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Category: Lessons Learned

We Need Better CFOs

January 31, 2022 Matt Sparks

There’s a big need here, and few people who can fill it.

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Posted in: Lessons Learned Filed under: CFO, entrepreneurship, finance, startups, technology

Read What You Do

January 30, 2022 Matt Sparks

Reading is good, but reading plus real-time experimentation is a far better way to learn.

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Posted in: Lessons Learned Filed under: business, education, entrepreneurship, finance, learning, reading

Gardens Do a Lot

May 21, 2020 Matt Sparks

Cities can be sprawling food forests, with healthy, tasty meals growing everywhere we look. Go plant something today.

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Posted in: Essays, Lessons Learned Filed under: COVID, covid-19, food, food forest, garden, gardening, health, pandemic, permaculture, quarantine, recession, sustainability

Alternatives to Duh

May 15, 2020 Matt Sparks

Of course the world is responding poorly to the pandemic. Why would we expect anything different? A shift in perspective can help.

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Posted in: Lessons Learned Filed under: climate change, COVID, covid-19, focus, optimism, pessimism, philosophy

Mental Vegetables and Breadcrumbs

May 14, 2020 Matt Sparks

Online distractions break our brains. Learn why that happens and how to fix it.

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Posted in: Essays, Lessons Learned Filed under: attention, brain, distractions, focus, intellectual breadcrumbs, john craun, mastery, memory, mental health, mental vegetables, news, philosophy, social media, spirituality, video games

Distraction Engineering

May 11, 2020 Matt Sparks

It’s easier to abstain from distraction completely than to try to indulge just a little. Moderation is difficult when mediums,…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned Filed under: attention, awareness, balance, distraction, focus, moderation, productivity

Every Day Is SXSW

May 10, 2020 Matt Sparks

Every day is SXSW if we want it to be. Choose it.

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Posted in: Lessons Learned Filed under: inspiration, quarantine, SXSW

Video Games Are Not a Waste of Time

May 8, 2019 Matt Sparks

We shouldn’t tell kids that video games and esports are a waste of time. We don’t say that about traditional…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Gender Is Not Masculine or Feminine

May 6, 2019 Matt Sparks

There’s a difference between gender and masculine/feminine energy. It’s hard but not impossible to separate the two. Exploring the difference…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Life Is Like White Water Rafting

April 11, 2019 Matt Sparks

Life is like white water rafting. When we come to rapids, we can’t stick our paddles into the sand, hold…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Block Out Time for Our Art

April 8, 2019 Matt Sparks

At SXSW 2019, author Austin Kleon said that it’s important to be passionate about our work, but that we must…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

A Website is a Self-Invention Machine

March 31, 2019 Matt Sparks

“A website is not just a self-promotion machine. It’s a self-invention machine.” – Austin Kleon, in an interview by Debbie…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Bright Minds and Living Better Stories

Matt Sparks

The brightest minds of our generation are all saying the same thing in different ways. They’re teaching us how to…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Management Consulting Is a Difficult Business Model

March 30, 2019 Matt Sparks

Management consulting is a difficult business model. It’s not clear when a management consulting project is done nor if a…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

We Find Peace When…

Matt Sparks

“We find peace when we stop trying to defend the main character [of our stories].” – Don Miguel Ruiz and…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Order Muppets, Chaos Muppets, and Entrepreneurial Optimization

November 16, 2018 Matt Sparks

Everything is always always optimizing for something. That is, getting as close to the maximum or minimum for at least…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Is Your City Lifting You to Power?

November 15, 2018 Matt Sparks

Prominence, influence, and celebrity are products of place. Frank Sinatra knew this, which is why he sang of New York,…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Genius Is Specialized

November 14, 2018 Matt Sparks

Geniuses aren’t genius on every topic. Many people forget this and think that because they have an audience and some…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Conspiracy Is Neutral, How We Do It Is Not

November 13, 2018 Matt Sparks

In Ryan Holiday’s latest book, Conspiracy, he says that conspiracy is neutral, but how we do it is not. Conspiracy…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

Relationships Are Our Story

November 12, 2018 Matt Sparks

In Esther Perel’s new book, The State of Affairs, she says that the quality of our relationships determines the quality…

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Posted in: Lessons Learned

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