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Byrne Hobart

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  1. Backups and Giving Up

    I had a pretty solid post lined up for today, but it’s going to have to wait. Instead, let’s talk about the importance of: 1. Backups, and 2. Bouncing back First, backups: back up your files! This is one of those things you can “know” but subsequently “learn.

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  2. Behind the Cloud

    I’m on a SaaS/Enterprise software kick lately. Mostly from a process of elimination: if you understand consumer web pretty well, but suspect that the good ideas will mostly be implemented or perhaps murdered by the market leaders, what’s the closest adjacent market? It helps that as a

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  3. Optionality is for Innumerate Cowards

    MBAs love to talk about “optionality” and how they want more of it. But you don’t need an MBA to explain yourself by saying you’re “Keeping your options open.” Optionality is the Millennial lodestar: we keep our options open. This is bad behavior, both morally and financially. (Isn’

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  4. Why We’re Not Not Homeschooling

    One thing I never anticipated about being a parent was how many conversations would revolve around school. What are the schools like near our neighborhood? How much should I contribute to a 529 plan? Right now the answer is a little unclear, but I’m leaning towards “I don’t

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  5. The Stablecoin Trilemma

    Basis, a cryptocurrency project trying to build a token with a stable exchange rate against the US dollar, is shutting down. Basis was one of the smarter projects attempting to build a post-dollar currency exchangeable 1:1 for dollars, so if they couldn’t pull it off, it must be

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  6. The Tyranny of the Long Generation

    Public policy is a powerful tool, but the two things policy can’t beat are technology and demographics. We’re used to thinking about technology, because the benefits are distributed according to whoever understands it best. Demographics are different: the edge from understanding them isn’t big, except perhaps for

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  7. That’s a Bus.

    Every so often, you see somebody try to summarize somebody else’s worldview in a way that accidentally perfectly encapsulates their own. Here’s an example I keep coming back to: last year, Lyft launched a shuttle bus service that offered fixed-price, fixed-route transportation during commuting hours. The predictable response:

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  8. Big Debt Crises, Bigger Debt Crises

    I’ve been looking forward to reading Ray Dalio’s Big Debt Crises ever since I slowly gave up on Principles. Dalio runs Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund notable for two things: 1. It’s an extraordinarily large fund with a track record that’s either solid (in terms of

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  9. Diversify Your Child’s Media Diet

    One of the things I struggle with as a parent is instilling kids with the right values, as opposed to the values that are popular right now. Weirdly, I hear parents talk about their concerns in the opposite direction: that their kids won’t be quite socialized enough to believe

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