How much frugality do you need to build a million-dollar business today? — It was a fantastic summer day in our corporate lawyer’s office. I had just signed an investment deal securing millions of dollars for my start-up. A heavy thousand-dollar Montblanc ballpen was still lingering in my hand. “You can keep it,” said one of the investors, waving his palm at the…

How I escaped burnout’s unhealthy cycle of doom — Last year I was restructuring my company and eventually selling it. I obsessed about doing the best possible work I could. I scheduled every minute of my day for anything that seemed useful — anything that would make me feel worthy and help me avoid any shame for being lazy. …

Unleash One Hour of Genius Per Day — One day, I watched a sparrow from my office window. The bird would pick bread crumbs from the ground while anxiously hopping around and watching out for predators. Doing several things at the same time was its strategy to survive. Birds do it; bees do it: they multitask. But we…

Do I regret staying the CEO after our acquisition? — You’ve proven to the world that you can generate value large enough that someone else wants to have your entire company — including you. Champagne, party, and a brand new Lambo Huracan are just a signature away from you. Yet, as I negotiated our acquisition, our buyer stressed his terms…

The line between healthy self-esteem and deadly overconfidence is razor thin. — Adam Neumann, Elizabeth Holmes, and Arif Naqvi were billionaires with gargantuan egos that helped them reach their wealth and fame. Their stories landed on the top bestseller lists because we love people with grit, persistence, and unbending self-esteem. …

Successful entrepreneurs balance creativity and efficiency to reap top profits — Here’s the skinny: Businesses don’t want creativity. Companies say they do, but in reality, they want the result of creativity: ideas or solutions that would add value to their business. Ten years ago, I started my company with a squad of creative aficionados, designers, and ambitious engineers. We spent our…

I would print these skills on a poster and send them back to a younger me 10 years ago. — Leonardo da Vinci was not a brilliant entrepreneur. A painter, sculptor, engineer, architect, scientist, anatomist, and philosopher — da Vinci was a precocious polymath. However, he had a terrible track record in finishing his work: he constantly had to return the money he’d been paid. Here’s the point: you don’t…

When is it time to pull the brakes on aggressive marketing methods? — “First, do no harm. Unless harming is incredibly profitable.” — Stephen Colbert. As a seasoned tech entrepreneur, CEO, writer, and award-winning economist, I’ve read many business stories over the past years. But one particular story made me lose sleep for weeks: The Empire of Pain by investigative journalist Patrick Keefe. …

Alcohol and blackouts: how can we prevent the consequences? — The scariest part about drinking is blacking out: not remembering a damn thing about what happened the night before. Maybe a few fragments. You remember first going to a friend’s place to warm up with a few drinks, then going to a bar, meeting a guy there, a kiss, a…