Failing Fast

In business school, one of my professors taught me something very important. He said that the difference between a winner and a loser… is that the loser hasn’t failed enough. Winning business owners, he says, seldom achieve success on the first try. I believe this to be true.

People always ask our founders how we manage innovation at Google. Newspapers and publications will print quotes and headlines like “top 10 things Google does to foster innovation”. The truth is, put quite simply: we have a very unique culture and DNA, one that has not existed before. To truly understand this, one has to actually live on the Google campus for some time. Read more

New Logo(s)

Which one is your favorite? Read more

But I feel ugly…

Feeling fugly? Don’t worry. Some of the best looking people feel this way from time to time. Including yours truly. You are not alone on this one.

In all honesty, I’m no model material. But I’ve always been told I was good looking since I was a little kid. Looking back at family pictures, I would constitute myself a 9/10 as a kid. As I grew older my ears got a little bit bigger, and so did my nose and I would rate myself as a 7/8 out of 10 as an adult. Still pretty good and above average on the population totem poll, but not enough to have girls jump all over me by default. Read more

One step at a time

A few days ago I was in a depression. My definition of depression is: “a state of being where you feel trapped, restricted, lost, and/or otherwise not living up to your full potential”.

Part of this is due to Accutane. 60 mg a day does takes it toll on the body. For the most part, the drug was considered a miracle drug when introduced over 2 decades ago, as the only “cure” for acne breakouts. While there has been no conclusive scientific study that links depression or suicidal thoughts to the drug, many patients have acknowledged a known depression curve when on high doses of Accutane. For me, this feeling just means that if you do nothing or have nothing exciting going on in your life, you will feel a little “blue”. Thus, a normal person with a healthy social life need not worry for the most part.

The medicine, at best, is a slight influence on how I feel. It tends to enhance any negative thoughts that you currently have. Behavior and conscious thought is still personal choice, as we deliberately control and direct them. Read more