I stumbled upon a NY Times article about Jacob Mach. He is one of “The Lost Boys of Sudan”. This is an amazing story about survival (parentless while young and becoming a refugee), grit (finding his way to the U.S. and seeking to improve his economic prospects as an adult) and hope (he has amazing
One Way to Think About E-Commerce Start-Ups
Now that e-commerce appears to be less hot, we’re increasingly looking at the category. As I’ve written in the past, Customer Acquisition Cost is a key driver of the business. Another thing we look at in particular is industry structure. Specifically, we look at the supply chain and try to see where the “fat” is
Interview a Relative Today
If on this day after Thanksgiving you’re starting to find yourself a bit relaxed, but somewhat bored, why not do this: interview a relative and record it? I did this with my father a few years back, after my mother died. It was a lot of fun. We covered a lot of ground, from his
The N.E. Patriots, Fly Fishing and Thanksgiving
I’ve been thinking a lot about the New England Patriots, fly fishing and Thanksgiving. Here’s what I mean. In an amazing game vs. the Broncos, the Patriots had a furious 2nd half to tie the game and go into overtime. The Pats won the coin toss. They decided instead to give the ball to Peyton
Yale’s Whim ‘n Rhythm
I just returned from one of my favorite events of the year, which is an alumni assembly at Yale. I feel insanely grateful for having had the opportunity to go there. Every year, various representatives gather in New Haven to meet up and talk about various topics, such as volunteer opportunities, admissions updates, and this
The Non-Linear Path of Start-Ups
Seth Levine wrote a great post today about how the path for many start-ups is non-linear. Highs and lows. Mad dashes and speed bumps. In it, he referenced a previous post he wrote about how it takes 10+ years to build a company. I found it to be very thoughtful and it really resonated with