Juan Orbea

Existential issues are usually not the most efficient place to add your efforts, but efficiency isn’t a priority when the walls are crashing down around you. You should swarm to existential problems, but if a problem isn’t existential then you should be skeptical of adding your efforts where everyone’s already focused. Folks often chase... See more

As a senior leader, you have to maintain a hold on your ego to avoid investing into meaningless work at a grand scale. Taking the time to understand the status quo before shifting it will always repay diligence with results.

Nodes, which in this case are people, exchange a host of things. Sometimes consciously if I pay you from my bank account, sometimes unconsciously like when you overhear me at dinner telling someone about how I coach founders during walks and you decide to try it with your employees. The nodes exchange more of these things when the friction is low... See more

It’s a founder’s job to attract and retain mitochondria through all stages of a company’s growth.

Venture capital has delivered great historical returns but is illiquid and hard to access. Fortunately, innovation does not occur only at venture-backed startups. 

Germany sponsored Vladimir Lenin, and bankers in New York funded Leon Trotsky to foment the Russian Revolution. Both Wall Street and propagandistic reporting from Americans like John Reed aided Lenin and Trotsky in their revolution. Indeed, Reed was so useful to the Soviets — and so misleading as to the nature of the revolution — that he was buried... See more