Month: September 2021

The problem with government solutions is that they are so easily corrupted. For example, here in Washington State, USA a law recently passed mandating long term care insurance. Sounds nice right? The reality is that this will be funded by an income tax that will then pay $116,000 per year person in a long term care facility.… read more “Scam: Washington State Long Term Care Insurance Mandate”

I have had co-founders to my businesses and I’ve done businesses solo. Solo always works better. Pretty much anyone who wants a technical co-founder is someone who won’t pull their weight.
Plus you lose half your equity right off the bat and you are dependent on someone and you aren’t really sure what they’re going to do for you.… read more “Going solo versus having a co-founder”

Much of science now is highly politicized. We have seen what happens to professors or research scientists who try to take a position that countered popular opinion on a sensitive topic – they have protests against them, they are spat upon and assaulted, and they lose their jobs.

All of the other scientists and researchers see this and adjust their own behavior and areas of study to avoid being mobbed.… read more “Politicization of Science”

A disaster of the commons is that if people are in smaller vehicles and getting a car accident there is less likely to be injuries or fatalities. These vehicles also require significantly less fuel per mile. However, for any given individual, physics shows that being in the larger and heavier vehicle increases your likelihood of survival and reduces your odds of injury.… read more “How to reduce car accident fatalities”

Google was once my favorite company when it was still run by its founders and genuinely followed the “don’t be evil” policy.

Now everything it does has turned into dark patterns. Google’s #1 revenue generator Ads (formerly AdWords) now uses dark patterns to trick advertisers into spending more. For example, most of the recommendations make a user’s campaign spend more money while not getting results.… read more “Google Ads Monopolistic Dark Patterns”

https://doctorow.medium.com/i-quit-9ae7b6010c99

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hospitals-price-transparency-spotty-compliance-swings-price/596183/

This is the downside of a macroeconomic concept called gains from specialization and trade. Some people can build businesses that get so incredibly good at delivering exactly what people want for the price that they want that it is nearly impossible for any individual to compete. The real secret is to find a niche that no one else is in yet.