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It takes just one person
Bethany Crystal – Nov 26, 2018
Halfway through my subway ride home today, a panhandler walked into our car and started loudly asking everyone for money. This is not unusual in New York City. Naturally, these things always seem to happen under the most crowded of [...] Read more
The motivation of being in second place
Bethany Crystal – Nov 24, 2018
Today I woke up to about 15 notifications on a Twitter thread discussing the latest leaderboard stats in the location check-in game, Swarm that I play every week. Turns out that I wasn’t actually in first place. While my personal [...] Read more
Communal eating
Bethany Crystal – Nov 23, 2018
I’ve been thinking a lot about communal meals and eating lately. Partly because it’s the holiday season and there are more opportunities for large group meals than usual. And partly because I’ve realized that the older I get, the fewer [...] Read more
How to practice management skills around the Thanksgiving table
Bethany Crystal – Nov 22, 2018
Today, many of us have a prime opportunity to hone our management skills through conversations with friends and family around the Thanksgiving table. Whether it’s parents, relatives, colleagues, friends, or some combination of all of the above, you’ll likely have [...] Read more
The last one to know
Bethany Crystal – Nov 22, 2018
I’ve heard several times that by the time CEOs hear bad news, they are the last ones to know. And it’s their job (and responsibility) to act quickly. Most likely, as a CEO, by the time you hear any news, [...] Read more
Knowing your productivity peaks
Bethany Crystal – Nov 21, 2018
I’ve always known I’m a morning person. But for the past week or two, I’ve been testing out “evening writing time” vs. “morning writing time.” It’s definitely not working. By the end of the day, I’m 100% wiped, have a [...] Read more
“There’s a strange woman living in our basement”
Bethany Crystal – Nov 20, 2018
That was the text I received from one of our neighbors on Sunday morning. Apparently, for the second week in a row, my neighbor has startled a woman who appeared to have been sleeping at the top of the stairs [...] Read more
Recruitment vs. retention in the short-term labor market
Bethany Crystal – Nov 19, 2018
Earlier this year our portfolio company Carta published this comprehensive study on employee tenure in startups. In it, they disclose that, at least among early stage startups, a typical employee sticks around for about 37 months. Or, one month after [...] Read more
The artistry of consistency
Bethany Crystal – Nov 18, 2018
Today was a high content-consumption day for me. I spent the morning at the Whitney Museum’s new Andy Warhol exhibit, studying the turning points of his artistic career. I spent the afternoon digging into the life of Gloria Steinem, through [...] Read more