# Essays

Things I've written, organized by what they're trying to say.

## Featured

- [Perpetual Motion Machine of Entrepreneurship](/essays/perpetual-motion-machine-of-entrepreneurship.md). *Success begets success, and entrepreneurship perpetuates entrepreneurs.*
- [It All Changes When The Founder Drives A Porsche](/essays/it-all-changes-when-the-founder-drives-a-porsche.md). *Founders make different decisions when money doesn't matter.*
- [Working With The Voices In My Head](/essays/working-with-the-voices-in-my-head.md). *There is no one harder on me than me.*
- [Ownership is About Trust](/essays/ownership-is-about-trust.md). *Failure without learning is a loss. Learn something, and it’s a win.*
- [Choosing the Day I’m Going to Die Has Helped Me Live](/essays/choosing-the-day-im-going-to-die-has-helped-me-live.md). *Of all the reasons I love my animals, probably the biggest one is that they have provided me the ability to set my death date.*

## On Founder Craft (34)

- [10 Steps to Being an Ex-CEO](/essays/ten-steps-to-being-an-ex-ceo.md). *Could and should are two different things.*
- [10,000 > 1,000,000](/essays/ten-thousand-greater-than-one-million.md). *The creation of value trumps the creation of wealth.*
- [3 Lessons That Make A Market](/essays/three-lessons-that-make-a-market.md). *It's never team first. It's always market.*
- [8 Traits That Make Founders Fundable](/essays/eight-traits-that-make-founders-fundable.md). *We always know what to do. It depends on whether we decide to do it.*
- [Advisors Stop Screwing Founders](/essays/advisors-stop-screwing-founders.md). *It is not cool to be an advisor; it's a responsibility.*
- [Big Ideas; Small Communities](/essays/big-ideas-small-communities.md). *Our small community is building big ideas while you do.*
- [Dark Side of the Curve](/essays/dark-side-of-the-curve.md). *Never compromise user trust for user growth.*
- [Die, Traction, Die.](/essays/die-traction-die.md). *There is no worse word to hear while fundraising.*
- [Don’t Lie; You Don’t Care](/essays/dont-lie-you-dont-care.md). *As product people, we can do better.*
- [Elements of A Startup Ecosystem](/essays/elements-of-a-startup-ecosystem.md). *Founders have to be more than founders. They have to be the boats that rise all tides.*
- [Failing Purposefully](/essays/failing-purposefully.md). *If failure is a part of entrepreneurial life, shouldn't we practice it?*
- [Founders Are Fixers](/essays/founders-are-fixers.md). *But we can’t fix ourselves.*
- [how > who > why > what > when > where.](/essays/how-who-why-what-when-where.md). *How is the true driver of legacy.*
- [How to Take a No](/essays/how-to-take-a-no.md). *Founders aren't applying for a job. They're selling a piece of their company.*
- [I Hate Being an Entrepreneur](/essays/i-hate-being-an-entrepreneur.md). *I never became an entrepreneur. I've just always been one.*
- [Independent Board Members: Why?](/essays/independent-board-members-why.md). *You need someone in the room who cares about you first, the business second.*
- [It All Changes When The Founder Drives A Porsche](/essays/it-all-changes-when-the-founder-drives-a-porsche.md). *Founders make different decisions when money doesn't matter.*
- [It Looks So Easy](/essays/it-looks-so-easy.md). *I am not alone. You are not alone.*
- [Passion Kills](/essays/passion-kills.md). *There is no word in startup lexicon I hate more than passion.*
- [Perpetual Motion Machine of Entrepreneurship](/essays/perpetual-motion-machine-of-entrepreneurship.md). *Success begets success, and entrepreneurship perpetuates entrepreneurs.*
- [Silicon Valley is Dead](/essays/silicon-valley-is-dead.md). *The givers are getting replaced by the takers. It's strangling Silicon Valley.*
- [The Most Important Startup](/essays/the-most-important-startup.md). *By always putting others first, you teach them it's okay to put you second.*
- [The Only Guide to Seed Fundraising You Will Ever Need. Ever. Seriously.](/essays/the-only-guide-to-seed-fundraising.md). *You're not raising money. You're selling a piece of your company.*
- [The Science of Business Development](/essays/the-science-of-business-development.md). *To get, you have to give. And trust the gift is compelling enough to come back.*
- [The Three Meeting Gambit](/essays/the-three-meeting-gambit.md). *Three meetings is enough to get to a yes or no.*
- [Three BS Startup Myths We Believe.](/essays/three-bs-startup-myths-we-believe.md). *Milestones aren't achievements. They're calls to action.*
- [Three Things to KISS.](/essays/three-things-to-kiss.md). *We stop listening to ourselves because we stop trusting ourselves.*
- [Want to Start a Company? Work at a Big One First.](/essays/want-to-start-a-company-work-at-a-big-one-first.md). *I went to Amazon and learned to be a better founder.*
- [What I Wish Always Existed](/essays/what-i-wish-always-existed.md). *Build something you wish always existed.*
- [What is Customer Obsession?](/essays/what-is-customer-obsession.md). *The customer isn't always right. Earn their trust instead.*
- [What Your Product Tells Investors](/essays/what-your-product-tells-investors.md). *It's not to show that you can build beautiful. It's to show that you can build big.*
- [When The World Tells You No, Don’t Hear Yes](/essays/when-the-world-tells-you-no-dont-hear-yes.md). *Beware the false positive. It's only going to prop you up until you fail.*
- [Why Maximizing Your Valuation May Be Minimizing Your Chance for Success](/essays/why-maximizing-your-valuation-may-be-minimizing-your-chance-for-success.md). *Stop worrying about valuation. Start focusing on trust.*
- [Your Product Sucks; Stop Telling Me About It.](/essays/your-product-sucks-stop-telling-me-about-it.md). *It's fine to love your product. Pitch your business.*

