What’s it like to have an extremely high IQ?

Years ago, aged eighteen, I joined MENSA. I left after a year, having seen ample evidence to support the old description of MENSA as “The society for people impressed by their own intelligence”. In truth, the whole organization was creepy.

Anyway, when I applied they sent me an IQ test which you sent in to be scored. If you scored highly enough they asked you to attend a monitored exam. I scored 158 on the test at home and 159 when I went to London to be tested.

I have never encountered anything, either at school, university or at work that has been intellectually difficult for me.

I got an English degree and a law degree and barely worked to get either.

My memory has always served me well. I quickly see patterns that others don’t seem to notice (that’s your IQ test sewn up right there) and just find concepts come easier to me than to a lot of other people.

I do get bored with most subjects quite quickly but, so far, so good.

The problem, for me, lies in the fact that I never developed any sense of urgency about anything.

People will be impressed by how hard I worked on something when, in truth, I zipped through it in no time at all, paying it almost no attention.

I learned to let people think I have worked hard because it serves me well.

I’m essentially, and incurably, lazy.

I should have achieved so much more and I am bright enough to know it.

I’m fifty years old now, have been married twenty years and have three beautiful children, so my life is no train wreck, but I know I have shortchanged myself and my family.

I constantly look at others with envy; never of their material success but of their professional achievements and work ethic.

I could have done pretty much anything I wanted to do, but have ended up drifting into a sales career which pays well but gives me not one ounce of professional satisfaction or pride.

A high IQ is a great advantage but, in later life, it will torment you in ways the young cannot imagine.

If you don’t learn to make best use of it, a high IQ will remind you on an almost hourly basis that you threw it all away.

This is why so many underachieving people are unable to shut the fuck up about it – we become addicted in childhood to praise which dries up once more diligent, if less intelligent, peers start overtaking us.

Those who are not socially intelligent enough to recognize how obnoxious it is will mention their intelligence whenever they get a chance, imagining that other people care.

The world and its prizes belong, quite rightly, to hard working people, not intelligent ones.

Italian Chicken Packets

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, quartered, or 2 pieces chicken per packet
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 fresh ripe tomatoes or 1 can drained tomatoes, chopped
• 4 large green olives, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Wash chicken quarters or pieces; drain and pat dry.
2. Peel and chop tomatoes if using fresh tomatoes.
3. Cut 4 (12-inch) pieces of aluminum foil, and grease one side of each with olive oil.
4. Place a chicken quarter or chicken pieces in center of each piece of foil.
5. Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives, basil, oregano, celery salt, and pepper and mix well.
6. Spoon sauce over each chicken packet. Top with a bay leaf.
7. Fold foil into neat, sealed packages. Place on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 425 degrees F for 40 minutes to one hour, until chicken is cooked.
9. Serve from package.

1. Best way I can describe it is just a general feeling of security. Just knowing that they’re behind you 100%, and even when they’re mad at you it’s almost always because they’re trying to help you in the long run.

It’s not something you really appreciate until you get older and start to notice kids around you that have to deal with some pretty fucked up shit from their parents. It’s kind of slowly realizing how many bad things you’ve just never had to worry about thanks to your support system.

And, the best part is how your relationship changes as you get older. When they slowly start treating you like a fellow adult, and you get to see them as more of a whole person.

2. I had a loving mom, but a very shitty dad.

My mom supported me through all my school. Would go to different stores to get me supplies for my projects. She’d try to read the same books I had to so she could engage in critical thinking discussions. Attended my sporting events and cheered me on. Would lay in bed with me after I’d have a nightmare and run her fingers through my hair till I fell asleep. Would constantly reassure me that I was capable of pursuing my dreams. She made sure to tell me she loved me every day and give me hugs frequently. She’s an amazing woman and am so grateful I have her.

3. It’s safe to take risks, they’ll catch you

4. It’s affirming – that whatever goes wrong or right, they’re “there” for you.

Not everyone has this, I understand. But for those that do, it’s something for which to express gratitude.

5. I have loving parents and am an adult.

They are not perfect. I’ve got baggage. We’ve all made mistakes in our relationship.

