I'm Ryan Waggoner. I build things. I blog about how to work harder and smarter to build the life you want. You should subscribe.

What a bunch of marshmallow-loving 4-year-olds can teach us about winning at life

03.09.11 Posted in Education, Future, Goals, Inspiration, Posts by

Image by oskay How many times have you heard that you should “just do it”? How many times have you felt like you should just get over your various hangups and limitations and just get out there and kick ass? How many times have you tried? How many times have you failed? Maybe for people [...]


Take nothing for granted

03.03.11 Posted in Education, Entrepreneurship, Future, Goals, Inspiration, Posts, Science by

The NY Times ran an article this week about Natalie Portman and her talents as a high schooler. Not her acting talents, mind you (though she had plenty of that), but her skills in…science. Yes, that’s right. Even after being cast in multiple roles opposite actors like Julia Roberts, Uma Thurmon, and Jack Nicholson, she [...]


Why I’m bullish on a Facebook I don’t trust

01.21.11 Posted in Future, Misc, Posts, Social Media, Technology by

I wrote a post yesterday about the uncanny valley of advertising, and how we’re currently in this weird area where advertisers know just enough about us to make it creepy, but not enough to make it perfectly relevant. I made the mistake in my post of comparing a hyper-relevant advertising service to a friend, in [...]


My 2011 blogging plan

12.10.10 Posted in Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Finances, Future, Goals, Misc, Personal, Posts, Social Media, Technology by

I started blogging every day in early 2007, but I lapsed after a few months and then blogged on and off over the next few years. I don’t think I ever made more than a few dollars per month, until I started blogging again this year. In August 2010, I started a daily habit of [...]


One day we’ll all be millionaires

12.09.10 Posted in Education, Entrepreneurship, Finances, Future, Inspiration, Misc, Posts, Technology by

I used to think about the growth of US GDP and wonder where it was coming from. I assumed that it was either from exploitation (we’re getting someone else’s share) or from population growth (we produce more because we have more people). Now, some would argue that we are growing wealthier by exploitation, but I’m [...]


Will taxes be higher or lower in the future?

10.21.10 Posted in Finances, Future, Misc, Politics, Posts, Technology by

I’m no economist, so bear with me here. I’d always assumed that because of the US government’s propensity to incur unfunded liabilities, tax rates in the future would have to go up (making Roth IRAs and Roth 401k’s a better bet) to keep the economy from collapsing. However, a story I saw today about Google’s [...]


Useful hard problems have easy elevator pitches

10.16.10 Posted in Entrepreneurship, Future, Goals, Inspiration, Personal, Posts, Technology by

I have a new long-term goal for my entrepreneurial efforts (in addition to making something people want): I want to pursue opportunities where the elevator pitch can be explained to a non-technical person in 10 words or less, and ideally 5 words or less. A lot of startups can be explained to a non-technical person, [...]


Dream with your hands

08.27.10 Posted in Entrepreneurship, Future, Goals, Inspiration, Personal, Posts by

I wrote a post yesterday about how I would invest $1m into multifamily real estate. The post got a big reaction from Hacker News, and it’s been fascinating to see the way people think. A lot of the comments raised really good points, but what I saw most of all from those who disagreed was [...]


Why free online education won’t replace traditional college anytime soon

08.23.10 Posted in Education, Future, Inspiration, Posts, Technology by

Bill Gates recently said the best college education could soon be available online and for free. And it does seem like we’re getting close to that ideal, doesn’t it? More and more brand-name schools are offering classes online. At the same time, you have this trend of schools putting a lot of their lectures, class [...]


Trapped

06.18.09 Posted in Future, Inspiration, Posts, Science, Technology by

When I read articles that discuss the vastness of the cosmos and the trillions upon trillions of stars that inhabit our universe, and the likelihood that there are perhaps billions of inhabited planets out there teeming with life, the emotion I feel most is not awe, but a deep sadness for all that we’ll never [...]


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