Nov 20
Switching to Ghost: Why and How I Did It —
I merged 3 digital publishing tools into 1 and this is the story of how and why.
This is a rather long article so feel free to skip to the section that matters
to you:
* My Previous Publishing Setup
* The Hassles of the Prior Setup
* Considering My Options
* Ghost: Built
Oct 12
Startups As Chemical Reactions —
Originally written in 2014, updated with a new example in 2021 (Homejoy →
Robinhood)
I'm sometimes envious of people who studied subjects in college that correspond
to their actual careers. Finance majors who become bankers. Computer Science
majors who become software engineers. Must be nice to actually apply the
Oct 11
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why —
In Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
[https://bookshop.org/books/deep-survival-who-lives-who-dies-and-why/9780393353716]
journalist Laurence Gonzales combines his own personal adventure history with
time spent with white water rafting experts, mountaineers, fighter jet pilots,
and wilderness survival guides to understand how people survive (or fail to
survive) in
Sep 05
Scotch & Bean 025 - Office Perk —
Waste not, want not
May 27
35 —
With the exception of 2020 because, well, the world was super weird, I have made
it a habit to publish a set of reflections on what I’ve learned in the past
year. For instance, here’s 33 [https://www.jasonshen.com/2019/33/], 32
[https://www.jasonshen.com/2018/
Apr 05
Five / Five —
How many people do you know who are 5’5″ and can dunk?
Brandon Todd is 5’5″ and can dunk a basketball. At that height, you need a 42+
inches vertical leap to have a chance of putting the ball in the hoop
[http://dunkcalculator.com/]. This is pretty
Jan 15
Resilience Isn’t Who You Are, It’s What You Do —
After living in San Francisco for many years, my friend and her husband decided
to relocate to New York City. Jessica (not her real name) is an Asian American
woman in her early 30s. She began her first shift as a nurse practitioner at the
psychiatric ward of an NYC
Dec 05
Two Feelings You Need Before Starting a Startup —
First published in 2013, republished in 2020 with minor tweaks
I was talking to some folks about applying to Y Combinator and preparing
themselves to found a startup more generally. One point that I found myself
talking about, especially in terms of timing, was the two distinct emotions that
I
Oct 10
What I Learned from My First (Blunder-Filled) Marathon —
This piece was originally published in 2014 on the health and wellness site
Greatist but has been lost after the site was acquired in 2019. Republishing it
here because it’s a great lesson in humility and resilience.
Entrepreneur and former collegiate gymnastics champion Jason Shen had a
less-than-awesome experience
Aug 24
The Difference Between a Prototype and a Demo —
A lot has been made about Apple’s hardware product prowess – the click wheel of
the iPod, the slimness of the Macbook Air, but just as notable are Apple’s
standout software like Safari, Keynote, iOS and many more. In Creative Selection
[https://amzn.to/3hxpth3], long-time Apple software engineer
Aug 18
Midgame’s Next Chapter —
We’re headed to Facebook!
As builders and entrepreneurs, we’ve always been interested in using data and
technology to fulfill human needs: in commerce, recruiting, and gaming.
Before we founded Midgame, Wayne and Jason first started working together at
Etsy, where we built systems and tools that powered millions
Jun 29
How Tech Workers are Finding Their Footing in a Pandemic —
This piece first appeared in Fast Company
[https://www.fastcompany.com/90515519/tech-workers-are-showing-the-effects-of-covid-19-related-burnout]
The start of 2020 should have been an energizing time for me, personally and
professionally. I had just returned from a long-awaited holiday honeymoon and
closed a new round of funding for my startup. But I found
Jun 13
On Protests and Movements —
This is an attempt to integrate a series of shorter, related writings that I’ve
published in my newsletter [http://jasonshen.substack.com] over the last few
weeks. Much of it touches on the Black Lives Matter movement, which I wrote
about back in 2016,
[https://www.jasonshen.com/2016/
May 11
The Product Genius Behind Jackbox Games —
This article first appeared on TechCrunch
[https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/04/all-product-creators-can-learn-something-from-jackbox-games-user-experiences/]
During this periodof shelter-in-place, people have had to seek out new forms of
entertainment and social interaction. Many have turned to a niche party series
made by a company best known for an irreverent trivia game in
Apr 12
How to Become More Adaptable —
Republishing my piece from TechCrunch
Apr 04
What's Going to Change —
It’s April 4, 2020. I stopped going to the office on March 13, and according my
Captain’s Log [https://www.jasonshen.com/2020/captains-log/], we’re on Day 24 of
this self-isolation. I don’t have any symptoms, but I’m assuming I have it and
wear a
Mar 14
Captain's Log —
I’ve journaled on and off in various formats throughout my life.
I kept a paper diary, shifted to a “4 lines a day” style daily journal, moved to
Day One’s electronic journal, and also do a personal review
[https://www.jasonshen.com/annual-lessons-learned/] and quarterly updates
[https://www.
Mar 09
Finding Your Edge —
I want to talk about product design and positioning as it relates to Elizabeth
Warren dropping out of the race. This is not about her politics (though I was a
fan) but her brand as a candidate.
Promoting a political campaign is not unlike marketing a new piece of workout
Feb 21
Adaptability is No Joke —
Both Startups and Improv Are About Making Stuff Up on the Fly
I recently participated in an “Improv for Entrepreneurs” workshop run by Mary
Lemmer
[https://el2.convertkit-mail2.com/c/preview/78i7h8hv/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5pbXByb3Y0LmNvbQ==]
, a founder-turned-VC who now teaches improv to companies and professionals.
I’ve done a couple of these
Feb 05
Recharging is for batteries, not people —
Last year, journalist Anne Helen Petersen wrote a widely shared piece in
Buzzfeed naming millennials the “Burnout Generation”
[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work]
. According to Petersen, we’re overworked, underpaid, and often paralyzed by the
systemic dysfunction of our increasingly volatile world. As a result, many of us