The universe is made of stories, not atoms.

—Muriel Rukeyser

‘I’ve decided to stop eating meat, dad. There’s too much cruelty involved in making and putting meat on our tables, said Tomas, during breakfast. Out of the blue!’

‘Surely, we can find meat with a more humane treatment of animals.’ I said quickly bringing up a solution to avoid all the potential adjustments in our already complex family menu riddled by allergies, moody tastes, and diets.

‘By the way, I prefer you don’t mention my decision outside of home. Just be natural about it.’ my son responded, then 16 years old, ignoring my solution and trying to control his distaste…

There is always light.

Only if we are brave enough to see it.

There is always light.

Only if we are brave enough to be it.

@TheAmandaGorman

To be honest, I wanted to skip this post. This year took the joy off this recurrent somewhat superfluous reflection. Maybe it is for the better.

Facing a world with unbearable inequalities, can I really talk about the acceleration of technology adoption in Latin America?

When access to a digital world makes people unhappy or unemployed or oppressed, should I discuss the trends in early-stage startup valuations?

When the most celebrated entrepreneur can only dream of escaping our planet rather than saving it from technology, may I discuss my boldest fintech prediction?

When leadership can produce a vaccine in months…

A first date playbook for founders

Originally published on Antonico

I sucked at dating.

Here’s how it went almost every time. After a strong opening full of storytelling and chivalry at a carefully chosen venue, I stumbled sooner or later. Like a clock. I inevitably turned off my new friend with an awfully arrogant comment, a distasteful joke punctuated by a loud laugh or an intense monologue that delved too deeply too early.

If by any chance I went through the first encounter without a screw-up, I was so surprised that I froze, unable to make the next move. I…

I could hardly see the screen. The vapor coming from my light blue face mask inundated my transparent glasses. Tears clung stubbornly to my eyes.

The empty sanitized cafeteria had been retooled to limit human social interaction. I typed my code to access my portable digital life on a laptop that had forgotten my face months ago. What can I do to take my head of an excruciating five-hour wait? To start, I needed to force myself to concentrate on the simplest task I could think of. Tweet something, I quickly decided.

I got into the Whastapp web app, found…

“Customers are always beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied, even when they report being happy and business is great.” — Jeff Bezos.