I started writing this a while ago and am publishing it now even though I don't feel this anymore. Nonetheless, I edited and finished it because I think the vibe is interesting and might be helpful to another fellow "bottom of the top 1%"-er. So here we go. I'm going to chip off a piece… Continue reading Above-average mediocrity
Tag: Life Lessons
My thyroid got cancer: one year later
This is a follow-up to my first article, My Thyroid Got Cancer. The ultrasounds are soothing. The whir of the machine, the doctor’s thoughtful grunts as she probes my neck, the crackle of the paper on the examination table. It is very familiar to me now. I relax into it and close my eyes. I… Continue reading My thyroid got cancer: one year later
The definition of parallel entrepreneurship
Here’s the concept. You don’t quit your day job and then build a startup. You build a startup and then quit your day job. There’s no reason anymore to go full-time into any one thing. If you have the itch to try your hand at starting a business, then you should do it while your… Continue reading The definition of parallel entrepreneurship
My greatest hits at Scripted
I’ve been thinking recently about what I did right during my time at Scripted as a co-founder, COO, head of sales, and finally CEO. A few surprising things came to mind. Here they are. I had “grandma shirts” made for the entire team at our last retreat Let me take a step back and explain this… Continue reading My greatest hits at Scripted
The view from 35
Morning hike on day 1 of my 35th year. My 25th birthday was a melancholy one. I didn’t do much on my birthday ten years ago. I remember going to see a movie by myself in downtown Boston. It was the start of my second year of grad school and I’d just returned to New England… Continue reading The view from 35
My thyroid got cancer
My thyroid got cancer some time ago. The doctors can’t say when because there was no way to determine a growth rate. It might have been thirty years ago when my throat was X-rayed during a bout with really bad croup, but nobody knows. On January 29, 2017, a talented surgeon at Kaiser in Walnut… Continue reading My thyroid got cancer
Another day, another BBQ
One of the things I dreamt about from the confines of my marina apartment in San Francisco was was barbecuing in my backyard-to-be. I salivated at the thought of barbecuing at any time, on any day. Just fire up the grill and drop on a salted and peppered rib eye or marinated chicken thighs. I… Continue reading Another day, another BBQ
I’m not shaving until my company is profitable
I’ve been working on Scripted for five years and it’s never been profitable. More like ten years if you count my pre-pivot company too. Even when we didn’t have employees, we still weren’t profitable. We actually didn’t lose a lot of money back then, but we didn’t make a lot either. Then we raised $18M… Continue reading I’m not shaving until my company is profitable
The highs and lows of 3 months with no alcohol
TL;DR I highly recommend it My wife and I talked about it months before my final gin and tonic. My 34th birthday marked the start of my wife’s third trimester. This meant my second daughter’s birthday would be about 90 days after my own. We’d always kidded about my going without alcohol “in solidarity” with… Continue reading The highs and lows of 3 months with no alcohol
Finding the flow
Yard work is hard work Over the last few years, I’ve started some adventurous landscaping projects at my home in Walnut Creek. As a first-time homeowner, I felt a little nervous about it. Yes, I was anxious about whether the projects would turn out successfully. More importantly, though, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have the… Continue reading Finding the flow