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I’ve always tried to be an optimist, but I think my natural state tends toward realism with a hint of pessimism. Sometimes, optimism is at odds with the current state of reality. Wall of Vets, from Reddit

One of the basic concepts of capitalism is the idea that competition is good for consumers. I think in most cases this is true. One famous example is the history of General Motors, a company that became so powerful and dominant that the US government considered breaking GM into separate companies.

One of the hard truths in startups, especially VC funded startups, is that perception matters more than reality. Many people are able to raise vast amounts of money at high valuations on little more than excitement about the prospect of a viable business some time in the future. Most VCs earn their living from fees, and they earn more in fees when valuations go up, followed by subsequent funding rounds, with larger amounts of capital invested. VCs don’t usually invest their own money, they typically invest other people’s money. Thus, they aren’t really incentivized to see their companies succeed, but rather they want to make their companies appear successful. That is to say, the perception of success matters more than actual success.

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). However the reality hasn’t matched my ambition and I’ve decided to find a job like a regular chump. I assumed that with work ethic, skills, persistence, and plenty of trial and error I could eventually find success. That hasn’t happened, and I’m nowhere close to making that happen. Being good at computers and working hard doesn’t cut it.

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed an increase in commercial real estate vacancies around Manhattan, especially ground level retail. Tonight on my walk, I took some photos around Flatiron, NoMad, and Union Square. A few of these places were vacant before the virus came around, such as the Belgian beer spot.

We’re living in some interesting times, and I’ve been wondering how psychology plays into the current doomsday phenomenon. It’s fun to study history about previous events related to mass panic and hysteria. Some gems from the Wikipedia article listing mass hysteria events: The dancing plague of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in July 1518. Numerous people took to dancing for days.

Doge loves snow. At Bethesda Fountain. Such a joy, the holidays. Long car rides, waiting around airports, packed flights, family squabbles. Cold, short, dark days with nothing to do. And yet, people still get excited about the holidays.

Starting any company is hard. Startups are even harder. If you want to start a company but don’t have a business idea, then the first step is figuring out what to build. Is this…a startup idea?

The ISOC recently sold the .org TLD registry to a private equity firm for $1.1b. What this means, in the grand scheme of things, remains to be seen, but many people around the web have expressed disapproval. Doge contemplating the Internet, and squirrels

It’s hard to maintain privacy these days, ever since we started carrying around the ultimate Internet connected surveillance device in our pockets. So what can you do about it? Here’s a brief guide. My pup cares about privacy. This photo has nothing to do with this post.