The word “growth” has become one of the focal points of the climate crisis debate. There are those who are worried that pricing carbon will slow down economic growth. And there are those who believe that the only way we can overcome the climate crisis is through degrowth. I fear that most of those debates will be people shouting past each other as the word growth has come to capture entire philosophies of thought. And so instead of having meaningful in-depth arguments about what kind of socie...

The word “growth” has become one of the focal points of the climate crisis debate. There are those who are worried that pricing carbon will slow down economic growth. And there are those who believe that the only way we can overcome the climate crisis is through degrowth. I fear that most of those debates will be people shouting past each other as the word growth has come to capture entire philosophies of thought. And so instead of having meaningful in-depth arguments about what kind of socie...

People who want to fight the climate crisis tend to agree on a lot of things, but nuclear power turns out to be a highly divisive issue. In this series of posts I will use nuclear power to refer to fission – I will write separately about the prospects for fusion. There are several reasons given by people who object to nuclear power, including high cost, risk of accidents and concerns about storage/usage of radioactive materials. Conversely, advocates of investing more in nuclear power point t...

People who want to fight the climate crisis tend to agree on a lot of things, but nuclear power turns out to be a highly divisive issue. In this series of posts I will use nuclear power to refer to fission – I will write separately about the prospects for fusion. There are several reasons given by people who object to nuclear power, including high cost, risk of accidents and concerns about storage/usage of radioactive materials. Conversely, advocates of investing more in nuclear power point t...

In order to understand solutions to the climate crisis, including the potential role of nuclear energy, it is essential to understand our current and future demand and supply of electricity. There are of course entire books that have been written about just small subtopics of electricity, so please consider this post as a guidance. Electricity is the most refined and concentrated form of energy available to us. We can adjust its use in extremely small quantities. We can store it. We can gener...

In order to understand solutions to the climate crisis, including the potential role of nuclear energy, it is essential to understand our current and future demand and supply of electricity. There are of course entire books that have been written about just small subtopics of electricity, so please consider this post as a guidance. Electricity is the most refined and concentrated form of energy available to us. We can adjust its use in extremely small quantities. We can store it. We can gener...

It is a common idea that we should learn from our mistakes. In practice though I see many people making the same mistakes repeatedly. I myself have found that it often takes me making the same mistake at least twice before I really learn from it. Leading a startup is about personal growth and mistakes are that opportunity for growth, so how come it is so difficult to do? The framing of “learn from your mistakes” suggests that this is entirely about a rational process. It is too easy to think ...

It is a common idea that we should learn from our mistakes. In practice though I see many people making the same mistakes repeatedly. I myself have found that it often takes me making the same mistake at least twice before I really learn from it. Leading a startup is about personal growth and mistakes are that opportunity for growth, so how come it is so difficult to do? The framing of “learn from your mistakes” suggests that this is entirely about a rational process. It is too easy to think ...

We had eight glorious years with Dori, our beloved Goldendoodle. Just seeing her in the street put a smile on people’s face. She was alway up for a pet from random strangers and could be trusted with the youngest of kids. She made the big move with us from the suburbs back to the city as a pup (not pleased at first with the lack of grass but then happy with all the play time with friends). We will remember many fond moments with Dori, such as sitting on the stoop and watching the world go by ...

We had eight glorious years with Dori, our beloved Goldendoodle. Just seeing her in the street put a smile on people’s face. She was alway up for a pet from random strangers and could be trusted with the youngest of kids. She made the big move with us from the suburbs back to the city as a pup (not pleased at first with the lack of grass but then happy with all the play time with friends). We will remember many fond moments with Dori, such as sitting on the stoop and watching the world go by ...

These days I often feel as if I am living in a horror movie of the twilight zone variety. People appear to be under some kind of mind control, that seems to be emanating from the handheld devices they all carry with them. Here is how this manifests itself: I tell someone about how severe and imminent the climate crisis really is, usually using the Alien Invasion Analogy. There is a brief moment in which they appear genuinely disturbed. You can see in their eyes that they grasp the magnitude o...

These days I often feel as if I am living in a horror movie of the twilight zone variety. People appear to be under some kind of mind control, that seems to be emanating from the handheld devices they all carry with them. Here is how this manifests itself: I tell someone about how severe and imminent the climate crisis really is, usually using the Alien Invasion Analogy. There is a brief moment in which they appear genuinely disturbed. You can see in their eyes that they grasp the magnitude o...

I just nominated five candidates for the next election of the Harvard Board of Overseers as part of an effort organized by Harvard Forward. The school has made the process comically complicated by requiring that each nomination be submitted in a separate signed PDF (admittedly this could be explained by incompetence rather than malice but is not a good look in either case). A crucial goal is to have Harvard take a leadership role in fighting the climate crisis. If you are a Harvard grad and w...

I just nominated five candidates for the next election of the Harvard Board of Overseers as part of an effort organized by Harvard Forward. The school has made the process comically complicated by requiring that each nomination be submitted in a separate signed PDF (admittedly this could be explained by incompetence rather than malice but is not a good look in either case). A crucial goal is to have Harvard take a leadership role in fighting the climate crisis. If you are a Harvard grad and w...

I have written Thanksgiving posts in past years thanking entrepreneurs, teachers and my parents. Today I want to thank my immediate family: Susan, Michael, Katie and Peter. You are each amazing in your own way and bring so much joy to my life. Thanks for putting up with my overcommitment to work and various other projects. Thanks for letting me drag you onto steeper than you would like ski slopes and into windier than you prefer sailing days. Thanks for calling me out when I am wrong. Through...

I have written Thanksgiving posts in past years thanking entrepreneurs, teachers and my parents. Today I want to thank my immediate family: Susan, Michael, Katie and Peter. You are each amazing in your own way and bring so much joy to my life. Thanks for putting up with my overcommitment to work and various other projects. Thanks for letting me drag you onto steeper than you would like ski slopes and into windier than you prefer sailing days. Thanks for calling me out when I am wrong. Through...

So far I have been writing about the climate crisis primarily as a threat, an extinction level threat for the human species. But the climate crisis is also humanity’s biggest opportunity. It is our opportunity to leave the Industrial Age behind and enter the Knowledge Age (that’s the term I use in my book World After Capital). Expect a series of blog posts expanding on this idea, but to start things off I want to paint a picture of what that might look like: I imagine clean air and quiet citi...

So far I have been writing about the climate crisis primarily as a threat, an extinction level threat for the human species. But the climate crisis is also humanity’s biggest opportunity. It is our opportunity to leave the Industrial Age behind and enter the Knowledge Age (that’s the term I use in my book World After Capital). Expect a series of blog posts expanding on this idea, but to start things off I want to paint a picture of what that might look like: I imagine clean air and quiet citi...

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...