I recently read The Power of Pull by John Hagel III – in short, it’s a hokey book about how the Internet has changed the world.  Usually I’m a complete sucker for this kind of material and I’ve happily read no fewer than 15 books with practically the same exact message (including both of Gary [...]

Whether it’s reading articles, books or magazines or listening to audio books (at 2x speed), I try very hard to absorb as much information as possible.  It’s my intention to cover a wide swath of literature – but in actuality, the majority of what I read tends to be quite focused on non-fiction business-type books.  [...]

Some people have asked me how I make time to write in my blog every single week. Here is my secret: I have a very strict routine. Every day I wake up at the same time (6am) – I pack my gym bag the exact same way, I get on the same train (6:35am F [...]

What would you say is the key to living a happy, fulfilling life?  Some might say having close relationships with family and friends – which, I agree, is very important.  Others might say living a healthy life, eating right, or exercising – these things are also very important.  But at a very basic level – [...]

As an ex collegiate athlete, I’m no stranger to athletic exertion. I spent the first 22 years of my life being yelled at by coaches and pushing my body to the edge for athletic achievement.  It may come as no surprise that my attitude about extreme workouts has changed somewhat since my exit from the [...]

Each morning I wake up, shave, gather my gym clothes and hop on a Manhattan-bound F train.  As I walk the three blocks from the subway to the gym, I always pass the same sights.  Up and to the left I see the top of the Empire State Building, to the right I see the [...]

You have 100 marbles – 50 of them are black and 50 of them are white. You also have 2 brown paper bags.  You can distribute the marbles however you’d like between the two brown paper bags. After you put all the marbles in the bags, you will close your eyes and I will hold [...]

Two weeks back at the IAB networks and exchanges conference in New York City, Doug Weaver used his keynote address to attack complexity as it relates to online ads. He flatly challenged the notion that online advertising needs to be complex, but rather postulated that we, the industry, purposely make it complicated because it makes [...]

Strolling through Park Slope this afternoon, perusing the boutiques and dodging baby strollers on the snow-lined sidewalks, I noticed a vacant ad poster on the side of a corner store. I imagine the posting ordinarily housed an ad for liquor or perhaps a public service announcement – but this empty ad space simply had white [...]

Although arguably at polar opposites of the “enjoyment” spectrum, visiting the airport and visiting Disneyland have one key thing in common: when you’re there – you spend most of your time waiting in line. Have you ever noticed how really long lines move? It’s a great study of human nature. Objectively thinking, the most efficient [...]