The Sci-fi Idea Bank is a spreadsheet of 3,567 sci-fi ideas, that proves, if you choose to believe it, that ideas for new technologies appear in science fiction first, and, can serve, for the ambitious, as a catalyst to bring Sci-fi to life. Vintage (like 1634 vintage!) and post-modern, it includes: bio-energy (1726), food tablets […]
Category: Writing
The $100 Million Science Media Fund
For this year’s SynBioBeta conference, Data Collective founder and investor Matt Ocko hosted a panel on Abundance and Scarcity. Matt backs entrepreneurs attacking trillion-dollar problems to “amplify capitalism’s benefits and reduce its costs to society.” In Matt’s own words, his team is creating a future of “abundance, comity, and amity.” Matt invited artist and storyteller […]
Please Kill Me (Review)
Pedro Paramo is the book I’ve most given away. It’s a thin, easy to read, very influential novel. It will haunt you. The second book I’ve most given away is Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain’s Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Through a series of alternating interviews, PKM traces the history of punk. From New […]
Devo
“You’re into Devo?” he asked. “Aren’t you?” His tone mocking. As if there was something wrong with it. Because for him, Yeah. Devo was too mainstream. Fake alternative. He was above that, and what he thought they stood for. “Of course I am,” I answered, thinking, Whatanasshole. “How could you not be?” Because at the time […]
I Built a 22,000 Contact Network on LinkedIn. Here’s Why You Don’t Need To. Part 1
TL;DR I grew my LinkedIn network to 22K contacts. You *might* grow yours to advance your career. “You want to have as large a LinkedIn network as possible,” he said. At the time, I didn’t understand. What was this investor was telling me? I’d been on the professional social network for a few years. I’d […]
The Sprawl Trilogy
Netflix just started airing Altered Carbon. It’s a rad take Richard K. Morgan’s 2002 cyberpunk novel. One of my favorite genres, cyberpunk typically explores how the street repurposes tech, life in cyberspace and off-planet. Last fall, I reread William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy – Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. (Neuromancer, BTW, is credited with […]
The Story Grid. Pedro Paramo.
I’m a story nerd. I enjoy re-reading books, re-watching movies. I like figuring out how the authors or film makers put the story together. What hints did they place at the beginning of the story, and resolve at the end? I’ve read plenty of books on writing screenplays, plotting, and character development. Last year, I […]
Product Market Fit
To paraphrase, Lean Startup author Eric Reis, “We can build any product. The question is: Will anyone buy it?” True Story: She is developing a new chip set. It’s revolutionary in its design and potential applications. When I ask about customers, she answers, “We’re building a platform, like the app store.” When I ask about […]
What I’m Reading
Happy New Year! Over the holidays, I unsubscribed from dozens of newsletters. I was very critical in thinking through whether a newsletter belonged in my email box. Was it helping me stay informed? Was it inspiring? Or, was it wasting (virtual) space? Here are a few of the newsletters I subscribe to stay up to date on biotech, […]
2017: A Year Wraps and Good Riddance
Good Riddance 2017 It was a good year, but not without its challenges. The TL;DR is: mL grew more than 10 percent but is still down from its 2015 high. I co-authored and published What’s Your Bio Strategy? I moderated a panel at SynBioBeta SF17 and keynoted at Biofabricate 4 and enjoyed it. I now […]