People work for startups for many reasons. They may like being part of a smaller team, getting more responsibilities, working at a faster pace with less red tape, feeling more connected to the mission. But despite regular advice to ignore equity, many employees greatly value access to startup equity and dream of an outsized outcome. This is why every startup talks up their equity package during…
The United States has a two-party system implemented through closed primaries, first-past-the-post voting, and the rules of the electoral college. Critics argue that it is unrepresentative, leads to polarization, and disenfranchises voters. Ironically, the writers of the Constitution were hostile to political parties (something both Hamilton and Madison agreed on: they respectively warned of "the…
Eric Asimov, the nephew of Isaac Asimov and more importantly one of the wine critics at the New York Times, published a great list of wines under $20 he recommends last month. I bought a few of them, and ended up really liking the "Premier Pas" Carignan from Domaine des 2 Ânes. It's not going to win any awards, but it's a good bottle for your next date night or dinner party.
I have been experimenting with AI coding, and am blown away by the results. Aider in particular is an incredible tool, and I cannot imagine ever going back to writing all my own code. The speed at which these tools are progressing is frightening. As a firmware engineer, my coding habits are a little bit old school. I use vim as my text editor of choice (well, Neovim these days), am very…
A few years ago, I found myself staying at El Encanto in Santa Barbara to avoid the fires and smoke that were plaguing San Francisco. The hotel room itself was expensive (it goes for $800 per night on expedia as of this writing), but what struck me was how they were upselling me at every turn. Want to park your car? It is valet only, and $50 per night. The restaurant serves an unsurprising pasta…
I am thrilled to announce that Memfault, the company Chris, Tyler and I co-founded in 2018, has closed a Series B funding round led by Stripes, with participation from Partech Partners, Uncork Capital, and the 5G Open Innovation Lab. When we started Memfault, our goal was to make building hardware products easier. Since then, we’ve been fortunate to work with incredible companies such as Bose,…