What it’s really like starting a business

For years I’ve said that starting a business is like jumping off of a cliff and learning to fly. Somehow I flew. Rent wasn’t cheap. It was 2008, and I was living in New York City. I was in my early thirties, single and stupid enough to leap off of a cliff without a parachute.…More

Did our five-day old baby really need three spinal taps?

My wife just gave birth to our second son at home (on purpose). And five days later, our pediatrician pushed us into the ER because our baby had a low temperature. We thought he was just jaundiced (something a lot of newborns get but can be easily treated with special lights). But we weren’t prepared…More

The secret to dealing with people in business

At the core of every business isn’t money. It’s relationships. Now, I don’t mean that you need to go on a business retreat and hold hands with your coworkers as you dance around a campfire singing Kumbaya. But we can be practicing ways of relating to others that build mutual respect, trust, and maybe even…More

My first business was a complete failure

Featured pic above by Billy, I think, of my business partner and me at our first photo shoot. We had no idea what we were doing. What is that look on my face? Grand dreams of selling luxury t-shirts swirled in my mind, as I schlepped through Bedford Stuyvesant, the Brooklyn neighborhood in which Jay-Z…More

The heart of business

At the heart of every business are relationships. In my industry of technology services, this is especially true. We have to meet with the potential client, get to know them, ask them questions, wine and dine them, pay for the meal, all as we gaze in their eyes and make them feel loved. I call…More

Do this to become the person you want to be

We become like the people with whom we surround ourselves. We are social creatures and can be influenced. We are more easily influenced than we think. I am. Who do you want to be? Do you have dreams? Aspire to something greater? You can achieve it.More