But we can name 10 recent transplants who built new, very large homes at water level in the past 5 years (ever wonder why they tell you hurricanes are getting more expensive??)

Then these same transplants scream bloody murder if the water gets close to their house. It has dominated political discussion in areas where, imho, these homes shouldn't even exist and other, less wealthy residents are lacking proper infrastructure maintenance.

Many of those transplants lost their shit after the recent hurricanes, even though anyone who is native knows it's always a possibility when you live 25 feet from the water at water level.

Then these same transplants want the cities to work impossible magic and "fix it." These same city officials, from my experience, are almost certainly in the pocket of big real estate investors.

Anyway, I get it. It sucks to flood out. But many of of these rich transplants clearly do not have the SLIGHTEST idea how the physics of water works. They're lucky it recedes so fast in my metro too.

It's always felt like a haphazard set of products right at the level of toleration. But that gap has become smaller and smaller, where we simply feel like there is no clear vision and there's always new annoyances. If I described our email troubles alone over the past two or three years... absolutely brain-dead issues. Ones which themselves cost a pretty penny in lost revenue. It feels like its becoming a pervasive sink of hangups.

I've come to detest their products as a whole, not unlike Salesforce. A few months ago, we decide we'd make a change to companies with more intention. We started with email. "Solid intention" is a hard thing to define but making major changes to my personal workflow made me see things in a different light.

Someone can rip me on this, cause idk if it's silly, but Obsidian for personal use set me off on a journey to try new methods and platforms, ones with maybe different philosophies and different communities around them. I've never been happier nor more productive. Same for my team.

Big crisis at the company? Some businesses deal with very sensitive situations, which can include deaths or serious financial/info breaches. I discussed one of these with an org just this week.

Can you imagine the reaction to an AI that's scripted out a response?

"We're genuinely sorry... [insert 1000 words of generic feel-good garbage]."

We all know the AI isn't genuinely sorry, and good luck having it respond to the angry reactions from its own de-humanized response.

Or not...it likely wouldn't be able to tell when to respond and when to leave well enough alone. Not that every executive knows either, but still.

Switching took a little practice, obviously, but it worked wonders. All my roles have involved intense deadlines, and I was still able to perform.

After that time period, I was able to switch back to my dominate, which I tend to use 95% of the time now. However, I made a lot of changes to my workflow to avoid the issue ever happening again. There's lots of good ideas here, but I also switched in my personal life to make it more analog, which helps.

I've started businesses (and by most measures, successful ones), and despite what all the gurus will tell you, I would not wish it on anyone.

I tell people often, don't do it. Unless you're a certain type of person, do something else, and even if you're that sort of person, it's probably going to suck. A lot. We're not honest enough about this in our society, because people have a certain respect for entrepreneurs and aspire to be one themselves. And there's an entire cottage industry that preys on these aspirations (yes, that includes some of these startup incubators, etc).

Really, you know if you're the sort of person who will keep going or not. You know if you'll love the challenge of pulling together a million different pieces (half of which you know nothing about sometimes) and when to check yourself... or not. You know what to listen to others... or not.

Most people are not built like this. I'm close friends with a number of very successful entrepreneurs, and they're... weird. Good folks, but always weirdos.

That said, since it's in your title, I have a high IQ (145) but I think it's important to add, I grew up in the ghetto, where such an IQ is not considered an asset... instead, force and street savvy often are.

The reason I bring this up is because I've done okay for myself. Not insane, but decent. I thrive in organizing chaos. Not to be too dramatic, but that's what starting a business is like, especially when it's your own money on the line. Most of the successful people I know in starting businesses are also smart, process-oriented, and curious as all Hell.

For perspective, I'm comfortable reading scientific papers outside my expertise and seeing the potential business applications that the MBAs likely aren't looking at, because, well, they're thinking about other things. I'm comfortable shooting the shit with my plumber... or my siblings in very niche tech or science. I love breaking things and asking both these types of people for help, so they can laugh at me. I've done some incredibly stupid things in the name of curiosity.

My advice? Stop reading, stop talking. Flip a coin and take a risk on something you want to see to its end. Then burn yourself out to see where it goes. But be prepared for a lot of heartache and pain.

If you do this, hit me up after. Would love to hear how it went.

It's important to note: I think "judging" parents isn't productive. People don't understand there are an insane amount of variables involved in raising kids, especially day-to-day.

So even though, I agree with you: we have tried since the beginning to raise children who can go to museums, who can read for long hours, etc. On vacations, we always packed a big bag of books, mini-games, etc. This will keep little kids busy for hours.

The BIG part though...

Really, sometimes you simply have to let stuff happen. Part of being a parent is engaging your child when they're frustrated and bored, NOT getting rid of them. It's a HUGE part... walking with them outside to talk through their feelings and your expectations.

Is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. Is it one of the most valuable things you'll ever do with them? Without question.

