I am passionate about the intersection of economics, psychology and technology, and seek to create more elegant mechanisms for the fulfillment of human needs and wants. I'm currently working with NextIssue to bring interactive magazines to market, and with the Continuum Development Index, to bring to market a holistic measurement tool for human progress.
I have spent the majority of my career in with technology start-ups in business development and strategy roles, however I have experience with product development, marketing, finance, fundraising and public speaking.
Brandon's bookshelf: read
Instant classic! Add it to canon of literature on human potential, sci-fi and mysticism. A must for anyone interested in seeing new possibilities, improving their metaphorical intelligence or wanting an escape from any number of our groun...
CS is probably the smartest Christian that ever was. Simple, clever prose, and an amazing command of the task of personal spirituality. I'd consider CS Lewis the Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra of Christianity, in that he stays within the co...
Entertaining exploration of the key players in economic thought. Heilbroner uses layman's terms and easy prose to illuminate the biographical, historical, cultural, scientific and economic context that comprised the fertile soil, from which...
Excellent. Very happy that such a unique man walked this earth, had these experiences and the wherewithal to reflect on them earnestly, mind you with a prolific philosophical and artistic pen. Great prose - I was very happy to tweet out his...
Dickens writes like the Dickens. Fun to re-read after 25 years. The characters were one-sided, but I must give him credit to be among the first to expertly weave a story line. He is under-appreciated as a social critic and mystic.
Nisargadatta is a negation specialist - pointing to a deeper, more sustaining reality. He is in good company with Jed McKenna, Wei Wu Wei, Richard Rose, Ashtavakra Gita, UG Krishnamurti. If corporeal/emotional transcendence is of interest, ...
Good approximation of the existential angst / bravisimo of one's twenties. At times, it was overly cute and experimental with form - much like one's twenties. I enjoyed that it reminded me of myself in those days. I enjoyed that it brought...
Wilde is always funny and brilliant, but his understanding of socialism is immature. Part 5 probably contains some of the best theory and commentary on why the media in the US and UK is in the shitter and morally corrupt.
Parts 1 & 2 comprise some of the most insightful coming-of-age / midlife thinking and beautiful prose. His treatment of his own insecurity is supercedes and inspired the far less talented Dave Eggers.
Like Churchill, I believe most of what is contained here is common sense. It probably was revolutionary for its time, but isn't as relevant/perennial as Aurelius' Meditations, or Tao Te Ching. That said, his framework for analyzing human ...
Excellent reference book. Reads well too - great photos and diagrams, decent review of geological processes and plate tectonics. Fascinating subject matter - the chapters on the Bay, Marin and SF reveals a very fluid topography. Stoked t...
Hard to give the Upanisads anything less than four stars. Decent translation and commentary, still far short of the Radhakrishan opus.
A must read for anyone with design on social engineering, aka politics, academia, religion, business, etc.
Really f'n funny and smart. I'd like DFW to narrate my life. I especially liked his essay on the cruise ship (A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again) and the lengthy treatment of David Lynch's body of work. I feel like I never want t...
Throw this bad boy in the collection of books every human should read. Simply and humorously written, exposing the numerous oddities and personalities of men and women who made a life of thinking. Helps with adding a historical context to...
ok, insightful for the time. looking forward to revisiting a more modern approach to the subject.
Extra serving of white guilt, coming up! Seriously though, Toni is an amazing writer, full of wisdom, though at times unnecessarily ambiguous. She made me feel guilty of murder, torture, slavery and rape. Needless to say I won't be readi...
This is a must read for everyone NOT interested in philosophy as it tells its story, influence and highlights the main characters and their mommy/daddy issues. A lovely and entertaining romp through thought. He did a good job of expressin...
She was truly a pioneer. A scientist and philosopher (in mostly a Stoic & Emersonian vein). I'm deeply inspired by her. Stoked to read more about other innovators in education, e.g. Steiner. I love her premise, that liberty is a prerequ...
Well done! Deeply philosophical - up there with Kafka on the Shore and Wind-Up Bird. I will definitely re-read.
We spend an insane amount of time doing things that do not enrich our lives - overscheduling, tv, driving, overwork, etc. and not enough time doing things that do - family time, nature, sex, etc. Avg person spends 72 mins a day driving, av...
The first 3 chapters and the last one were insightful and at times polemic. The rest is Christian apologist rubbish.
Read Baudrillard for fun and profit! JK. This book was an excellent, yet wordy collection of essays that provided a bit more insight into what the Warchowski brother were thinking when they made the matrix. It's colorful funeral durge mou...
Srikumar Rao, a friend and former Professor of mine, wrote a beautiful narrative, illuminating many common, yet flawed human processes. This book is a distillation of many of the key concepts of his course, Creativity and Personal Mastery,...
Excellent collection of short stories (most of them true), taking one into the life of a philosopher, as he contemplates the Divine, interacts with luminaries from other fields (business, law, medicine, journalism and even a Nazi). I loved...
Eckhart democritized mysticism - bringing the kingdom within to the masses. He was not liked by his peers or church for doing so, which by default makes his contribution invaluable. The question remains, is translating spiritual truths fo...
Extremely well researched. Anchored in Christianity. A must for seekers more than just curious about mysticism - up there as a foundational work with Future of the Body, Varieties of Religious Experience, Passion of the Western Mind, etc....
Excellent overview of the history of Christianity, esp re how Christianity lost its way to marketing, management science and the will of simple people to be morally governed by a simplistic mythos. I was hoping for more straight dope from ...
Simple Buddhist teachings. Up there with the Tao, Gita and the Analects of Confucius for essential Eastern spiritual works.
Trippy, fun and easy to follow. At times a bit long, but me thinks that the repetition was for effect. The last twenty pages were fantastic - philosophical and beautifully written.
Great read. Insights on the nature of perception, god, precognitgive consciousness, etc. I highly recommend listening to the librivox.org audio book version with your eyes closed. Add hallucinogens at your own risk.
Like Forrest Gump, but a tragedy instead of a touching comedy. Some pith, but it is evident that it was written in 3 days.
Total rubbish. Sat through 17 chapters before giving up. Great descriptive language and emotional angst, but otherwise, worthless.