## On Leadership (15)

- [Ask Questions Without Fear](/essays/ask-questions-without-fear.md). *Accept not knowing, while knowingly be accepting.*
- [Be Positive, Asshole.](/essays/be-positive-asshole.md). *I used to believe brutal truth was the best way to help. God, I was such an asshole.*
- [Cultivating Dark Matter](/essays/cultivating-dark-matter.md). *I am dark matter.*
- [Don’t Panic; Let’s Talk](/essays/dont-panic-lets-talk.md). *"You are not alone." Of all the advice I’ve received and given, those four words always rang as the most important.*
- [Eliminate These Two Words](/essays/eliminate-these-two-words.md). *No, I don't think it. I don't believe it. I know it.*
- [Founders’ Anonymous](/essays/founders-anonymous.md). *In order for founders to exist, we need pals.*
- [I Hate Retrospectives](/essays/i-hate-retrospectives.md). *Yesterdays are set in stone. Tomorrows in clay.*
- [I Love You, but I Hate Your Assistant](/essays/i-love-you-but-i-hate-your-assistant.md). *You want to look more important? Build something important.*
- [Motivation.](/essays/motivation.md). *Motivation is a lie. Don't wait for some mythical mental motor. Just do it.*
- [Opened Mouths Equal Closed Ears](/essays/opened-mouths-equal-closed-ears.md). *We spent all our time talking. We did everything but listen.*
- [Ownership is About Trust](/essays/ownership-is-about-trust.md). *Failure without learning is a loss. Learn something, and it’s a win.*
- [Put Me In, Coach!](/essays/put-me-in-coach.md). *It isn't whether you can run fast. It's whether you can help your team run the fastest.*
- [Stop Asking Me For Introductions; I Only Connect People](/essays/stop-asking-me-for-introductions.md). *Value the connection. You'll never need an introduction again.*
- [The Rule of Awesome](/essays/the-rule-of-awesome.md). *If we hire you because you're awesome, you have 30 days to do something awesome.*
- [Yes. It is Your Fault. Dammit.](/essays/yes-it-is-your-fault-dammit.md). *Failure is, 100% of the time, your fault. Own it.*

