Bootstrapped from zero. “Sell a product or course online! Sell services locally!” There are millions of different get rich quick schemes floating online now. The goal here is to secure the bag and escape the grind ASAP. Raised $100M+ from VCs. “Are you a Unicorn yet? Which Y Combinator class were you in?” Startups areContinue reading “We Need A Middle Class For Startups”
Category Archives: Essays
The Decades Are Short But The Centuries Are Long
Labdoor is turning 10 years old this month! We’ve been through so much — moving cross-country to SF to join Rock Health, raising a seed round led by Mark Cuban, creating a passionate community of smart consumers, getting accepted into Y Combinator’s Winter 2015 class, fighting multiple lawsuits from supplement companies, raising a Series A ledContinue reading “The Decades Are Short But The Centuries Are Long”
The Most Important Job in the World
Goalie, St. Louis Blues: 1992-95 Astronaut, NASA: 1995-99 President, USA: 1999-2010 Owner, St. Louis Blues: 2000-Now Help Dad Rebuild His Business: 2010-12 Make Independent Testing Ubiquitous: 2012-2020 Solve the World’s Biggest Problems: 2020-Now My first loves were hockey and the St. Louis Blues. I started playing hockey when I was four, first street and rollerContinue reading “The Most Important Job in the World”
Real Real GDP
A woman in Coldwater, Michigan works 60 hours a week for $8.50 per hour ($510/week). Minimum wage is increased to $15 per hour. The same woman now works 34 hours a week for $15 per hour ($510/week). Answer: Nothing. That 26 hours per week goes into childcare and housework and, yes, leisure. But GDP doesn’tContinue reading “Real Real GDP”
Hidden Ambition
We’re scared of losing, but we’re terrified of being called a loser. We grew up watching elementary school bullies pick on the “nerds”. If you’re like me, you were usually the target of the teasing. It’s easy to internalize the idea that being ambitious isn’t cool. Social media is full of bullies making fun ofContinue reading “Hidden Ambition”
You Have To Make Life Meaningful
They’ll summarize your life into a few words, sentences, or paragraphs. The family you created, the friends you made, the things you did. In those words are the meaning of your life. Life’s secret is that these words aren’t predetermined. We get to pick these words through our actions now. We have to make ourContinue reading “You Have To Make Life Meaningful”
Ambitious Optimists
Moonshots force us to stretch to the limits of our potential. The pursuit of these goals turn dreams into reality. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure theContinue reading “Ambitious Optimists”
Pax Internet
Old: Convince governments, and people will follow. New: Convince people, and governments will follow. When President Zelenskyy posts videos online, his audience isn’t just his citizens and his enemies. We’re all his audience. We’re all his potential supporters. The power of enough people supersedes the power of any government. China, India, USA, North Korea, andContinue reading “Pax Internet”
Fuck The Cynics
I think it started May 1, 2003: Conspiracy theories have gone mainstream: Example: It used to be a fringe idea to believe that our phones were all tapped. Now it’s normal to think that governments and corporations are reading our texts. The truth is that anyone with enough resources could probably gain access to yourContinue reading “Fuck The Cynics”
Maximize Human Potential
The answer is your potential energy. The sum of all this potential energy is the world’s greatest untapped resource. In physics, potential energy is converted into kinetic energy by a force. However, if the friction is greater than the force, there will be no movement. We need to maximize our positive force and minimize theContinue reading “Maximize Human Potential”