I was never abused in any way.

As an adult, I have a very good relationship with them. Maybe the big thing is that we can forgive eachother easily for the errors of our past. Now it’s more like having very good friends than patents. And the roles are changing as I give more advice than I recieve these days.

6. I’m 25 (nearly 26). My parents were incredible growing up, and they still are. I grew up middle class, never extravagantly wealthy or anything, but we never had to worry about where our next meal was coming from.

My mom is a pretty tough lady. She’s a 3rd generation Italian immigrant and grew up on The Hill, St. Louis’s Italian neighborhood. She kept us (my brother, sister and I) in line and was never very sentimental, but she always cared for us and stuck up for us.

My dad is one of 6 siblings. He’s the second oldest. He is a very caring, sentimental guy. He’s 62 and retired now, but he worked as an information technology project manager for Anheuser Busch and made good money.

They both provided well for us, gave us what we needed and were fair in their discipline when they needed to be. I realize at my age now that they sacrificed a lot along the way – taking us to soccer and baseball games, dropping us off and picking us up from school every day, dealing with our being whiny and annoying, all kinds of stuff. I suppose I really did have the sort of classic, American dream childhood and I think I’ve always taken it for granted.

What was it like, OP asks? It was nice. It was comfortable when it needed to be and challenging when appropriate. I live on my own now and I’m going over to see them for Father’s Day today. I may mention a word of thanks for giving me a pretty nice life.

7. You just always feel 100% safe and that no matter what happens EVERYTHING will be okay.. it makes life way better.. you don’t have to seek companionship outside of your family as much because you already got that “loved” feeling from your family.. basically you rarely feel alone when you have loving parents/family.

8. The most beautiful part is watching your parents love EACH OTHER! Didn’t even see how this would be valuable until I became an adult and learned that not everyone gets to grow up seeing healthy love. This plays an important factor in the relationships I have and it’s the reason why I’m glad to say I’m a healthy SO. Whenever I hear about people I know in a abusive and toxic relationships, the first thing I always ask is how were their parents relationship…trauma is a real and unfortunate learning mechanism.

9. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s incredible. I was born to two loving parents who waited until they were well-off financially to have children. The only struggle I’ve ever had in my life is with depression (genetic/hereditary, nothing I can really do about it). I’m in college now, my parents pay for my expensive university with all their heart, they go out of their way to do little things to make me happy. My mom will surprise me with take out from my favorite restaurant, my dad will surprise me with basketball tickets or take me to see a movie. We have “arguments” but its 99% of the time over little things that we don’t remember 10 minutes later, and it rarely happens. We operate as a family, make decisions as a family. Like every important decision I make is not all on me, its as a family, so it’s low risk, high reward. A big part of parents being loving is parents being responsible, and my parents have always been responsible adults. I think its a special kind of cruel when a child loses the strong image of parents, or they never had it in the first place. I view my parents as strong figures, anchors. They have their moments of weakness but overwhelmingly are always strong.

I only hope to continue this and be an even better parent to my eventual kids.

10. Especially my mom told and still tells me that she loves me nearly every time we see each other.

They don’t tell me they are happy or mad with my life choices but tell me that I am the one who need to live with them and as long as I am happy, they are too.

They weren’t perfect though but they were able to apologise when they realised they deeply hurt me. They always explained their parenting choices and I never once in my life heard the famous “my house, my rules”.

And the last thing that is very important to me is that they are absolutely loyal to their kids. Other adults or family members like older cousins or so are mocking me? They would always step in and defend me if I weren’t able to. Always took my feelings seriously. I realised in elementary school that this wasn’t normal for most of the adults

11. Amazing! My mother is the most loving and caring mother you could ask for. Im 30, but still close as hell with my mum, visit every weekend and help her with the DIY side of things in her home. She’s slowly going blind which is heartbreaking to watch her struggle with day to day life!! Once she’s completely blind, I’m leaving my job to help look after her as much as i can. She gave me and my siblings the best upbringing she could of given us, so I have to repay her.

So yeah, its great having loving parents. You will do anything for each other.

