“Platform Revolution” and “The Cold Start Problem” — Two Books, One Masterclass

Several years back I read “Platform Revolution” by Geoffrey Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, and Sangeet Paul Choudary. It presented the problems that platform businesses face: one sided networks, chicken and egg problems, as well as covering basic expectations and vocabulary to understand how a platform functions. Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, … Read more“Platform Revolution” and “The Cold Start Problem” — Two Books, One Masterclass

“What You Do Is Who You Are” by Ben Horowitz – Book Review and Reflections for Life

There are some books that entertain you, others that enlighten, and still others that evoke an emotional response. Rare is the business book that will do all of them. “What You Do Is Who You Are” is that rare book that accomplishes all three. I will briefly cover “Enlightenment” and “Entertainment” and then move on … Read more“What You Do Is Who You Are” by Ben Horowitz – Book Review and Reflections for Life

“The Right It” by Alberto Savoia Book Review, PLUS a Midjourney Pretotyping Experiment

A week or two prior to this posting, I did an AI experiment to pretotype how capable ChatGPT was at writing code and wrote about it on LinkedIn. AI’s ability to code was unsurprising, everyone’s talking about it. But for some (or perhaps many) the concept of a pretotype was — surprising that is. “Pretotype? … Read more“The Right It” by Alberto Savoia Book Review, PLUS a Midjourney Pretotyping Experiment

Stocks and Bonds with American Psycho, Wolf of Wall Street, and More

let’s talk about supply and demand in the context of stocks and bonds. But before we dive into that, let’s define what these financial instruments are. Stocks represent ownership in a company. When you buy a share of stock, you become a part owner of that company, and you can profit from the company’s success … Read moreStocks and Bonds with American Psycho, Wolf of Wall Street, and More

Balancing the Books, Mob-Style: Accounting Lessons from The Godfather & The Sopranos

Introduction: When it comes to handling finances in the world of organized crime, precision and accuracy are paramount. Just as Don Corleone and Tony Soprano have demonstrated their prowess in the underworld, they also understood the importance of maintaining their financial books. This article aims to teach the basics of balance sheets, credits and debits, … Read moreBalancing the Books, Mob-Style: Accounting Lessons from The Godfather & The Sopranos

Quantic eMBA, Entertainment, ChatGPT

When I first got accepted to Quantic’s eMBA program, I had intended/dreamt of writing an ongoing blog series where I would liken lessons learned in the MBA program to scenes in movies or television. With work, family, education, and life… this dream quickly proved an impossible task. As ChatGPT and AI rush towards us, like … Read moreQuantic eMBA, Entertainment, ChatGPT

What’s an Interview? Some advice for bootcamp grads.

Some background: I graduated Flatiron School at the end of August, 2020. Since then I interviewed at two different tech companies, and was fortunate to win both of those positions; the first was a part time job, the second was full time. What’s more is: I think I only applied to a total of less … Read moreWhat’s an Interview? Some advice for bootcamp grads.