the brilliance of the thiel fellowship.
A pretty cool documentary airs tonight on CNBC, 20 under 20: Transforming Tomorrow. It follows the selection process for the inaugural class of the “Thiel Fellows”. I saw an early version and really liked it. Edited together in the style of a reality tv show, it manages to transcend the banality of that format to actually […]
square and starbucks.
What’s in it for Starbucks? That’s the question I was asking after I digested the big news from last night that Square signed a deal with Starbucks to power their payments. I won’t detail the deal, because if you haven’t read about it already, you definitely don’t care about this post. First, I’m surprised at […]
our anchors.
Traveling was a great chance for me to get lost in thought. Interestingly, the bulk of the threads in my head were long-simmering ideas that I now pulled on further. I traveled alone for most of my trips. In practice, this meant that I was constantly surrounded by new single-serving friends in each new city. […]
beauty vs the world.
For a long time, I assumed that like most things, there was a natural balance between the horrors and the beauty of the world. The yin and the yang that was part of the normal harmony of things. While this might still be true, I’ve learned that it’s wrong for me. I’m in the middle […]
infinite possibilities.
Every now and then I’ll read some thing that instantly floors me. I’ll get goosebumps and my mind races while I try to slow it down to process what I’ve just read. Marina Keegan had just graduated Yale when she died in a car accident. In light of this, her final column in the Yale […]
the less discussed, other sinister plot at groupon.
I love Silicon Valley. Love almost everything about the technology ecosystem. I grew up in New Jersey watching with extreme envy and wonderment as the ‘95-01 boom-bust played out. Like most, I also share a certain reverence for Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, the Valley tends to indulge in one of the less enviable Jobsian traits: the […]
the best luxury.
While the broader economy struggles, Silicon Valley sits apart. Things are red-hot. With Facebook’s impending IPO, the crop from 2011, and the current venture climate: wealth is in the air. Lots of talk of buying condos, building homes, new cars, and fancy vacations abound. It’s been interesting to see how people treat newfound wealth and […]
with age.
Change is a topic I’ve thought a lot about. Recently I’ve been noodling over how I’ve changed over the years. My tastes. How I make decisions. How I interact with the world. What I value. How I spend my time. What I worry about. What makes me happy. All that stuff. Recently I’ve found that […]
the deal with manufacturing.
A few years ago I was obsessed with manufacturing. While not an expert, I have read thousands of pages on the topic and hundreds of articles. In my campaign for Congress, I tried to make jobs, and as a result, manufacturing a cornerstone. All that to say, that this is something I find interesting and […]
the white earbuds society.
Over the past year, whether I was in New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Cincinnati, there was always the unmistakable sight of white earbuds. Walking in the morning across Madison Ave, getting on the El headed downtown, or out for a run along the Ohio river: White earbuds dangling. I was heading in to the […]