirks. One of those quirks is the fire drill. The fire drill is a uniquely 20th century thing, made for 20th century and 21st century buildings. And if you think about it, it’s really strange. […]
Milgram Experiments and Workplace “Common Sense”
The Milgram Experiment was a famous psychological experiment in which participants administered “shocks” to other humans under the direction of authoritative-looking “scientists” in lab coats. Long story short, the experiment found (much to the surprise of its creators) that the […]
The Bourgeois Virtues of Piano Recitals
Tonight I was listening to some Baroque-period music on the radio, and it took me back – not to the 17th century, but instead to my early childhood. It’s so rare to hear classical music of this kind these days, […]
A Critique and a Defense of Mythologizing the Past
Was Abraham Lincoln really a moral leader who saved the United States and ended slavery? Did George Washington really save the Continental Army and win the American revolution? Was Thomas Jefferson really a forward-thinking liberalizer? Alluring Myth vs. Disappointing Fact The stories […]
The Perks of Being a Disruptor: 4 (More) Great Things About Being in a Young Industry
Being in a new industry is hard. The future is uncertain, the resources can be scant, lows can be very low, and the right way to do things can be unclear. But for the adventurous and entrepreneurial, none of these are […]
The Wisdom of Late Nights and All-Nighters
I was at my office last night past midnight working on last-minute needs for an event marketing commitment. There are a lot of feelings people might associate with staying late at the office (and getting reduced sleep), but “fun” and […]
Try Making the Things You Take for Granted
One of the first things I learned at BitPay was how to ship a UPS package. You wouldn’t think that a first day at an innovative tech company would involve such a lesson. It’s embarrassing, but it’s true. At the age of 18, I […]
Your “Just a Phase”s Will Matter One Day
“It’s just a phase.” This common adult-ism could apply to most of the things I was dead set on doing as a youngster. Like most young people, I’ve had my share of passionate interests. When you have all the free […]
Central Planning: Also a Bad Idea for the Environment
Today I learned (or was reminded) that whale sharks regularly migrate thousands of miles across their oceans to feed and give birth They will travel incredible distances for food – far further by natural means than most humans who have ever […]
Lyft and Uber Rides are the New Marketplaces for Ideas
There aren’t many physical places left in this world where philosophical conversations happen between philosophical opponents. The Internet has made it easy to hole up into our own echo chambers, or to get into shouting matches. It would seem there is […]
When Exhaustion Plays Mind Games
When I used to go for regular routed runs in my old neighborhood, I would notice that the last parts were especially hard for me. Granted, I’m not the best runner in the world, but this was interesting. I was only […]
The Joy of Familiar Strangers
We have lots of different kinds of relationships in life, from close family to extended family to close friends to acquaintances. But there’s another kind of relationship which is underrated: familiar strangers. Familiar strangers are those familiar faces you tend […]
Light Your Home Back Through Time: A Tip for Internal Lighting Design
My ideal lighting arrangement would be one that travels back in time over the course of a day. Start the day in the light of the modern era. Use as much glass and natural light as possible to wake up, but supplement […]
Don’t Worry About Getting Credit for Personal Growth
I like pulling myself up by my own bootstraps. Sometimes that’s a good thing – I take initiative, I’m not needy, and I can self-motivate and self-actualize. But along with my bootstrapping desires I also I have a strong desire for […]
Why Entrepreneurs Should Be Studying Anthropology
“Anthropology is the study of humans and human behaviour and societies in the past and present.” – Wikipedia “Everything old is new again” and “there is nothing new under the sun.” It’s hard to think that these could be the unofficial slogans of innovations in human wellbeing, […]
Free App Idea: Uber for Teenage Entrepreneurs
I’m a big fan of summer jobs. In fact, I wish more people had them than just teenagers. But I can only imagine that these days (even with the wealth of information available) many teens have little clue about how to […]
Free Feature Idea: Potluck – For Pitching In
Potluck dinners are one of the great inventions of humankind. So why not bring the potluck concept to more (or all) parts of life? People want to connect with each other, and they do it best when they’re helping each other. We […]
Free Business Idea: Roaming Sports Rentals
Discovering amazing new places can be frustrating sometimes. Maybe you stumble on a great biking trail while out for a run. You walk past the Old Fourth Ward skate park and want to try out some boarding. Maybe you’re driving near […]
Free Business Ideas: Moving Agency
The moving market is terribly underserved. There are plenty businesses serving the actual packing and carrying of household goods. There are plenty of services that help people find apartments. But the real pain of moving comes from all of the account […]