If you have shopped, ordered, traveled, purchased, scheduled, contacted, reserved, or otherwise interacted, in any way, with a business in the last several years, you have likely received an automated email, probably from several of those businesses, enthusiastically asking, “How did we do?” If your experience has been anything like mine recently, the answer is, “Pretty damn awful.”

At several points in the last 15+ years, I have been convinced (usually incorrectly) that Facebook was about to jump the shark. For anyone under age 50, "jump the shark" is a reference to a TV show called Happy Days meaning the point at which something henceforth goes downhill. For anyone under age 30, that proverbial shark has already sailed.

One of the nice things about managing your own blog is you don’t need to be constrained by editorial guidelines. So, here’s a departure from my usual posts.

Facebook has had a tough month. Really, they've had a tough last five years, which have been a nonstop parade of bad news—everything from spreading misinformation in the 2016 election, to compromising user data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to helping instigate the Capitol Riot.

The start of the academic school year last month forced me to grapple with a reality I must admit I was in some degree of denial about: I’ve become a stay-at-home dad. With my younger son returning to in-person school and my older son leaving for college, I suddenly realized that at some point in the last year I transitioned from "work from home" to "stay at home."

A few weeks ago, August 26 to be exact, we dropped my oldest son off at college—a milestone perhaps as momentous for parents as it is for the ascending freshman, an indelible mark in the passage of time, a step closer to retirement, hair loss, grandchildren, senior living communities.

As an aspiring author, I made a resolution at the start of this year to read more. In particular, I wanted to read more fiction, having overdosed in the non-fiction political aisle over the previous four years. Emboldened by my additional free time during COVID, I set a fairly ambitious goal I call “52 in 21”—to read 52 novels, one per week, in 2021.

We decided to spend our summer vacation this year someplace we don’t normal visit as residents of California. Still smarting from our mostly nonrefundable vacation that was scuttled by COVID last summer, we opted for a destination we thought had a lower likelihood of getting shutdown if cases picked up again: Florida and Georgia.

One of the great advantages of technology is that it moves faster than regulatory bodies, or most average human beings for that matter, can keep up. That Wild West window of time, when there is rapid growth and, essentially, no rules, is when fortunes are made—and when bad actors can exploit the chaos for their personal gain.

As the economy bounces back from COVID, supply is having a difficult time keeping up with surging demand. Shortages are rampant in every sector. These dynamics are making another shortage apparent: a shortage of civility.

The 4th of July has always been among my favorite holidays. Uniquely American in every respect, Independence Day not only commemorates the birth of our nation but celebrates the heart of summer with family, friends, and fireworks (except in drought-stricken California, of course).

As an entrepreneur, I look for market opportunities. As an author, I’ve often heard the advice to “write what you know.” So, naturally, when I decided to write my first novel, I chose contemporary Silicon Valley.

June is commencement season. From grade schools to graduate programs, these rites of passage commemorate achievement and mark the start of new beginnings. Careers to embark on. This year, coming out of the pandemic, the concept of commencement seems to hold broader appeal.

The COVID pandemic that has taken over half a million American lives overshadowed what had previously been the largest public health crisis in our country. An epidemic of self-inflicted deaths.

I and everyone in my extended family who is eligible are now vaccinated from COVID-19. Unfortunately, that statement can't be made for about half the country.

The Oscars last night commemorated Hollywood's annual celebration of itself. Over the last year, the entertainment industry has faced an implosion of its traditional distribution model, an 80% plunge in box office revenue to its lowest level in 40 years, and persistent criticism for its lack of diversity. The industry's apparent answer to these woes? STREAMING!!

With the election over and Donald Trump out of office, one might have hoped for a more civil, conciliatory tone in the media. So much for that idea.

Unlike September 11 or Pearl Harbor, the date the COVID-19 pandemic started is imprecise. For me, the “start” of the pandemic was March 17, 2020, one year ago today.

The high-end art world has officially taken notice of Beeple. With the sale this week of one of his works at Christie’s for $69 million, the digital artist, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann of my home state of Wisconsin, earned the third-highest auction price ever paid for a living artist's work. Furthermore, it was accomplished using a relatively new technology called “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs.

The unfolding disaster in Texas over recent weeks highlights a topic that has been ignored for too long: America needs a major infrastructure upgrade.