Personal Brands suck. Seriously, don't build one. I just read a Forbes article about a guy who sold his e-learning company to private equity. The article mentioned the powerful combination between the PE firm's 'financial might' and the guy's 'formidable personal brand'. What even is that. The company was faceless and the PE was only interested in net profit and number of active recurring clients. Moreover, the guy exited. Who cares about his personal brand. This idea of a personal brand...
13 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
It's Black Friday on the S&P500 and other statistics When you watch a leopard through a hole, you see a spot. I heard I have to start making these shorter so here goes. INTUITION vs. METRICS is a pretty symmetrical confrontation. Copying models is a good way to start but isn't sustainable. Feelings are more real than thoughts. Illogical passions turn out to make a lot of sense when looking back. Smaller sample sizes love specificities. Statistics-based decision making versus natural decision...
20 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
This week's mental struggles I went viral by accident because people argued in the comments about whether a building was beautiful or not. 'Information Wants To Be Free' is one of the prime directives of the Hacker Ethic. It stands against the gatekeeping of knowledge. Illegal drone shot of ETH Zurich Campus This week I visited ETH Zurich, Albert Einstein's alma mater. It's a Swiss university that has been doing science for over 150 years. Some notable breakthroughs are: simulating human...
27 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Pro Tip for ADHD If you have to start doing something that you don't wanna do, just pop an L-Tyrosine. This week I read about ADHD and how it actually relates to our brain's dopamine system. Basically I found out it's not our fault for not paying attention if something is boring. I space out during discussions the same way I used to lock in during CS:GO matches. You see, gamers are valuable members of society. Without us obsessing over shit, there would be no progress. Games, rules,...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
This Week's Mental Struggles money and sex is all we exchange Looking back, this whole train of thought was triggered by a new life event that's about to happen (stated at the end of this email). In January, during the expedition for my next book about Alpine Vacation Architecture, I visited one of those very familiar types of car centric city: Salzburg. Looks great from the car, but not much to see aside from the city center - your standard issue European pedestrian area. The outskirts are...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
If it triggers an emotional response, it's designed to. Here are some of this past week's struggles. Pinterest used to be one of my favorite platforms for visual inspiration. However, me and Pinterest had a little falling out. I hadnāt been using it actively for almost two years. Last weekend I spent some time on it and it surprised me how useless itās become. The interior design content was flooded with AI generated images. I could barely find real pictures of existing spaces for...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Culture House, Satu Mare, arch. Nicolae Porumbescu Mission Economy in Architecture Some things I was obsessing over this February This month, I spent some time in Satu Mare. During that time, I stared at some 'Brutalist' architecture from the 1970s. It photographs nicely. The large scale concrete ornaments, sharp edges and repetitive patterns give the town's main square that Brutalist vibe. On a closer look, you start noticing a small symbol. It's everywhere: carved on the back of the wooden...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
I used to hate Valentineās Day. I thought it was so cheesy. The subject matter is so shallow, it almost feels demeaning. The aesthetics are so incredibly tacky. The red, the bows, the velvet, the chocolates. Those ridiculously obscene roses. First of all, what does candy have to do with romantic love? Second of all, did you know that any rose you buy inside the EU is actually imported from Kenya? I mean, the carbon footprint alone. Ugh, even writing about it makes me cringe. I forgot where I...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
November 10th 2024 I'm in Piatra Neamt, Bitches. Hi there, Itās been a while since weāve seen each other in your inbox. Lots of stuff has happened since then. I closed down the digital fabrication workshop after doing a journaling exercise and realizing that, no, in fact, this is not where I want all my attention to go. Get the free journaling prompts to do a little audit, like me I sold my apartment and moved into a smaller place after deciding that, no, in fact, I will not be needing that...
6 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read