Category: Uncategorized

• Writing is a tool for making new ideas

  Over in Every, I wrote about how writing is more than a method for capturing ideas, it’s a way of exploring them: By externalizing your thoughts, writing puts you into conversation with yourself. It’s always easier to diagnose other people’s problems, and to identify opportunities they might be missing. Just so, writing from the heart…

• The beauty of playing the long game

  Over in the Boston Globe, I wrote about the surprising power of playing long games: I love projects with multi-decade timelines. They defy the limiting logic of quarterly earnings, KPIs, conversion rates, and all the other metrics that blind us even as they bind us to the status quo in a society where data is…

• The Four Laws of Making a Website*

  If you hire the best person in the world to build you something custom, it might be expensive, but it’ll be perfect for you.If you use a proven off-the-shelf product, it might not do everything you want, but it’ll do what it does extremely well because of economies of scale in development and testing.If you…

• Concept Art

  I love concept art because it isn’t the thing, it’s meant to inform the thing. It’s not complete, it’s suggestive. It doesn’t tell a story, it creates a vibe. Instead of illustrating what happens next, it seeks maximally resonant images. It’s visual poetry—a seed, planted. Artists: Daniel Lopez Munoz, Glenn Hernandez, Ryan Brothers, Ken Marceau…

• Wizards Meddling In the Source Code of Life

  Fiction is a uniquely capable vehicle for exploring the power and consequences of new technologies, grounding thought experiments in human experience and playing out second and third order effects. In his new science-fiction thriller, Upgrade, Blake Crouch imagines a near-future where every aspect of personal and public life has been revolutionized by genetic engineering, for…

• Writing Reap3r

  

  Big news: My new novel, Reap3r, comes out today. How far would you go to achieve your greatest ambition? Nothing is what it seems in this speculative thriller about a quantum computer scientist, virologist, podcaster, venture capitalist, and assassin coming together to untangle a twisted enigma that will change the course of future history. Everyone…

• Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone on writing This Is How You Lose the Time War

  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a mind-expanding, heart-wrenching tale of dastardly intrigue and burgeoning romance that follows two supremely competent secret agents traveling through time to bend the arc of history toward their respective masters’ incompatible political ends. The story is a shining example of…

• Don’t forget to feed your soul

  In times like these, while it’s crucial to stay informed, I often lose myself in the news cycle—emerging horrified, furious, and drained. It helps to complement with people, music, and stories that feed my soul, that give me energy for the thing that really matters: action. A few things that feed my soul: novels by…

• Accelerate Your Startup | Matt Cartagena Interview

  Ever thought of applying to a startup accelerator like Y Combinator or Techstars? Notable companies like AirBNB, Dropbox, and Sendgrid trace their origins back to these top programs. But to outsiders, these programs can be black boxes. What goes on in those three months behind closed doors? What should entrepreneurs know before they apply? Matt…

• Alternative Ways To Work In The 21st Century

  Just another day at the office… Work just isn’t what it used to be. The days of cubicle farms, standard career ladders, and pension plans are over. Instead, competition for top talent rivals the NFL Draft, freelancers write code from Thai beaches, and recent graduates tremble at the roller-coaster prospects of modern employment. How can…