Run Your Life Like a Business

To be an entrepreneur in your personal life, you have to think outside of the box even after you leave the office. The same lessons that you would practice and preach in an entrepreneurial company: brainstorming new projects, conducting high risk but high-ROI-potential experiments, and thinking big-picture apply in your personal finances as well. Side projects could include running a small business of your own, brushing up on stock market investing, or making investments. Recently I have been looking at real estate.

Having multiple credit cards might seem counterintuitive. Credit card debt can lead to big problems, and having more credit cards could certainly increase one's desire to overspend. If you're able to withhold the desire to purchase that "I'll never buy anything again" item, having multiple credit cards is a great way to both quickly build your credit and maximize the rewards that you get for making everyday purchases. Having credit lines with good record of payment is what lenders want to see when you apply for a big-ticket loan such as a car payment or mortgage.  You want to be on the record as financially responsible as long as possible; starting multiple credit lines is a great first step. Three big reasons why you should have multiple credit cards include:

I'll admit that I geek out on credit card rewards. I'll also admit that over the past four years or so I have received at least $1,500 in free cash back, gift cards, free flights, or other swag.  I thought I'd share the best rewards cards around.  Although the best reward structure depends on your spending habits, chances are it will be one of these cards, or a combination. 

I joined Boston Sports Club in the beginning of August, taking advantage of their special student rate ($19/month for one gym, $29/month for all gym access; with restrictions). Fortunately the membership required only a small initial fee, and created no long term contract. And I get to keep the student rate until I discontinue membership! I opted for the $29/month option which gave me access to all BSCs, with two suburban exceptions. Recently, at HubSpot, we secured a few group discounts with two gyms, BSC being one of them. I thought this review would be a good chance to share my thoughts.  

I've had a great time working in the Support Team at HubSpot these past few months.  The job has been a lesson in how to run a software business (from all ends of the organization) and the benefits and differentiation a business can attain by having world-class support.  Here are a few of my takeaways; I hope to share more soon. 

Short sales in real estate borrow their name from the practice of short selling stock.  On the stock market a trader can borrow securities with the intention of buying the security back at a later date.  The trader who short sells or “shorts” a stock profits from a decline in the price of the stock by buying the stock back in the future at a lower price, in turn making a spread between the prices. Similarly, homeowners borrow against the equity of their home with the intention of buying back the house over a period of time, typically a 30-year mortgage.  The comparison ends there – a homeowner can only profit by selling their interest in their house when the value of the house has appreciated.

I recently accepted a position at HubSpot, a venture-backed Internet marketing software company based in Cambridge. In my nine months interning at HubSpot, I have been mesmerized by the amount of brainpower and prowess that all employees possess – from other interns to higher management. Startups, or companies that function like them, are uniquely situated to recruit and employ college students, and I don’t think they do enough of it.

One of my first tasks at HubSpot was to go back in time and use our data warehouses to determine when and how communication with customers occurred. Working in the Operations Department, the project was a great introduction to our various terminologies and systems. I drew out a physical timeline to scale for two “typical” customers since we have two main personas that we sell to – a business owner, and a marketing professional. The experience shaped the way that I think about both the company and our customers.

Fundamentally, quantitative easing increases the money supply by purchasing large amounts of securities, in this case government treasury bonds. With the excess capital that floods into the marketplace, financial institutions will then have more capital available to lend, thus increasing borrowing and spending in the greater economy. Quantitative easing is usually employed only after all other policy tools have been employed: open market operations, the discount rate, and reserve requirements. While quantitative easing may sound like the perfect answer, it does come at the very steep cost of inflation.

Why I Sold my MacBook Pro & iPad

I loved my 12” PowerBook G4. It was an awesome form factor, and weighed only 4.6 pounds. I bought it only six years ago, and now I have a machine that’s exactly half the weight, is exponentially faster, is more durable, has more pixels (better resolution), and allows me to do everythingI need it to.