12. The feeling of acceptance, understanding, and security. Also the immense knowing that they will do anything for you, even if it means that they go through hell.

My father and mother escaped from communist countries (Poland and Vietnam), and nearly died during it. Upon arriving they worked many jobs and went through hell in order to give us a good upbringing. My father owns a pizza shop, and in its early days he worked from 8am-3am, usually not being able to sleep beacuse of the stress of knowing that if something goes wrong, his family will starve. At the worst of it (that I know of), he had to set up a mattress at the back of the store, and slept there so he knew that it would be okay.

My parents have been through hell and back for us, and will in the future if they need to, nevertheless they gave us enough attension and love.

One of the biggest thing for me is trust, I trust them, and they do trust me. We have a mutual respect.

What are your urges like?

The need for sex is constantly present. The pleasure it brings is pure euphoria. And I have the constant need for it so when I get it, I want it even more. All the time. The better the sex, the more sex, the happier I am.

Is having a relationship hard?

It’s hard on my partner. We hooked up when I was 16 and I was needing to have sex multiple times a day. At one point 10 times in one day. Which he could keep up with back then. But now 10 years later he is understanding of my needs but not quite meeting them. In 2020 he agreed to letting me do onlyfans to get some of my needs out without being unfaithful. But became uncomfortable with that after a while. It does put a strain on our relationship because his sex drive cannot match mine.

Have either of you brought up an open relationship?

We’ve talked about it and it’s just not for us. I NEED sex but I want it from him. And he doesn’t want me with anyone else. And I don’t want to be with anyone else.

That’s not to say I don’t have strong urges that could make me cheat and I do worry about what would happen if I were put into a position of temptation.

Do you avoid situations where you cheat? Like bars or clubs?

I do go out but I have to bring one of my sisters with me who will decide when I’m getting out of line or in a dangerous situation and have a bouncer wait outside with us for a ride/Uber. But I go out less now since I’ve put my sisters in situations where they feel I/they are unsafe.

When I drink I become very bubbly and friendly and sometimes respond to that behavior in ways that could get me in trouble or seem like an invitation.

Is it the act of sex (penetration) or the orgasm that you seek? Like, is masturbation a part of it as well?

I would say it’s both. It started getting worse around 12 with like obsessive masturbating. But now I also need the penetration to feel close to someone.

Does it satisfy you if he uses toys on you? Is that an option for you to get your needs met and him to be a part of it?

Absolutely! But he works a lot so he’s often tired and has to go to bed early

Have you tried denying/avoiding those instincts/feelings for a while? If you did how long have you lasted?

Even after having a baby I was supposed to wait 6 weeks to have sex and I only waited 2 lol it’s complicated to explain I guess. I need sex to be happy and I need it very often. I’m very horny all the time and I get disappointed and upset if I can’t have it. Which can cause problems

How does your sex drive correlate to your mood? Does bad/good mood bring it down temporarily?

Usually when my head is in a bad place I want it even more and I’m pan

Is there an event in your life that contributed to your hyper-sexuality? Was there any sexual abuse that you think may have led to your hyper sexuality?

I was molested at age 7. But also very over sexualized by men from a young age due to my features. And then I was introduced to chat rooms like Omegle around 12 and would have inappropriate relationships with adult men

Have you found any solutions or working towards a solution to break your addiction?

It has gotten better over the years to wear I can go 2-3 nights a week without it but meds do not work for my specific mental illness, I’ve done 10 years of therapy and 7 years with a psychiatrist.

Were you diagnosed?

Borderline personality disorder. I’m diagnosed with ptsd as well.

Have you been prescribed medicaiton?

I have been on Latuda, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Zoloft, lamictal, risperdal, the list continues. 7 years of different medication combinations with little to no difference in most symptoms.

How do you counter this huge thing in your life to allow yourself to lead a normal life?

I mean it’s not debilitating I still function and do things like a normal person

Obviously you were a victim in your childhood, do you resent your hyper-sexuality sometimes because of the circumstances in which you got it?

