Playing poker socially
Poker is a great way to get to know people. Win or lose, it's entertaining and a great way to learn how the other players react »
Scaling organizations
Small organizations can coordinate activities organically because it's still feasible for everyone to be aware of what other people are doing. But, when that's no longer »
Bitsquating
Random errors in computer hardware can result in bit flips that can be exploited by bitsquatters. While the probability of these errors is extremely low, with »
Risk-adjusted returns
The Sharpe ratio helps contextualize financial returns by comparing the expected return to the perceived risk. After finding potential investments with attractive risk / reward characteristics, it's »
Using names in conversation
When someone unexpectedly remembers my name, I'm pleasantly surprised and likely to afford that person the benefit of the doubt. But, this only works to a »
Dimensions of executive tasks
Effective managers can quickly transition between activities along three dimensions. Altitude: conceptual to operating details Topic: internal to external Style: informal to formal Executives need to »
Asking people what they do for fun
When I ask people what they do for fun, most people either instantly reply or awkwardly try to think of something. There's no right answer; I'm »
Excel model conventions
Convention over configuration is a design principle that should be applied to Excel models. To my knowledge, there aren't clear conventions for how data should be »
Pricing APIs is hard
When given a choice, companies prefer to set prices based on a percentage of the value that they create. In advertising, auctions dictate the market value »
Realistic assumptions
Don't spend too much energy rationalizing your desired outcomes; they may be unrealistic. Actively challenge yourself to reexamine your assumptions as you're presented with new information »