Optimised Lives and Founders

The Examined Life In The Age Of Optimisation

Rodney King | New York Journal Of Philosophy | 6th August 2026

On the perils of an optimised life. “The move beneath all this, and one we seem to have made almost without noticing, is to regard the self as a project. We talk now about working on ourselves, upgrading our habits, levelling up, building a personal brand, becoming the best version of who we are, as though a person were a small business that might reach profitability if only the founder would stop sleeping” (3,000 words)

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How Universities Should Prepare Founders

Paul Graham | 25th August 2026

Founders need to be good at building things that customers will like. Courses on “entrepreneurship” will not help. Expose students to powerful ideas instead. Give them less coursework and more time. Random side projects are one of the best sources for startup ideas. Both Microsoft and Meta were started during reading period at Harvard, a gap between the end of classes and the start of final exams (2,900 words)