v29

Another year around the sun :)

My birthday comes the day after new years which is just enough time for my friends to get over the hangover. Every year I write down a retro of the last year and goals for the next. Last year I started doing that publicly so this year I thought I’d do that again this year.

Checking in on Last Year’s Goals

Nudge, don’t push

I think I did this ok! Companies are hard but last year I built 4 new products with Excel, got to work with some good friends companies making large impact across the board from high-end institutional crypto to wall street hedge funds to consumer apps, met a bunch of good folks and learned a lot.

Community

I definitely invested in community, both across YC and some old (and new friendships). Grateful for the folks who were in my life in 2025.

Health and Sobriety

Crushed this last year and very grateful to be back in good health. I think I put on something like ~20lbs of muscle while losing 25-30lbs overall which is very positive (old fashion way without GLPs btw just in case you were wondering….). Not drinking alcohol helps a lot plus a bunch of other foundational stuff. Just gonna keep hammering on the consistency next year. I fucked a lot of things up in my life during my mid-twenties not really taking care of myself (no gym, nyc drinking culture) phase but on a good track and excited about it.

Sort of glad this was never shirtless

v29 Goals

Double Down on Foundation

One of the biggest learnings from last year is how foundation is everything. Without it life sucks, I tend to spend time discontent, unhappy and underperforming my own expectations. Last year I really focused on my foundation and not only was I happier but I also performed much better as a result. This year I’m just going to double down and post more about that process which now includes a diverse set of foundational things like gym, meditation, prayer, and being completely off mind altering substances.

Find time for Mentorship, Teaching, and Reading Every Week

I’ve come to find my experience is quite helpful to younger technologists (or people more generally). I love sharing it by writing and talking to people who want to learn and respond to emails constantly from students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and more to do just that. The secret though is that it isn’t just good for them it’s also good for me because it teaches me too. The reading part is just investing in long-term learning. Hoping to do a lot more of this in my v29.

Meaningful Margin Growth at Work

Still not public what the new thing is but lock-in meaningful EBITDA and growth gains on the new thing that are XXmm / yr upside at scale.

Bootstrap One Thing to $10k+ MRR

I’ve been hacking constantly on many different ideas working on getting them to stick and this year will be the year I get one to finally get traction (that isn’t a flash in a pan). I’ve been super consistent in my free time on this and not letting off the gas.

Find a Girlfriend

Self explanatory.

Make Friends the Top of My Social Stack Rank

I value time with my good friends so much and hoping that in v29 I can deepen those friendships and double down on some long term friendships that now span decades(!)