How Not To Be Wrong Lessons in mathematical thinking I recently started reading How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg. It was recommended by Bill Gates in 2016. The book starts out by talking about mathematical thinking. They explain an example of a math problem in war. How do you most efficiently armor an airplane?…
All posts in Daily Digest
I’m a horrible consultant, I finished Slaughterhouse 5, and I drew Spiderman!
Why I’m a horrible software consultant I try to help entrepreneurs – I don’t just take their money I was talking to a potential client earlier today. It made me think about one of the hardest parts of consulting – charging money. It’s very easy to take a client’s money and build something. That’s not…
The Vampire Test, John Romulus Brinkley, and a Wadsworth Quote
The Vampire Test If, after having out with someone, you feel worn out and depleted, that person is a vampire. If, after hanging out with someone you still feel full of energy, that person is not a vampire. Of course, The Vampire Test works on many things in our lives, not just people – you can apply…
Exposure, Upside Down Drawing, Memory Tricks, and Dog Poop
Putting Yourself Out There Sharing things you create is always a little scary. Yesterday, I shared the rough draft of a podcast script. Luckily, I have great friends that read it and said great things to me about it. Shoutout to Jason and Dan. It’s been a goal of mine to share more things this…
Smart Small, Take Risks, Memorize, and Prototype
Starting small to show forward progress I’m dipping my toes into podcasts. First, I’m writing an intro for a podcast about John D. Rockefeller’s youth in the style of Ira Glass. Not a full podcast, just the intro. I’m also not going to do the full podcast unless I really start to love the process.…
Moving (Forward), Drawing, Book Buying, Gmail.js-ing, and Jazz-Quoting
Forward Progress Forward progress is important in business. Even the tiniest bit of forward progress can catapult you into further action. It has been weeks since I did any work on my cold email projects. Two days ago, I received a response to an email I sent a month ago. This response has me excited for the…
No Mentors, Learning Like Ghengis, and Airplane Inspiration
Do You Need a Mentor? Someone asked “Where do you find mentors online?” on Hacker News last week. Perhaps a better question is, do you need a mentor? A lot of times you will find that you already know the answers to your questions. You just want reassurance. When John D. Rockefeller bought out the…
Lunch-e-ons, Being Sick, Memory Palaces, and Deconstruction
Luncheons My wife liked something I said on twitter! Well, it was actually a retweet. “Never make fun of people for mispronouncing a word. It means they learned it by reading.” — Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) January 11, 2017 Why am I mentioning this? For one, I didn’t know my wife followed me closely on Twitter.…
Confidence, Extraction, Dead Subjects, and 99 Ways to Tell a Story
99 Ways to Tell a Story A new book arrived yesterday and it’s really interesting. It’s call 99 ways to tell a story by Matt Madden. The entire book is literally 99 different ways to tell a story about a man getting up from his work and walking to the refrigerator. That’s it. The entire book.…
Extracting, Practicing, Storytelling, and Johari-ing?
Day 4 – My discipline is getting better, but my titles are getting much, much worse! Practicing Extraction Jay Acunzo uses the term extraction to mean taking a formula used by a storyteller and attempt to tell your own stories using that formula. I plan on practicing that this weekend. I don’t know if this will…