Books Read
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
By Simon Sinek
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
By William N. Thorndike, Jr.
“These CEOs thought more like investors than like managers.”
Venture Deals
By Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
“One successful negotiating tactic is to ask VCs up front, before the term sheet shows up, what the three most important terms are in a financing for them. You should know and be prepared to articulate your top three wants as well.”
Viral Loop
By Adam Penenberg
The Long Tail
By Chris Anderson
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
By Nir Eyal with Ryan Hoover
Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending
By Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton
I cited Viral Loop, The Long Tail, Hooked, and Happy Moneyin 9 Ways Behavioral Economics Can Help Increase Conversion, Retention and ROI
The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture
By John Battelle
Things A Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind
By Biz Stone
“If you take an idea and just hold it in your head, you unconsciously start to do things that advance you toward that goal.”
“(On building the podcast service Odeo) We lacked something that is the key to a successful startup, and it was bigger than sound quality. It was emotional investment. If you don’t love what you’re building, if you’re not an avid user yourself, then you will most likely fail even if you’re doing everything right.”
The 4-Hour Workweek
By Tim Ferris
“Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel.”
“Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all. When people suggest you follow your ‘passion’ or your ‘bliss,’ I propose that they are, in fact, referring to the same singular concept: excitement.”
The Happiness of Pursuit
By Chris Guillebeau
Chris chronicles his quest of traveling to 193 countries before his 35th birthday.
Crazy is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags
By Linda Rottenberg
Linda is the CEO and Co-Founder of Endeavor, and works with entrepreneurs around the globe to help grow their businesses.
The Way, My Way
By Bill Bennett
Australian filmaker Bill Bennett describes his journey hiking the Camino de Santiago.
Places Visited
1. New Zealand (family hiking trip) — January
2. Lake Tahoe — January
I’m in front wearing purple!
3. Las Vegas (Zumper milestone celebration) — March
4. Singapore (vacation & visiting a college friend) — August
5. South Bend, Indiana (visiting my sister at Notre Dame) — September
6. Stockholm, Sweden (spontaneous 48 hour adventure with Zumper friends because of cheap flights) — December
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina and Patagonia (family hiking trip) — December
Races Ran
1. San Francisco Marathon (2nd Half)
2. Nike Women’s Half Marathon
Career
January: Joined Zumper!
Conferences Attended
YC Female Founders Conference — February
Gregory Koberger and Kim Pham doodled notes of all the talks:
2. LAUNCH Festival — March
3. April: HustleCon — April
4. 500 StartUps Weapons of Mass Disruption Growth Conference — May
5. SEJ Summit — July
6. ClickZ Conference — August
Published Posts
9 Ways Behavioral Economics Can Help Increase Conversion, Retention and ROI
Favorite Quotes from Medium Posts In 2015: On Personal Development, Hustling, Females in Tech, Startups, Growth Marketing, and Overall Learning
Miscellaneous Activities
Adventures
Bungy jumping
Kawarau Bridge Bungy in Queenstown, New Zealand
Kayaking
Cooking (1st and only time for a group)
Selfies!
Concerts
• Lady Antebellum w/ Hunter Hayes and Sam Hunt
• SummerThing by Alice Radio
• Outside Lands
Shows
• Silicon Valley Fashion Week
• The Book of Mormon
• Riverdance
• Tango (in Buenos Aires)
Sports
• 3 Giants Games
2 Notre Dame football games
Quotes
“If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake.”
— Frank Wilczek, 2004 Nobel Prize winner in physics
Spotted in Singapore
“I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.”
— Herbert Bayard Swope, American editor and journalist; first recipient of the Pulitzer Prize
At Facebook HQ
8 Things I’ve Learned in 2015:
Travel. It’s a great excuse to take photos, connect with friends and family in another setting, clear your mind, gain a new perspective, and form new ideas. It’s even better when the travel cuts you off from wifi and phone reception!
Reading helps you think of new ideas. Even this post was inspired after reading Tracy Chou’s 2014 Year in Review. (Thanks Tracy!)
Be transparent with your mentors about your future goals. The more you share, the more they can help.
Try to meet new people every week. You never know who may change your life. Having a large network makes hiring easier, and makes going to events more fun when you already know people. Also, it’s rewarding connecting people.
The endorphins from exercise make you happier and help you focus for the rest of the day.
Always follow up. This year was my first time on the other side of the table interviewing people. It’s shocking how most job applicants don’t follow up. Do it and you’ll automatically stand out. But don’t over follow-up like many sales reps!
Give thanks. It’s surprising how many people don’t.
Set goals. Write them down so you’ll be more likely to achieve them. I’ve set specific goals for each of the above categories (plus more) for next year. Stay tuned for my post in December 2016!