Is this our fate? Is the future destined to be hell on earth? Does every version of our future include neon Coca-Cola billboards and authoritarian robot overlords? Or are we just projecting the unhappiness of our present lives into our wildest nightmares? And who creates the future first? Science fiction writers. So when our mostContinue reading “Utopiaforming”
Category Archives: Essays
Centralization vs. Decentralization
“There are only two ways I know of to make money: bundling and unbundling.” – Jim Barksdale Bitcoin decentralizes control but consolidates wealth. If cryptocurrencies become just another way for rich people to hoard money and evade taxes, then it won’t really change the world. Cryptocountries are the future of the Decentralized Left. These nationsContinue reading “Centralization vs. Decentralization”
Fractionalization
Problem: High transaction costs limit public access into finance, real estate, etc. Solution: Fractionalize complex assets using smart contracts and digital mirrors. How many lawyers can we replace with smart contracts? How much of finance is just entities securing each others’ assets? VCs (1-10+ wires) → Angels (10-100+ checks) → Crowdfunding (100-1K+ credit cards) →Continue reading “Fractionalization”
Politics is the Biggest Game
What would you cut here? Take it from noted cynic Plato: “The chief penalty is to be governed by someone worse if a man will not himself hold office and rule. It is from fear of this, as it appears to me, that the better sort hold office when they do, and then they goContinue reading “Politics is the Biggest Game”
Hamming Questions
My World’s Biggest Problems project is inspired by one of my favorite quotes: I paraphrase this idea into two questions: Why don’t more people spend their time solving the hardest problems? My personal mission is to convince more people to solve The World’s Biggest Problems. This idea is a work-in-progress. If you’d like to riff on it, hitContinue reading “Hamming Questions”
Art vs. Fame
That’s Art without Fame. Some people romanticize this as ‘true’ art, but it can be a path to madness. Right now there are thousands of people around the world who are stuck in this very spot. I call them ‘Stellar’ — they have all the ingredients to be a Star, but they haven’t blown up yet: IContinue reading “Art vs. Fame”
I am an American.
I am an American. I was born on May 18, 1988, in St. Louis, Missouri. I became a father for the first time this week. My son Kai is one of our newest Americans. My father is an American. He became a US citizen the year I was born. He was born in a villageContinue reading “I am an American.”
Take Down This Flag
When I was two years old, my parents bought their first home in America. For two immigrants from India, this action epitomized the ‘American Dream’ that was promised to them a decade earlier when my father left his homeland with just $20 + a scholarship to a US PhD program to his name. To celebrateContinue reading “Take Down This Flag”
The Founder Tree
Championships matter, of course. But when ESPN assembled an all-star panel to pick the 20 best NFL coaches in history, these experts focused on another key attribute when ranking these leaders — their coaching trees. It’s not enough to win now. You also have the responsibility to recruit and develop leaders who go on to win theirContinue reading “The Founder Tree”
Entrepreneurship = Get Rich Slow
Ever seen this quote? “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life living like most people can’t.” Starstruck wantrepeneurs: Understand the real-world challenges that you’re going to face as a startup founder. It’s not just 100+ hour work weeks coding inContinue reading “Entrepreneurship = Get Rich Slow”