Recent posts

On Sleep

4 minute read

I’m not a scientific expert on sleep. I don’t fully understand REM, sleep cycles, serotonin, or all the chemical elements. I’ve never done an ECG, and I don’...

I Am Addicted To Heroine

4 minute read

Addiction is a difficult thing to admit. It’s isolating, consuming, and often starts innocently—just a spark of curiosity. Curiosity becomes pleasure, pleasu...

On Walking

3 minute read

For the past year, I’ve been doing roughly 80% of my work while walking or riding my bike (except when my ACL and MCL injuries prevented it). While this appr...

It’s about time!

2 minute read

Yesterday I had a conversation that’s still on my mind. It was with someone I deeply respect - the kind of person who builds from solid foundations, takes ti...

On Singapore

4 minute read

As someone with libertarian views (with progressive social leanings) who values minimal government intervention and personal freedom, moving to Singapore was...

On Common Sense

2 minute read

Common sense is a tricky concept—often undervalued and misunderstood. People throw around the term like it means something is obvious or easy. But the truth ...

On AI Replacing Programmers

3 minute read

Once enough gray-haired people in Washington DC had installed ChatGPT on their phone, they became collectively conscious that this generative AI thing isn’t ...

On winning

1 minute read

This morning, I noticed that my daughter was crying in her room. She informed me that she had crushed her pinky finger in a drawer and it hurt badly.

From 20 To 100 Million Developers

11 minute read

Yesterday, I spent time at the home of a successful banker in Singapore who taught himself how to code in his 50s. He was joined by his top data scientist an...

On Integrity

6 minute read

I am currently writing a recommendation for an applicant to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I’ve filled a number of those over the years for severa...

On Selling

7 minute read

I find it surprising when people seek my guidance on how to sell because selling isn’t what I consider part of my identity. I see myself as an individual con...

Quality Over Quantity at Conferences

less than 1 minute read

Over 70,000 people are headed to Dubai for COP28. That’s overwhelming. Here’s the advice I’ve given my team at bld.ai, which has served me well in the past a...

bld.ai Journey

5 minute read

Five years ago, I left McKinsey as a first-year associate partner to launch bld.ai. Last year, we expanded to 500 members, generated $14 million in revenue a...

The art of embracing speed

less than 1 minute read

I often share the same guidance with teams at both bld.ai and l2m.vc, so I thought it would be valuable to discuss it here as well.

My story and how it shaped bld.ai

5 minute read

Have you ever been struck with the urge to share a story, but the thought of spending dozens of hours writing it down seems daunting? That’s exactly how I fe...

On being deeply authentic

3 minute read

If you have ever practiced yoga and meditation, which are central to Hinduism, Buddhism, or Jainism, you are probably familiar with the concept of a mantra. ...

ACID can protect against computer hacking

23 minute read

It is hard to feel sympathy for black hat hackers who violate computer security with impunity for personal gain or malice. Their action (data breach, manipul...

Gifting Feedback from a Tea Shop

4 minute read

Giving good feedback to people around you (both at work and in your private life) can be an excellent time investment. If the people around you become strong...