But I think of 3 demographics the most on this topic:

1. People with disabilities

A bit different situation, but one of my siblings is somewhat unique in their disabilities (I speak publicly about the topic), and their SSI money is not what you would call "rolling in it." They have still had to work very low level jobs to pay for their Section 8 housing.

2. Most people who are bad with money

Also, we're friends with more than a few couples who already receive hefty sums from the govt (for some reasons, understandably so); yet even at $150k in the South, they're unable to make it work. They are blackholes of money for kava, video games, eating out, Disney trips, etc. They're all useless people, in my not so humble opinion.

3. Entrepreneurial folks

Then there's my wife and I: no interest in UBI. We don't want it and wouldn't take it. For me, I enjoy what I do and don't like to be dependent on anyone, if I can help it. I grew up poor, so I want to remember everyday that if I don't apply myself, I won't eat.

Each of these demographics is going to respond differently. IMHO, #1 needs more support generally, #2 no amount of support or money will fix their problems, #3 I would get frustrated if it was forced on me, even by circumstance.

Instead, it was 99% filled with everyone in my region shilling their ChatGPT wrapper like it was going to change EVERYTHING. There were nearly zero interesting tech or business conversations.

Edit: to more directly address your comment, it's interesting to see which businesses and sectors want to ram through AI with no clear reason and which have no interest in it.

I hate how many people now, whenever we're around them everyone has their phones out scrolling through 30 sec videos. They want to show you things which aren't funny, aren't entertaining, aren't informative... it's damn near Idiocracy levels of content consumption.

[Insert video of someone badly dancing with caption that says "me."]

Personally, I find it bizarre and extremely boring.

Two, as @not_your_vase mentioned, sounds like JohnSmith2. Also, "X," imho, will be the "gimmick" name trend of the 2020s, which will possibly look very lame and outdated in the near-ish future (if not now). Do you use Exim specially somehow? Why the reference? Will your market appreciate that reference?

I've been kicking around the name "Orbital Edge" this week for fun. There is an Orbit's Edge in some other industry, but I think that domain is available. Other random ideas (because that's what I do), and which may pair well with a memorable logo: Vertical Bridge, Meridian's Gate, Obsidian Sail, Ocean Divide.

Obviously I'm in a double-word mood. Your mileage may vary.

But guess what? Because of my business experience, I love it. I'm incredibly excited about what the project (and potential final product) will be. So, I've been reading anything and everything, testing, exploring, learning. Can you believe we have the access to do this stuff today? It's incredible.

This is how the world works. For example, a few weeks back, I was under the hood of a steam-powered car, analyzing, looking, thinking about how they figured out some of the things they had figured out. What were they thinking historically? How did they feel about this design decision? Who taught them?

Moral of the story: Degrees don't teach this drive; you must nurture it. It's normal to feel lost at sea.

Managing people, especially tech-minded folks, comes with its own nuances, imho. You are young, but I was running a large division at a big company by the time I was 30. So, it's not crazy.

That said, you're going to make mistakes with people. Hell, I still make mistakes, and I'm middle aged and have run a company. There are many little things to watch out for, but really, they come with experience or shop talk. Small examples might be stuff like, don't go it alone when you fire someone, always have another peer present or there are many personality types to watch out and deal with. I'm still shocked at mid-sized VPs wanting to move up but who will do drugs with their subordinates. Not something I'd ever advise and not executive behavior.

But I would strongly recommend getting with an older mentor who's adept at managing, someone who you can bounce situations and ideas off of, someone you trust with wisdom who doesn't work there. Preferably someone with tech experience would be better, given some of the workplace culture differences. And don't be afraid to read books and articles about how people tick.

You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders. You're already thinking about what it'll take to do right by those around you. That likely puts you ahead of the game.

But the main historic example I was thinking of, is cited in Graeber's Debt: the First 5,000 years. In the late 1800s, France invaded Madagascar, declaring it a French colony. New, heavy taxes were imposed because France demanded their colonies be self-supporting. France then enforced the building of new rail, roads, plantations, etc. It's an imperfect book but a good read.

Another example might be the destruction of Europe in WW2, which allowed the American Empire to rebuild and form NATO, which the US then enforced (and still enforces) Europe to buy US-built arms and weapons as a percentage of European GDP. It would be misleading to call this a direct "tax," but there are parallels here.

Finally, part of the reason the US went to war in the early 2000s is likely to generate economic activity due in part to the precarious relationship it has with the dollar being the reserve global currency. Bush even said on live TV in 2001 that the best thing we could all do was go to the mall and buy junk, foreign-made stuff which is akin to countries paying tribute to the American Empire. Again, not a direct tax, but there is certainly a parallel here.

I believe I read somewhere, possibly from Musk and Starlink, that "they've" designed a fallback for crypto so that it will continue to run even in a total grid-down situation. (If anyone recalls where this was, please point me to it, so I can save the article)

Personally, I think Bitcoin was likely created by a government and will be used as a "freedom!!!!," anti-CBDC digital currency, essentially tricking gullible people into the now pervasive surveillance state.