You don’t have to skip college to do Praxis. Some of our participants choose to do Praxis as a gap year after high school, during a four-year college stint, or right after graduation. Why should I do a Praxis gap year? If you like school but don’t know what you want to do with your life,…
Short answer: it’s pretty awesome. Many of our business partners are located in major startup hubs like Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Austin, or San Francisco. That means participants often choose to pick up and move to take advantage of their best Praxis opportunities. Some of our participants are moving for the first time, so naturally they (and…
“[T]he unscalable things you have to do to get started are not merely a necessary evil, but change the company permanently for the better… if you have to work hard to delight users when you only have a handful of them, you’ll keep doing it when you have a lot.” Companies in the age of…
In every great story of every great quest, there are fellow travelers, hosts, and wise people who help the heroes out. The Fellowship of the Ring wouldn’t have gotten far without the help of the elves in Lothlorien. Neither would Pilgrim in A Pilgrim’s Progress have gotten far without fellow travelers like Faithful and help…
“At least I did my best.” This is the most common and the most effective excuse in the world. It’s very dangerous. There are two important things we need to know about this statement: There is no such thing as doing our best. There is always something we could have done better. We have to know when to stop…
“Successful people wake up at 4AM every morning.” “Successful people dress to impress.” “Successful people go to college.” “Successful people read every day.” “Successful people routinely work 60 hours a week.” “Be like this successful person!” This blog post is brought to you by every mutually contradictory and patronizing piece of “Successful people do X”…
Many of you who read this blog are probably aspiring entrepreneurs. I count myself among your number. What we all know is that “aspiring entrepreneur” is a tough gig*. We have to spend a lot of time and thought to find out what problem we want to solve and how we want to solve it. It’s a…
There aren’t too many hours spent in class that I wouldn’t take back if I could. But like most people, I have one or two classroom experiences that I look back on fondly. Business class was one of those, precisely because it wasn’t a class. Our teacher was a local businessman. He wasn’t a teacher,…
Do you remember high school? If you don’t, I’m sorry to remind you, but I was thinking the other day about lessons I learned there. I particularly remember when one of my friends started dating a girl at my school. Like most teenage males, he was pretty new to the world of relationships, but he shared…
“Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.” -Nassim Nicolas Taleb, Antifragile Speedreading. Virtual assistants. Mind-enhancing supplements. Ice-cold baths. Soylent diets (*shudders*). These days there are enough lifehacks (and life hack articles) to last a lifetime, and life optimization is the newest craze.…
Ah, burnout. While it looks different across jobs, we all know the signs when we see them: drinking Red Bull at three in the morning, sleeping in the afternoon, and responding to every email but getting next to nothing done. Most people think burnout is just what happens when you commit to too many things and…
Most of us think that success should come through merit. In this case (and in a shocking reversal of the norm), most of us are right. But there’s a second expectation that many of us have toward the successful: that they should have to “go through” something difficult, undignified, or unrewarding before they hit it big. Musicians need…
“To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. We’ve got it down to four words: “Do what you love.” But it’s not enough just to tell people that. Doing what you love is complicated.” – YCombinator Founder Paul Graham,”How To Do What You Love“ Ever wondered about why…
This is the third and final part of a series on fear, embarrassment, and growth. Read the second part, “Embarrassment: The Price You’ll Pay for Personal Growth.“ Sometimes growth takes powering through some really uncomfortable things. In the working world, that can be everything from asking for a raise to confronting a coworker, or even just…
This is the second part of a blog series on fear, embarrassment, and growth. Check out part one, “Your Fear Is Overrated.” Public speaking has always terrified me. Even when I consciously realize that I can give a presentation or talk, I still feel shaky and shaken during the experience. Even though my voice may crack embarrassingly next…