Feb 11Why we’re raising our kids in this dangerous dystopia, San FranciscoA few months ago, a viral video showed a group of teens and tweens getting off a crowded San Francisco Muni bus, only to encounter a gantlet of junkies splayed out on a city sidewalk. …San Francisco11 min readSan Francisco11 min read
Mar 9, 2022Hi, I’m a marketer, and my opinion is worthlessHave you ever seen an ad or other marketing content, and thought, wow, that’s great? Or wow, that sucks? Of course you have. Because you’re a human being with emotions, and advertising is designed to trigger that kind of response. Even objectively terrible ads can have positive impact. Advertising used…Advertising10 min readAdvertising10 min read
Jan 19, 2022A sarcastic letter from the mythical dystopia once called San FranciscoThey say San Francisco used to be beautiful. The City of Hills. The Cool Gray City of Love. Home of Willie Mays and Jerry Garcia. Sourdough Town. Rice-a-Roni-opolis. Everyone’s Favorite City. It’s so tragic, what’s happened to it. San Francisco is today a modern hellscape, a shattered dystopia of violence…San Francisco7 min readSan Francisco7 min read
May 17, 2021You won’t get the job you want unless you apply effectively. Here’s how.OK, job hunters. I’m back. Two years ago I showed you how to write your resume effectively. The feedback has been overwhelming. Dozens of people, maybe 100, sent me emails and LinkedIn messages. I tried to respond to most! But of course, the resume is just one asset you’ll need…Job Hunting20 min readJob Hunting20 min read
Feb 2, 2021The top 158 characters from The Trump Years, the world’s worst and most-watched organized crime showIt’s cliche at this point to compare The Trump Years to a poorly scripted network TV dramedy. In addition to enduring corruption, death, and pain, we Americans endured years of “the writers are really running out of ideas, am I right?” jokes. But the resemblance to a television show is…Trumpism31 min readTrumpism31 min read
Jul 29, 2019Member-onlyThe biggest myth about working for a start-up vs. a big company“I can’t handle those all-nighters.” That next job you think you want — it may not be what you think. When I ask friends and strangers, “What kind of company do you want to work for next?” I get a lot of very thoughtful answers. …Startup7 min readStartup7 min read
Mar 21, 2019Member-onlyWhy you should take “college degree required” off your job descriptionsThe year was 2009. I was 36 years old and applying for a job at Google. The initial phone recruiter, after warning me that the process would take “two to three months” (and it took all of that), speedwalked through a regiment of screening questions. Everything seemed normal until: “And…Education8 min readEducation8 min read
Feb 26, 2019I’ve read thousands of resumes. Most of them suck. Yours doesn’t have to.Update, June 2021: I’ve written a companion piece about how to apply for a job successfully, from targeting the right opportunity to interviewing to accepting or negotiating an offer. Please read that one first, or this one first. Either way, I hope this is helpful to you and your career. …Job Hunting13 min readJob Hunting13 min read
Nov 29, 2017What Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel gets right and wrong about Fake NewsThis morning, Snap founder and CEO Evan Spiegel posted a treatise on Axios on how his company will change the social media model. In his words, Snap will “separate the social from the media.” In his post, he makes several mentions of the phenomenon of fake news, using the media’s…Social Media5 min readSocial Media5 min read
Feb 22, 2016A self-righteous open letter to people who write self-righteous open letters to people who write self-righteous open lettersDear person who felt an emotion from someone else’s Open Letter: I felt it, too. Since the Open Letter has become the primary form of polemic communication in our modern era of self-publishing, thus the Open Letter in Response has become critical to the function of our democratic republic. …Life Lessons6 min readLife Lessons6 min read
