Sridhar Vembu: Capital is a group’s capability to meet its diverse needs
A review of two short essays by Sridhar Vembu that explore the meaning of capital as the capability of a group or population to meet its own diverse economic needs. […]
Clayton Christensen on “How Will You Measure Your Life?”
Excerpts from Clayton Christensen’s address to the 2010 graduating class at Harvard Business School on “How Will You Measure Your Life?” […]
Thanksgiving 2019
Both of our sons were able to join us for Thanksgiving 2019. It was wonderful. We ended up in a conversation about George Washington, I have included his 1798 proclamation that established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the US. […]
Michael Wade: Things I Wish I Knew in My Twenties
I came across a list of 21 “Things I wish I knew in my twenties” by Michael Wade and was impressed by the insights he offered. Here are my top eight. […]
Octavia Butler: Cultivate Habits That Enable Persistence and Learning
Octavia Butler rejects inspiration, talent, and imagination as essential to creative pursuits and suggests that habits that enable persistence and learning are the essential element. […]
Some Reflections on My Life Triggered by a Recent Birthday
I had a birthday this week which triggered from reflections on my life. I prepared a short list of lessons learned for my party. I hope you find them helpful. […]
Why I Like Working with Entrepreneurs
I like working with entrepreneurs because I find it easier to deal with their psychological challenges and the small team dynamics of a startup than the political problems of an enterprise. […]
Reciprocal Gift-Exchange and Charity Knit Networks into Communities
Humans like to give and to receive without cheating or being cheated: we want to be part of networks of reciprocal gift-exchange. If you want to become a member in good standing of community you will need to “give to get.” […]
Father’s Day 2019: a Story of My Father
Some personal reflections on my father and a stroke he suffered in June 1994 when I was launching a new company and expecting my first son in a few weeks. […]
Thanksgiving 2018: a Look Back at Founders Who Persevered
For Thanksgiving 2018 I wanted to recap how the events of the first Thanksgiving feast: here are excerpts from “Mourt’s Relation” and “Of Plymouth Plantation.” […]
What a Mixmaster our dreams are for our memories
I take a fair amount of inspiration from dreams, which I believe are a way for the mind to reprocess memories into new configurations, the same way that a mixmaster can beat eggs or potatoes into a smooth consistency. I think dreams are a way of reprocessing experiences and distilling [...]
Courtesy Keeps The Spirit Of Christmas Alive
Christmas afternoon finds me reading “Courtesy.” It’s an essay by Ian MacLaren (pen name for Scottish author and theologian John Watson) that offers a recipe for keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in daily life. Here are some excerpts I found useful, the last finds me still clearly in the [...]
No Man is a Failure Who Has Friends
No man is a failure who has friends. Clarence’s parting observation to George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” is good advice for all of us on Christmas Eve. Watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” has become a Christmas tradition in our family in recent years: it’s one of the few black and [...]
Maturing
The process of maturing from boy to man, from a son to father to grandfather, moves forward imperceptibly on a day to day basis but inexorably year by year. […]
Kin Hubbard on a Family Reunion at Christmas
The following is excerpted from the December section of Abe Martin’s Almanack for 1908 by Kin Hubbard. Hubbard tells a story of a family reunion at Christmas–that must be at least partly autobiographical–from the point of view of a young man who has been estranged from his family returning home [...]
Through The Rude Wind’s Wild Lament And The Bitter Weather
We have a week left in 2013. This is a short post to collect some odds and ends on the day after Christmas, also known as Feast of St. Stephen or Boxing Day depending upon where you are reading this. […]
Deprecating Facebook Part Two
I am deprecating my use of Facebook except for a small group of friends and family. On-line communities do not enable person to person trust to scale. […]