I guess it’s hard for me to really resent sex because I do love it. I guess I would like it if it wasn’t too much for my partner sometimes but it’s not his fault it’s fully on me

1. I’m tired of people trying to make me feel bad because I didn’t want to deal with this nightmare of a diagnosis. I straight up admit I absolutely did not fucking want a special needs child which is why I aborted my first pregnancy – there was a chromosomal abnormality so I noped out real quick.

Got just about every damn test you could with the second pregnancy and everything was fine. But no. Autism.

All I ever fucking wanted was a normal family, is that so much to ask? My life growing up was walking on eggshells because of my mentally ill father and intellectually disabled sister. Then I was free. Only to get dragged back into hell.

I’m tired of all the extravagant accommodations and never ending extra shit that goes into autism. We’re supposed to bend over backwards to children who only care about their immediate needs and themselves no matter what the fuck anyone else’s needs are – and then we get blamed for churning out entitled assholes.

I’m tired of this broken fucking kid and never ending heavy burden. While I would never hurt him I can absolutely see how this breaks some parents and these nightmare kids end up getting thrown off a bridge. (I’m not saying I would throw him off a bridge you drama queens, I’m saying I can understand how parents snap)

Pre natal diagnostics needs to get on the fucking ball.

Edit: like moths to a flame the autists are in full force to bitch about how awful I am.

Autism isn’t a shield for shit behavior. I’m allowed to be irritated with shit behavior no matter the origin. I’m human.

Guess what, you don’t live in a vacuum and your caregivers matter too. I’m sorry (not sorry) that the truth of raising an autistic child triggers you so much but, well, it’s not my job to cater to your feelings. Go somewhere else if you hate it so much.

2. My (40M) son (12M) has been physically and verbally abusing my wife (42F) and daughter (9F) for 3-4 years. Dozens of medicinal combinations, 4 hospitalizations (writing this from the hospital while waiting for a placement for his 5th), 8 months in a residential center, making his needs/problems the center of our lives (wife has had not worked or done anything but be his full time caretaker for years), have yielded no relief. I pay for a house the wife+kids live in, and an apartment I live in and work from a few miles away, because my presence/existence is an irritant to my son (and wife prioritizes son’s preferences/comfort above all else), and my daughter occasionally has to stay in the apartment with me when son attacks her.

Yesterday, wife and MIL and both kids went for ice cream, but the store was unexpectedly closed. That disruption in plans was enough that son escalated from standard daily behavior of punching my wife, to attempting to strangle her, and attacked elderly MIL with a heavy wooden board (luckily she knocked it out of his hands and was uninjured).

So, marriage in shambles, finances and mental health destroyed, daughter traumatized… all societal systems (US) from hospitals to cops to therapists to public schools to private schools to psychiatrists to psychologists to residential centers to crisis response (and probably more I’m forgetting) unable to help at all.

My daughter is mostly a joy and (aside from removing what she’s been exposed to) I would change nothing about her.

I regret my son’s existence.

3. The actual reason I had a kid was just pressure from society. I mean, this is what people are supposed to do you know? I’ve always made so much effort ticking all the boxes what people are “supposed to do”. I’m 30 years old and my biological clock is ticking. All my friends have kids so I thought to myself that it was now or never. Now I have this beautiful, healthy, lovely 2 year old whom I love more than words – make no mistake, I’m a good mom. But what I want is sleeping in, going to the gym whenever I want, travel, doing spontaneous things etc. That was my life before my daughter was born. I don’t feel this “rewarding” feeling everyone are talking about. I feel bitter and unfulfilled. I wouldn’t dare saying those things out loud to anyone.

4. I was told the moment you push out your baby & hold it in your arms is the most amazing, most magical, euphoric moment you will ever experience in your entire life.

So there I was..in the hospital, holding my new baby, waiting for it… I felt NOTHING. But I did lose a lot of blood though. I was told that C-Sections are not that bad. I’ll be fine! I couldn’t talk for weeks & barely had any energy to move. But I do have a long nasty cool looking scar that my wax lady points out to me every time I get a wax.

I was told that my breast would just go back to my regular size. My breast are so flat and saggy that I literally have to rush to put clothes on after I get out the shower bc I hate lookin in the mirror. I was told that it’s just “baby weight” it’ll go away after birth. My stomach is so fat & sloppy that it looks like I’m in the early stages of pregnancy.

