Your twenties seem to be the time where the only thing that matters is to get to know yourself. Becoming your own best friend seems to be core to this process. You need to accept and get to know yourself. The people that struggle seem to project an image of themselves into the world that is not who they are or how they feel. The difference between reality and self image creates a lot of emotional turmoil, self loathing and unstable mental health.

This is the second installment of my series on young VC’s in New York. I’m interested to learn what processes, frameworks and mental models these new VC’s are adapting and using to evaluate early stage companies. The goal of this series is threefold. First, understand the mental models that each…

The beta (β) of a stock is the relative change in value of that stock versus the change of the stock market as a whole. By definition, the stock market has a beta of 1. It is a measure of volatility. I believe mental health also has a beta. And it’s different for everyone. When you mental beta is high, it means your mental health fluctuates more than when it’s low. Just like stocks you might end up at a higher level over the long run, but there can be a lot of volatility involved to get there.

Writing good emails is a valuable skill. Yet, many people just send out stuff that gets lost in trash or gets archived immediately. So I wanted to share what I’ve learned from writing many, many emails (like ‘12,000 cold emails’ many) as an SDR and in my personal life. …

Technology is changing the real estate industry. I categorize these new developments in the space along two axes: access vs ownership and commercial vs residential. We saw a first wave of change in residential real estate, focusing on creating (Airbnb) or fragmenting (HotelTonight, Common) access. …

An observation: systems that thrive in nature do so by putting the whole before the parts. All living creatures kill off individual cells to replace them with new ones. This helps the organism as a whole to stay healthy. Forests thrive when there are occasional fires that filter out the…

People Market Product Distribution The first two, product and market, seem to be the most important when starting out as a new venture. It’s the only thing you can judge before there’s a solid product or revenue. The last two, product and distribution, is what will set you apart from other companies in the market. If you have a better product and are more effective and efficient and distributing it, you will win.

This is the first installment of my series on young VC’s in New York. I’m interested to learn what processes, frameworks and mental models these new VC’s are adapting and using to evaluate early stage companies. The goal of this series is threefold. First, understand the mental models that each…

Readers of Nassim Taleb’s Incerto will be familiar with these terms. Any strategy with optionality is like a highway with multiple exits — Nassim Taleb What is Skin in the Game (SITG)? The phrase is often mistaken for one-sided incentives: the promise of a bonus will make someone work harder…