Writing.
Essays since 2006, plus a few things first published at USV. Occasional by design. The podcast lives on its own page.
- Getting the chills
One of the greatest things Frannie and I have in common is that we get the chills from music — typically at the exact same time, triggered by the same musical… something. For me it starts at the back of my neck, and if it’s really good, it spreads all over my back, head, and… Continue reading
- The utility infielder
My favorite baseball player is Brock Holt, and has been since his first season with the Red Sox back in 2013. Here is me last month wearing my Holt jersey that I wear to every game (note the #26 that he started out with, before it was retired for Wade Boggs a few years ago… Continue reading
- Fear
I have been helping my son, who is in 4th grade, with his math — specifically, multiplication. He feels like he is a little bit behind, so we are working on it so he can get more comfortable. It is going well now — we have gotten into a routine of spending 15 minutes per… Continue reading
- Form factor
Over the past few weeks, I have varied up my computing habits a bit. For a laptop, I have been using a Pixelbook, and I have also been spending more timing using an iPad Pro for work (vs my default of using a Mac laptop for everything). What I have discovered is that the form… Continue reading
- A little, and then a little more
Back in May, I had what ended up being a major hand surgery — repairing a torn tendon and in the process reconstructing the end of my pinkie by grafting tendons borrowed from my ring finger. As a result, I am now recovering from two injuries — the pinkie itself and the ring finger that… Continue re...
- Layers
A central concept on the internet is Layering. Each of the protocols in the internet stack talks to the layer directly above and below it — new protocols can be added as long as they speak the language of their layer. Protocols at one layer can be upgraded so long as they don’t break compatibility...
- Minimum Viable Economy
One of my favorite things about the cryptocurrency / blockchain space is that our conception of “what it all means” is still very much in flux. Nic Carter just published a nice analysis of how the functional narrative around bitcoin has changed over time – (roughly) from e-cash, to e-gold, to privat...
- The path to decentralization: self-destructing companies
In June, the SEC gave some of its most concrete guidance to date that cryptoassets can start out as centralized projects, possibly initially sold under securities laws, and eventually become “decentralized” and thus no longer sponsor-controlled, and no longer sold or transferred under securities law...
- Trust and fairness
I was at an event last night, where the moderator, Preeti Varathan from QZ observed that there seemed to be a lot of cynicism in the blockchain / crypto space — in other words, that the whole thing was essentially premised on a distrust of existing systems (fiat currencies, large internet companies,...
- Compound interest goes in both directions
There is no shortage of writing and punditry about the power of compound interest. As usual Naval has a pithy tweet about it: Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest. — Naval (@naval) May 31, 2018 I have been thinking ...
- just_work = true
One of my former colleagues, Rob Marianski, and I used to have a running joke — we would be building and debugging something, and he’d finally say, “Oh, so you just want me to set just_work = true?”. That was over 10 years ago, but it still gets me every time for some reason. (as… Continue reading
- Focus
Ryan Caldbeck is on fire on Twitter right now. Ryan is the CEO of our portfolio company CircleUp, and he just joined Twitter for the first time earlier this year and is, I may say, feeling very comfortable in the medium. Over the weekend he put up a great diagram-oriented tweetstorm with a bunch o...
- Finding your discomfort zone
I have been down in DC the last few weeks, among other things, talking to lawmakers and regulators about cryptonetworks and cryptocurrencies. As part of that, I’ve been spending a lot of time with attorneys — specifically securities attorneys — getting into depth on issues like the definition of an...
- Digital scarcity
As readers of this blog can tell, I’ve been spending a lot of my time recently focused on cryptonetworks and blockchains, and in particular, working through the complex legal and regulatory issues involved. Explaining what cryptocurrencies, cryptonetworks and blockchains are is hard to do. As Naval...
- Zombies eating kitties
On Tuesday we announced our investment in Cryptokitties, and, as you might expect, received a combination of enthusiasm and skepticism in response. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies already sound ridiculous to most people, and virtual “real” kittens made out of cryptocurrency take it a step further. But...
- A bigger container
An idea I like from Zen Buddhism is becoming a Bigger Container. My understanding of the idea is this: There are a lot of difficult/bad/sad/scary things going on in the world, ranging from serious global issues, war, famine, terrorism, etc; to things in your city like homelessness or joblessnes; to...
- Cryptonetworks and why tokens are fundamental
“Cryptonetworks” can help us build a more competitive, innovative, secure and decentralized Internet. “Tokens” (also known as cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets) are integral to the operation of cryptonetworks. As we design new laws and regulations in this emerging space, we should keep these concep...
- Running the USV analyst application process using Ziggeo, FormAssembly and Airtable
We are in the middle of our 2018 Analyst hiring process at USV. For the last several hiring cycles, USV has had an open process where anyone can apply. I actually wrote about it back in 2011, right before I joined, remarking at the high quality of applicants that the process produced. That is stil...
- Teaching kids to invest
I’ve written a bunch about why it’s expensive to be poor, why we need better tools for managing money, and how to move from a labor mindset to a capital mindset. A big takeaway for me is that accumulating wealth isn’t just a functional activity, it’s a mindset that needs to be learned, and taught.…...
- How to make big problems small and small problems big
Avoidance is to be avoided. — Nick Grossman (@nickgrossman) February 22, 2018 I’m on a plane right now. I always find plane/train rides to be some of the best times to focus and get work done. On this trip, I managed to get two “monkeys” off my back — little tasks that have been lingering… Continu...