I was told by my OBGYN that “I’m just in a phase, I’ll get my confidence back!” Today, as I write this in tears, I haven’t felt like me in years. Something’s off..I always look like I’m feeling & feel how I look (which is ugly).

I was told that “Kids are a blessing, you’ll enjoy it!” I literally look forward to every freakin day & night when my kid goes to sleep for that little peace & quiet time that I have to myself. This is the biggest highlight of my day! I use every bit of that time thinking about all that I could be right now before I enter parenthood.

I was told that I have “18 Summers to get it right” That is true & I take that to the heart, but I might just spend my whole adulthood living for my kid & I haven’t even enjoyed my life yet. Thing is, I could be the best parent ever & it still won’t ever be enough cause in the end, kids grow into individuals w/ a mind of their own. 70% comes from me & the other 30% will come from life itself. Life is the greatest teacher. Hopefully when she turns 18, I’ll have something to look back & smile about.

Knowing all the sacrifices, blood, sweat & tears it took to get here will be more than enough for my warm heart to accept. I wait everyday for that moment. I was told that this sht comes easy, being a parent is natural. I’ve been a mom for damn near 3 years & ain’t sht been easy yet. Literally been winging this sh*t since day 1.

I was told just taking 10 mins for yourself will do wonders for you. I can’t even take a shower w/o thinking I’m hearing someone crying & banging on my bathroom door. I was told that child support payments will ease the load. The court ordered $194 in payments & he doesn’t even pay that. I was told from friends & family that I have their support. I’ve had to quit so many jobs bc I had no one to watch her. I had to steal food so many times bc I just don’t have it right now. I was told that it’ll get easier, when?

The fact is, I was lied to.

5. My son is gifted. He’s also a gigantic fucking asshole.

What they see is the tiniest little sliver of a moment, and have no idea that the rest of the time is absolutely exhausting. He has behavior problems, is constantly argumentative, and lives to push every fucking one of my buttons every single goddamn day. It is honestly a battle not to hit him the way I would have been, and my reward for restraint and respecting his person is constantly eating shit.

He has no friends, acts half his age, and is a gigantic brat no matter what we do. I’ve had to give up my life to revolve around his, and I expected to be done by now honestly. Most mothers can get back to work when their kid starts school… I cant.

All of my fucking time is taken up by his endless needs, the time he’s in school is the only time I can get anything meaningful done. The entire parental load is dumped on me, as well as every speck of housework, and society thinks I need to bring in an income too because I’m not doing enough?

It’s all shit. All of it.

When he is on stage and captivates everyone, if just for a moment… I would trade all of it to go back and remain childless. I see parents whisper to each other that they wish their kid could be more like mine and it makes me want to cry. Because they don’t realize how difficult having a gifted kid is. Honestly I would have preferred a normal child.

I put on a brave face though, and gush about how proud I am. But I’m dying inside.

Lots of us regret. Even the ones you would never think do. But I regret all of it.

It’s funny how when I was younger the idea of a hardworking husband that could afford for me to be a stay at home mother to a gifted kid – that was like a dream scenario.

But that’s exactly what I got, and it’s a prison.

I love him and I will continue to do my best for him, but Christ this is the worst job I’ve ever had.

6. I fucking hate being a mother (and wife). There, I said it.

I’ll preface with saying that I do love my children , but It absolutely drains every single part of my being. To the point where I’m not sure I can keep going much longer.

I hate how I went undiagnosed with a neurological disorder my entire life until recently, which makes being a parent/partner so damn difficult. I could have made better choices had I known.

I hate that I grew up thinking because I was a girl, having kids was just part of life. I hate how we don’t normalize conversations surrounding the topic of NOT having children.

I hate that I even feel this way. Not like they asked to be here. So I go through the motions and try my best . For them. But what I wouldn’t give to go back 20 years and make different choices.

So something like from that show Silicon Valley? You stocks went from millions to nothing?

Worse. Our bank account had millions of dollars in cash in it which we use to pay rent, employees, etc. All of that money has been frozen now that the bank has collapsed and the FDIC has stepped in. We can’t access it, use it, or transfer it to another bank.