## On Noticing (27)

- [Atomic Giving](/essays/atomic-giving.md). *I lose my grip on the present and spend all my money on memories of the past and contemplations of the future.*
- [Breaths, Heartbeats and Time](/essays/breaths-heartbeats-and-time.md). *I had created difficulties in my life for the sake of making my life difficult.*
- [Bulletproof.](/essays/bulletproof.md). *When I turned 18, I was surprised. Surprised that I was alive.*
- [Chasing Perfection](/essays/chasing-perfection.md). *Our lives are moments of perfection surrounded by a cornucopia of suck.*
- [Choosing the Day I’m Going to Die Has Helped Me Live](/essays/choosing-the-day-im-going-to-die-has-helped-me-live.md). *Of all the reasons I love my animals, probably the biggest one is that they have provided me the ability to set my death date.*
- [Creating Lines Out of Dots](/essays/creating-lines-out-of-dots.md). *I knew what I am good at. I was unsure if my dots were turning into lines to get me there.*
- [Creativity is as Creativity Does](/essays/creativity-is-as-creativity-does.md). *Inspiration and creativity are not about time. They're about space.*
- [Giving Gets You Good](/essays/giving-gets-you-good.md). *What was making me sad was the lack of give.*
- [I am Gay](/essays/i-am-gay.md). *Living a life of acceptance means more than being tolerant.*
- [Legacy > Currency](/essays/legacy-currency.md). *I want my legacy to be that I did something that warranted an email of thanks.*
- [Living to Die](/essays/living-to-die.md). *The opposite of death isn't life. It's trust.*
- [On Suicide](/essays/on-suicide.md). *I've asked myself 12,775 times if suicide was a better option than death. 12,775 times the answer was no.*
- [Pain Is Only Understood In Its Absence](/essays/pain-is-only-understood-in-its-absence.md). *We only understand pain when it's absent.*
- [Step 1: Time Over Things](/essays/step-1-time-over-things.md). *Length of time has begun to matter less to me. I prioritize spending time with the people I love rather than assuming there is always time available.*
- [The $12 Alarm Clock](/essays/the-12-alarm-clock.md). *The beauty of single use devices.*
- [The Boring Life](/essays/the-boring-life.md). *How doing nothing became my everything.*
- [The Curse of Tomorrow](/essays/the-curse-of-tomorrow.md). *On April 1, 2006, I chose life.*
- [The Perfect Month](/essays/the-perfect-month.md). *Perfection isn't about not having flaws. It's about finishing.*
- [The Prepared Mind](/essays/the-prepared-mind.md). *Great victories don't come because you're better. They come because you're better prepared.*
- [The Timid Nature of Age](/essays/the-timid-nature-of-age.md). *I see, but I don't do.*
- [Touched By a Thousand Smiles](/essays/touched-by-a-thousand-smiles.md). *I am bipolar. But you knew this.*
- [Truth. Lost Among Optimism.](/essays/truth-lost-among-optimism.md). *Founders are abject optimists. Optimists are the greatest liars.*
- [When Your Time Comes Around](/essays/when-your-time-comes-around.md). *Time. Fucking hell. Who knew it would be so important?*
- [Why I Write is Not Why You Do](/essays/why-i-write-is-not-why-you-do.md). *Just write. People will hate it. People will love it. People won't care.*
- [Working With The Voices In My Head](/essays/working-with-the-voices-in-my-head.md). *There is no one harder on me than me.*
- [Writing is More Than Words](/essays/writing-is-more-than-words.md). *I have no idea if I am good at it. I just enjoy it.*
- [You know, that one fucking moment](/essays/you-know-that-one-fucking-moment.md). *You are only alone when you close your eyes.*