Over time you find that a company or project or brand from scratch requires the kind of always-on salesiness which can make you seem snake-oily, one-track minded, overly enthusiastic, and a little weird.
Author: James Walpole
James Walpole is a writer, startup marketer, intellectual explorer, and perpetual apprentice. He opted out of college to join the Praxis startup apprenticeship program and currently manages marketing and communications at bitcoin payment technology company BitPay. He writes daily at jameswalpole.com.
Fire Drills as Social Occasions
The fire drill is a uniquely 20th century thing, made for 20th century and 21st century buildings. And if you think about it, it’s really strange. A bell goes off and dozens and even hundreds of human beings start flowing out of their 20th and 21st century buildings all at once.
Milgram Experiments and Workplace “Common Sense”
We all know the lesson of this experiment: people give up responsibility for their decisions to authority figures. But people could note that the experiment never really ended, and that despite its lessons we’ve learned little about saying no.
A Critique and a Defense of Mythologizing the Past
Was Abraham Lincoln really a moral leader who saved the United States and ended slavery? Did George Washington really save the Continental Army and win the American revolution? Was Thomas Jefferson really a forward-thinking liberalizer?
Try Making the Things You Take for Granted
When you learn how to make or do something you can normally afford to take for granted, you become less afraid. After all, a thing once far beyond your grasp is now understandable. It loses its magic. Shipping, for instance, becomes just another everyday task.
Your “Just a Phase”s Will Matter One Day
At various times, I’ve wanted to be a soldier a theologian, a philosopher, a musician or music businessman, and a farmer (among others, I’m sure). I spent so many hours and dollars acquiring music knowledge, raising chickens, and arguing the finer points of political philosophy. And yet here I am, doing marketing work. I must regret these passing fads, right?
Central Planning: Also a Bad Idea for the Environment
Monoculture is often a side effect of central planning. Say you’re imposing policies for a large area. You’re likely to pass over the need for variety, complexity, and spontaneity. Central plans can’t adapt to the need for differences in environmental practices and priorities from one place to another.
Lyft and Uber Rides are the New Marketplaces for Ideas
It’s interesting to watch (and participate) in what can happen in a philosophical or political conversation on one of these rides. I had a conversation yesterday with someone who casually confessed to me that he was a democratic socialist. I perked up when I heard that. It’s not every day you meet a self-confessed socialist.
The Joy of Familiar Strangers
We have lots of different kinds of relationships in life, from close family to extended family to close friends to acquaintances. But there’s another kind of relationship which is underrated: familiar strangers.
Don’t Worry About Getting Credit for Personal Growth
I like pulling myself up by my own bootstraps. Sometimes that’s a good thing – I take initiative, I’m not needy, and I can self-motivate and self-actualize. But along with my bootstrapping desires I also I have a strong desire for people to *know* that I have pulled myself up by my own bootstraps. That’s pride at best and crippling ego at worst.