Essays

"Nobody checks on a man to see if he’s okay, they check to see if he is still useful."

When you have been brought up most of your life learning how to game the system, the metric for success becomes defined as beating someone rather than curating the life you actually want.

"Don’t use a typewriter. The noise will destroy your sense of rhythm, which still needs years of training." - CS Lewis

Anyone telling you to follow your passion is already rich. No one grows up thinking: "I'm passionate about tax law", but the best tax lawyers fly private jets and have a much broader selection of mates than they deserve.

Every new venture has to overcome an initial resistance to achieve a breakthrough.

Lessons on getting educated, unhealthy comparisons and staying humble.

“The good news is that the Italians make the pasta and the Swiss make the watches. But if we stop world trade and the Swiss have to make their own pasta and the Italians have to make their own watches, the world will probably... maybe arguably, people in both countries will be a little worse off.” - Howard Marks [1]

A few hours of distraction every day is the most common recipe of an average life. Cut the noise and get things done.

Do not believe anything ever again, time to slow down, and no more executive roles after your fifties.

Competitive rivalry in the VC world, recession and tech jobs, a banker's pipe dream and how to legitimately lose money.