Brenden's Blog

One truth we all eventually have to face as we become fully formed adults (“grown-ups”) is that being right doesn’t matter.

Yesterday an interesting thing happened, where disenfranchised folks walked right up into the US capitol after Donald Trump told them to do so.

The Invisible Influence # One important (and mostly non-mainstream) concept is the idea of manufactured consent.

I was recently trolling someone on Reddit, and in a brief (and regrettable) fit of passion I made a remark only I could love about “transcending the bullshit”.

Over the last 5 years of my career I’ve shifted my priorities in life.

I was reading Hacker News comments and someone was complaining about how they weren’t able to find a job in computers anymore due to ageism in tech.

I saw a discussion on Reddit about entrepreneurship recently that got me thinking.

As a kid growing up, I studied music in school and played a few different instruments.

I’ve always tried to be an optimist, but I think my natural state tends toward realism with a hint of pessimism.

One of the basic concepts of capitalism is the idea that competition is good for consumers.

One of the hard truths in startups, especially VC funded startups, is that perception matters more than reality.

I really wanted to be a founder of a successful startup (where successful to me means the company can pay its own bills, and pay employees well).

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed an increase in commercial real estate vacancies around Manhattan, especially ground level retail.

We’re living in some interesting times, and I’ve been wondering how psychology plays into the current doomsday phenomenon.

Doge loves snow.

Starting any company is hard.

The ISOC recently sold the .org TLD registry to a private equity firm for $1.1b.

It’s hard to maintain privacy these days, ever since we started carrying around the ultimate Internet connected surveillance device in our pockets.

Recycling has become a bit of a crutch these days.

I’ve never been great at talking to people, especially strangers, but I’m much better than I used to be.

Dopamine is a chemical in our brains associated with good feelings and reward.

I don’t like making predictions, but one prediction I do have is that many future big companies will be what I call “skin in the game startups” (you heard it here first).

I get asked all the time by strangers, something to the effect of “Can I pet your dog?”.

Make something people want Y Combinator has a famous motto: make something people want.

I recently decided to start a new blog and rebuild my website.

Hi!