You know what fills me to the core with ennui? LinkedIn DMs to the effect of “Can we jump on a call to explore potential collaborations?” — I’m all for networking and discussing opportunities, but let’s not dance around the maypole here. If you’re reaching out to suggest a call, please come prepared with a concrete idea or area of collaboration in mind. …

Trained on thousands of pitch decks, this specialized tool will tell you what’s working — and what isn’t — about your startup pitch deck. Yes, for free. — A few months ago, I wrote one of my TechCrunch Pitch Deck Teardown feature articles for TechCrunch+, taking a closer look at BusRight’s deck. . Today, I put the same deck through my AI powered deck review tool. The similarities between the two reviews are pretty astonishing. Makes sense, perhaps…

My car was broken into for the third time in six months, and every time I fall apart, because it cost one of my friends his life. — A society ought to be judged by how it treats its weakest. And every time my car is broken into, I am reminded of that. It’s a you have two dollars, they need one type situation. Let us be clear: if you are hungry and you can steal food, or…

In doing research for my newest book, curiosity got the better of me, and I built an AI tool that does (part of) my job a bit worse, but infinitely faster than I can. — You may have read my popular Pitch Deck Teardown series, where brave founders send me their pitch decks, and I lovingly, caringly, and with a moderate amount of snark rip them apart so we can all learn what (not) to do when pitching to VCs. I like to think of…

The 2024 United States elections will be awful, and I’m not letting myself get sucked in again. — A public proclamation! Because if I say it in public, maybe I’ll be able to stick to it. This year, I am not going to get sucked into the US presidential elections. I care about people. I want people to be happy. To me, happiness is the ability to enjoy…

It was the day after Valentine’s day in 2013, and I was on my honeymoon after getting married to one of the most extraordinary humans I’ve ever met. We were in a rainforest in Borneo, splashing for an extra-romantic, deep-jungle luxury adventure. …

You can’t. You can’t, and I can’t help you. Okay, maybe you can, but don’t email reporters about it. Try the commercial team. Don’t email reporters offering them money to publish your article. It’s pretty rude, and we get dozens of inquiries about that per day. We’re fucking bored of it. Go elsewhere. Thanks. Are you trying to pitch your startup to a journalist? Well, that’s a different thing. Here’s some tips and advice:

The speed of information just kept a lead-footed slipper on the accelerator — The first casualty of war is the truth. Someone smart said that once, at a course I did in university. Journalism, I think it was. Apropos university, that’s when I learned to code because I was too introverted to be a journalist. “On the internet,” I figured. …

How Ketamine treatment enabled me to re-live a traumatic experience and find self-compassion 30 years after the event. — The second time of my life I had a panic attack, I was around 10 years old. I was in the Principal’s office at a school in Norway. I don’t remember how I got there, or what had happened. As the red mist of anger was dissipating, a number of…