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Author: mattsparks

Entrepreneurship Can Never Be Formulaic

October 5, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

Dominion is a deck-building card game that is about figuring out the value of each card, acquiring the best card…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Ask Loved Ones About Our Blind Spots

October 4, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

We rarely listen to the advice and perspectives of those closest to us. Our partner can tell us until the…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Ask What We’ve Learned

October 3, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

We learn more by regularly and actively asking ourselves what we’re learning. We can pull insight out of anything we’re…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Courting New Friends

October 2, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

We can court new friends just like we court romantic partners. It’s not easy to make good friends as adults,…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Nuanced Wisdom in a Cacophony of Bad Advice

October 1, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

Everywhere we look, there’s a surplus of trite, cliched advice that doesn’t work or doesn’t really apply anymore, even though…

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Posted in: Essays

Stretch While Watching

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It’s easy to stretch while watching a TV show or movie at home, converting the experience from time spent into…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Literally Building a Platform

September 27, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

When Seth Godin, Ryan Holiday, Kevin Kelly, and others say artists, entrepreneurs, and pretty much everyone else need to build…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Meditate on Water

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Meditate on water, especially moving water. Water is hypnotic to watch, allowing our minds to relax and open. Water can…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Game Engines Are Becoming Important

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Game development engines like Unity, Unreal Engine, A-Frame, and others are unexpectedly becoming some of the most important software of…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Normalizing the Future

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Reading and watching lots of sci-fi stories; reading books by futurists like Amy Webb, Ray Kurzweil, Michio Kaku, Kevin Kelley,…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

The Benefits of Extreme Hardship

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When we’ve experienced extreme hardships or life challenges, lighter hardships come to feel comfortable. Chad, a former Navy Seal, said…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Bringing Websites Back

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Websites were largely replaced by social media and other platforms. When this happened, we lost control over our messaging, audience,…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

The Hardest Phase of a Learning Curve

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The hardest phase of any learning curve is the beginning. While there will always be new challenges as we master…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

How Beats What

September 26, 2018 mattsparks Leave a comment

It’s better to ask how we can do something (e.g. make additional money in the coming months) instead of what we…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Bigger Deals Take Longer

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Bigger deals (e.g. big contracts, big investments, M&As, etc.) take way longer to close than anyone imagines. Big organizations are…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

My Bucolic Frolic: A Country Kid Goes Home

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A couple weekends ago*, I went back to my hometown in rural Iowa for my step-brother’s wedding. Since I’d be…

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Posted in: Essays

Hot Sun and Black-Winged Angels

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Today I witnessed a miracle. It all started about four days ago when Jennie, my girlfriend*, flew to Northern California to see…

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Posted in: Essays

How to Win at Connect Four

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Today* I and five other Acton MBA classmates volunteered to spend time hanging out with old folks in a rehab…

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Posted in: Essays

Learning the Six Leverages of Power

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As a young man, I decided that if I were to make a difference in the world, and I don’t mean…

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Posted in: Essays

The Law of Zero Sum Learning

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The Law of Zero Sum Learning dictates that when we are young, if we put our heart and soul into…

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Posted in: Essays

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