Is a prince still a prince if he switches places with the pauper?

As artists sometimes we try to change and the world frowns upon it. Your friends, associates and even family are not used to the new “you” and if feels uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar to them. And as human beings, we fear and generally dislike the unfamiliar. Human nature has made us fear the unknown. You can’t change human nature.

A deep identity change through experience sometimes need to be maintained for it to take effect. Coming from from Brazil, I FEEL different. Yet, in my interactions since coming back for a week, some people still react the same way towards me, despite me having a totally different, more confident frame. Don’t let this discourage you. As you continue living your life in you new identity, more and more people will take notice. New friends will be introduced to the new you. Remember that public opinion always follows real change. Read more

Social value based on social feedback

I am actually a really cool guy. This sounds like a self-centered thing to say, but allow me to put context to it. When I left California I had a lot of problems in my life that I wanted to find solutions for. I was afraid that I was leaving my problems behind instead of solving them. Job status, social circle, getting laid, having a stable social circle. I hoped that I would find some answers on my trip. And answers I did find. Perhaps not on the job front, but I found answers to social value.

Me living in Sunnyvale California is like Lebron James playing basketball in Spain. Sure he’s good, but no one wants to watch basketball when they are eating tacos. For 2.5 years now I have lived there, and the environment has done a a significant change on my psyche. With a high density population of married couples and low single women to single men ratio, I have been reduced to a guy who behaves as if I had very low social value.

While in Brazil a lot of personal things happened. I will narrow it down in this post to the most significant events that allowed me to realize that I am a high value guy: Read more

Trip to Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte

Rio

I’m  sitting on the Copacabana beach in Rio in front of the hotel Sol Ipanema overlooking the beautiful ocean in Rio de Janeiro.  To my left there are still volleyball players there playing Brazilian volleyball (where you kick with your feet instead of setting the ball with your hands). Across the ocean are islands. You can hardy see them now in the dark, but during the day they were green and luscious and beautiful. To my right is a rolling hill of lights and hotel signs along the Copacabana beach. Cars roam the streets between the beach and the hotel, even as late as 10pm. I am reminded of the city in Taipei and Jakarta. Read more

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