I love the idea of reinventing venture capital. Here are some great examples: Patagonia’s venture capital fund: invests in environmentally and socially responsible start-up companies, providing long-term, patient capital. I highly recommend reading Let My People Go Surfing by founder Yvon Chouinard. Y Combinator: invests small sums at the seed stage, but in large batches…
Month: January 2019
I (almost) bought a Tesla Model S
As a fellow Mustachian, I am quite proud to not own a car. I save a ton of money and headaches. But I have my weak moments. One such period was last summer. I convinced myself to buy a used Tesla Model S (after renting one last year). I went through the whole process: research,…
Passions Are Toxic
A passion is a “strong and barely controllable emotion”. The Late Latin word passio litteraly means “suffering” (from Latin pati “to suffer”). Who enjoys suffering? I don’t. The use of the word has been declining until 1980, with good reason. Then the trend reversed. It became a mantra of the tech/startup world. You’ve got to…
The Edison Technique: The Best Way to Invent Anything
How to innovate: Build a prototype, and then keep iterating. Each time, only change one single thing. Then you see exactly what caused the improvement or failure. That way you build a huge bank of knowledge, and after many iterations, end up with something unique. James Dyson used this method to create over 5000 prototypes…
Contemplating Mortality
It’s healthy to reflect on the nature of impermanence, especially our human mortality. The Stoics recommend to prepare for your own death every day. During one of my daily reflections, I looked it up. Each day, 150,000 humans die. That means that in 2019, more than 50 million people will die. It’s good to remember…