Author: Steve Ainslie

For much of my life I admired people who had what I considered high-powered, respectable careers. I thought doctors, lawyers, executives, judges, journalists, entrepreneurs, and other movers-and-shakers had something the rest of us didn’t. They worked harder, dedicated themselves more, took more risks, showed more determination, were smarter, etc. As I get older, the veil…

Reading reports of how Sam Bankman Freid, the former CEO of FTX, raised money reinforced for me that the more money you have, the less you have to follow the rules. Apparently, when he pitched VCs and was asked for financials his reply was, “We don’t have financials, but I can send you a text…

Every morning, during my workouts, I spend a significant amount of time crawling around, upside down, balancing on one foot and moving my body into various contortions and positions. My best description of my workout routine is a combination of slow-motion break dancing, yoga and low level gymnastics. I spend a fair amount of time…

Recently I read two business/self improvement/success books written by Dan Ariely and Adam Grant. Both have PhD’s in psychology, are highly rated professors, best selling authors, talented speakers and business management consultants. I’ve heard them speak on podcasts and present TedTalks. They seem to be quite charming – exuding knowledge, expertise and likability. They fall…

The zoom call I was on a few days ago got me thinking about work, aptitude and expertise. On the call were a number of highly educated, successful professionals from various fields including science, engineering, engineering, government and communications. I am familiar with most of them from their participation in solo forum and podcast. They…

After years of trying different harnesses on Wiggles, I finally found one that is escape proof. While many harnesses market themselves as “no-pull” and “escape proof” I have found their claims to be total bullshit. Wiggles, in a frenzy, has squirmed her way out of every harness I have tried on her. Until now. Her…

I participated in a zoom call today to brainstorm how to help market a book that is being published early next year. I joined the call because the author is a loose acquaintance of mine as well as the host of a podcast I listen to frequently. There were about 20 people on the call….

You will never see me at a protest. Aside from my aversion to crowds, mob behavior and rioting, I have strong doubts that protests are effective. During my lifetime, I witnessed protests for the environment, workers’ rights, abortion rights, antiwar, police reform, education reform and other causes. Many of these I agreed with. I imagine…

For the first 6 years of my career in technology & sales, my office was in the center of the city of Pittsburgh. Then for the next 4 years, my headquarters was just a few blocks outside of the city in a gentrifying warehouse district that was rapidly being converted to a high tech hot…

In high school, I went to dances as much as possible. I didn’t go because I liked to dance. Nor did I go because I was good at dancing. I went for one reason – to try to meet chicks. We went to “under 21 dances” held once-a-week where teenagers would flock to dance under…