Category: entrepreneurship

• Brad Feld on Nietzsche for creators

  “One man had great works, but his comrade had great faith in these works. They were inseparable, but obviously the former was dependent upon the latter.” -Nietzsche I didn’t write my first novel to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a writer. I wrote my first novel because I was a voracious reader, and there…

• Reassurance

  When I ask for advice, often what I’m really looking for is reassurance. But the work I’m most proud of requires taking real risks with no possible guarantee of success, so seeking reassurance that things will turn out okay is a trap. Trust yourself. Trust the process. * Complement with Most successful people have no…

• Why companies are hiring sci-fi writers to imagine the future

  Katie Underwood interviewed me for a Pivot Magazine feature on how business leaders are commissioning science fiction that challenges them to think differently about the future: In recent years, major multi-national companies like Nike, Google, Apple, Ford and Visa, and governmental bodies like NATO and the French army, have all enlisted the services of sci-fi…

• Seth Godin’s new workshop for creatives

  For me, writing a novel is an emotional rollercoaster. Here’s the 1980’s montage version: bursting with ideas and enthusiasm—>thinking “wow, this one is different in a good way” as I whiz through the first few chapters—>insidious doubts gather in my mental shadows until—>somewhere around the halfway point I have an existential crisis that this book…

• Richard MacManus on how to build a career as a professional creator

  In 2003, Richard MacManus founded the popular tech blog ReadWriteWeb. Now, he’s back with Cybercultural, a newsletter covering how technology is changing cultural industries (books, movies, music, podcasts, etc.). Richard lives at the cutting edge of new media models and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about how to build a career…

• How science fiction influences tech entrepreneurs

  Inc. interviewed me about the feedback loop between speculative fiction and real world innovation: https://www.inc.com/sean-wise/the-founders-of-apple-google-microsoft-all-do-this-1-thing-regularly-you-should-too.html “To make sense of the world around us, to catch a glimpse of underlying reality, to notice those invisible forces, we must step outside ourselves. Reading is one way to do that.” Fun fact: Sean Wise, the author of the…

• A reading guide to building the future

  I wrote an essay for TechCrunch that explores the literary culture of Silicon Valley. It digs deep into the feedback loop between books and innovation and turns up weird gems along the way. Think of it as a reading guide to building the future: https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/16/the-best-fiction-for-building-a-startup/ “Every year, Bill Gates goes off-grid, leaves friends and family…

• How to build a consulting practice

  Give away your best ideas via blog posts, podcasts, talks, books, conversations, etc. When people ask you for help implementing them, charge a lot and only work with clients who inspire you and for whom you can make a big impact. Complement with what I help clients do, the reason most successful people have no…

• Creativity is a form of leadership

  I went on the Lisa Valentine Clark Show to talk about how creativity is a form of leadership: https://www.byuradio.org/episode/e14993aa-e367-41d4-b44e-bb5151e906bf Complement with how isolation can hinder creativity, three tips for writers, and why most successful people have no idea what made them successful. Get new posts delivered straight to your inbox: This blog exists thanks to…

• Most successful people have no idea what made them successful

  We all want to do work that makes an impact. We want the teacher to give us an A. We want our book to be a #1 New York Times bestseller. We want our company to IPO. We want our nonprofit to save lives. We want our efforts to matter. So, naturally, we look for shortcuts.…