A few weeks ago I started having a strange sensation in my right thigh. When I moved my leg, it felt as if something was slithering between my skin and my muscle in the marked area (these are not my legs, just a convenient image I found on the internet) Mystery solved. Whenever I had been sitting down with the key in my pocket it had pressed up against the area in my pelvis that the nerve passes through. Sure enough one week after no longer carrying the key there, the problem has completely d...

A few weeks ago I started having a strange sensation in my right thigh. When I moved my leg, it felt as if something was slithering between my skin and my muscle in the marked area (these are not my legs, just a convenient image I found on the internet) Mystery solved. Whenever I had been sitting down with the key in my pocket it had pressed up against the area in my pelvis that the nerve passes through. Sure enough one week after no longer carrying the key there, the problem has completely d...

Thirty one years ago, in 1987, I landed at Boston Logan Airport with an F1 student visa to attend Harvard. I was full of excitement and not the least bit concerned about getting into the country. I had been here twice before, once staying with a family in Rochester, Minnesota for a school year (1983/84) and once in the summer of 1986 to tour schools all across the US. Each time entering the country had been a complete non event (other than long waiting lines). This past Friday, a 17 year old ...

Thirty one years ago, in 1987, I landed at Boston Logan Airport with an F1 student visa to attend Harvard. I was full of excitement and not the least bit concerned about getting into the country. I had been here twice before, once staying with a family in Rochester, Minnesota for a school year (1983/84) and once in the summer of 1986 to tour schools all across the US. Each time entering the country had been a complete non event (other than long waiting lines). This past Friday, a 17 year old ...

I just spent nearly two weeks in Israel and Jordan on a family vacation. We saw amazing sights and met fascinating people. More than with other travel, and maybe due to some recent reading, the trip crystallized three insights for me 1. Humanity is capable of pulling off incredible projects 2. Humanity’s progress is fragile and large scale reversions happen 3. Religion is a terrible affliction for humanity I plan to write more about each of these in the coming weeks.

I just spent nearly two weeks in Israel and Jordan on a family vacation. We saw amazing sights and met fascinating people. More than with other travel, and maybe due to some recent reading, the trip crystallized three insights for me 1. Humanity is capable of pulling off incredible projects 2. Humanity’s progress is fragile and large scale reversions happen 3. Religion is a terrible affliction for humanity I plan to write more about each of these in the coming weeks.

I have been on a bit of a blogging break which is likely to go on for a few more weeks. The break has been the result of a confluence of several factors, starting with a lot of work. Historically, I would have reacted by cutting back on sleep and workouts but now I know better than to do that. I need 8 hours of sleep and when I don’t get those I can’t think well and, more importantly for the people around me, become irritable. Since I am on the topic of health, I am happy to report that my sh...

I have been on a bit of a blogging break which is likely to go on for a few more weeks. The break has been the result of a confluence of several factors, starting with a lot of work. Historically, I would have reacted by cutting back on sleep and workouts but now I know better than to do that. I need 8 hours of sleep and when I don’t get those I can’t think well and, more importantly for the people around me, become irritable. Since I am on the topic of health, I am happy to report that my sh...

This will be my last post until Labor Day. I will be spending as little time online as possible, reading books instead, spending time with family and friends and working on World After Capital. I will be disabling all notifications on my phone and checking email only twice a day. Given all the craziness here in the US and elsewhere in the world, I have been spending too much time on news and I am looking forward to this break to dial things down.

This will be my last post until Labor Day. I will be spending as little time online as possible, reading books instead, spending time with family and friends and working on World After Capital. I will be disabling all notifications on my phone and checking email only twice a day. Given all the craziness here in the US and elsewhere in the world, I have been spending too much time on news and I am looking forward to this break to dial things down.

Yesterday we publicly announced our 2016 fund and with it an evolution that has taken place behind the scenes at USV. Andy and I are now the managing partners with Fred, Brad and John continuing to invest and participate fully in the firm. John’s post and Fred’s post explain this in more detail. So instead of also writing about this change, I want to reflect on what I have learned from the past and share what I am excited about for the future. I have now spent over two decades in and around s...

Yesterday we publicly announced our 2016 fund and with it an evolution that has taken place behind the scenes at USV. Andy and I are now the managing partners with Fred, Brad and John continuing to invest and participate fully in the firm. John’s post and Fred’s post explain this in more detail. So instead of also writing about this change, I want to reflect on what I have learned from the past and share what I am excited about for the future. I have now spent over two decades in and around s...

No Uncertainty Wednesday today. I had shoulder surgery yesterday to repair a rotator cuff injury. That means I won’t be able to type for quite a few days. I am creating this post using Voice on my Android phone. Impressively I did not have to correct a single word.

No Uncertainty Wednesday today. I had shoulder surgery yesterday to repair a rotator cuff injury. That means I won’t be able to type for quite a few days. I am creating this post using Voice on my Android phone. Impressively I did not have to correct a single word.

After nearly four weeks of not posting due to shoulder surgery I am almost back. I am saying almost because even though I can type very well again, I am spending a fair bit of time every day on physical therapy. That is time I would have spent writing and, well, something has got to give. So for now I am planning on one post per week instead of the usual three, but let’s see where it goes. In the meantime though I want to thank everyone who kindly reached out, inquired how things were going, ...

After nearly four weeks of not posting due to shoulder surgery I am almost back. I am saying almost because even though I can type very well again, I am spending a fair bit of time every day on physical therapy. That is time I would have spent writing and, well, something has got to give. So for now I am planning on one post per week instead of the usual three, but let’s see where it goes. In the meantime though I want to thank everyone who kindly reached out, inquired how things were going, ...

I am back from a 2 week break from pretty much all things Internet. With relatively few exceptions I stayed away from email, checking in, blogging, tweeting, reading Techmeme and all the other things I usually do during the course of a day. So what did I do instead and what did I learn from it?Read several non-fiction books including Dan Ariely’s excellent “The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.” Take away: There are some low hanging fruit in making people behave more honestly (with interesting i...

I am back from a 2 week break from pretty much all things Internet. With relatively few exceptions I stayed away from email, checking in, blogging, tweeting, reading Techmeme and all the other things I usually do during the course of a day. So what did I do instead and what did I learn from it?Read several non-fiction books including Dan Ariely’s excellent “The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.” Take away: There are some low hanging fruit in making people behave more honestly (with interesting i...

This will most likely be my last blog post for the year. I am planning to take off a couple weeks not just from writing but also from spending pretty much any time online. During this time I look forward to reading a number of books that have piled up in my queue (both non-fiction and fiction – thanks for the many recommendations in comments here and on Twitter). I have taken breaks like this several times before and have always felt refreshed by them. In addition to the normal changes I will...

This will most likely be my last blog post for the year. I am planning to take off a couple weeks not just from writing but also from spending pretty much any time online. During this time I look forward to reading a number of books that have piled up in my queue (both non-fiction and fiction – thanks for the many recommendations in comments here and on Twitter). I have taken breaks like this several times before and have always felt refreshed by them. In addition to the normal changes I will...