This has happened to countless companies. Hundreds of companies missed payroll on Friday or will miss payroll over the next few days.

Why would you keep so much in one bank knowing it’s uninsured? Why not buy US treasuries as an alternative?

There’s a lot to dig into here, and arguably this is the most important cultural shift that needs to occur amongst venture-backed companies going forward.

Large companies – and thus more mature ones – absolutely diversify. For that reason, SVBs implosion is mostly hurting small and medium sized startups who maintained all of their capital in SVB. The question is: why were these startups not more proactively defensive? I think there’s a lot of contributing factors.

1) Most early stage startups are founded by and focus entirely on employing non-admin talent, meaning no HR, no finance, etc. In fact, one of our investors (a tier 1 investor with several billion dollar funds) explicitly talked me out of hiring a CFO until we were “50-100 employees”. So, what you end up with is a talent pool of specialists whose strength and focus isn’t in financial risk aversion, but rather in the skills needed to build product, find traction, and drive growth.

2) Focus. In early stage startups, you’re so frantically working to find product/market fit, recruit key talent, close customers, and navigate investors that you quickly deprioritize anything that doesn’t immediately drive revenue or product market fit. This leads to a bunch of blind spots in the business that are easy to take for granted. One is financial risk aversion. There are only so many tasks you can commit your attention to each day, and the purely administrative ones tend to fall by the wayside.

3) Convenience. Take your typical seed stage startup. In 2019, a seed round would be 2 million, plus or minus. In 2021, that same seed stage round could be 4-8. That means 32 bank accounts required to ensure that no more than $250k is present in any account. Amongst all of the other stuff you have to do as both a manager and individual contributor, this degree of oversight feels untenable.

4) Hubris. Probably a bit too strong language, but worth at least mentioning. Startups are inherently risky and financially insecure businesses, but we tend to have faith that our institutional partners — VCs, banks, etc. — are trustworthy and secure. We try to focus on the things we are most in a position to control, and we trust our partners to support us in the gaps. That’s not a good perspective to have going forward.

There are a lot of reasons. Going forward, all startups should probably have CFOs actively protecting cash. That hasn’t been the standard in the past for small companies. It should be going forward.

You weren’t notified of the potential problem before ?

I received an email.at 3:09 ET on Thursday.from.one of our investors saying, “This is probably alarmist, but you might want to move your money out of SVB.” That’s it. I immediately contacted another bank, but by the time the application was submitted, approved, created, and transfer submitted, it was already too late. About 16 hours.

Do you think your company can bounce back from this?

The next few days are critical.

The industry is expecting the FDIC to provide $250k in insurance on Monday. If that miraculously happens, it provides limited relief for the smaller companies, of which mine is one. With that $250k, I can make 2 payrolls. So, that gives me 3 weeks to figure out our next step.

The biggest question is whether or not the government will step in to make all of the depositors whole (meaning ensure companies like mine get access to the cash we already had). Even if that happens, there’s no way to know how quickly that can occur. Many Americans don’t think it should at all.

If that doesn’t occur, then we’ll likely be looking for a new source of capital (probably an investment) and use that to keep the company alive long enough to hopefully find a buyer.

What happens to a company that can’t make payroll?

We held a 2 hour company wide call, during which I explained what happened, what’s next, and the options we have. Then we did breakout sessions with each team. People are understandably concerned, but not because they’re in the dark.

There is a lot of he said/she said going on about when any of this money will be returned. The truth is nobody knows. My plan A is to access (hopefully on Monday) the FDIC $250k insurance to cover my team’s next two payroll cycles. That gives me time to do two things: 1) see if there’s a short-term resolution of SVB that benefits us, and 2) work with our partners in a bridge loan. The latter is the most likely path for any early-stage startup that has the option.

After that, who knows. If it takes months or years for any of the capital to be returned, then probably look for an acquirer so my team has a soft landing somewhere.

Do you think that the failures on the bank should be settled by tax payer money?

It’s a great question. I think the potential reverberating damage of not making the depositors as whole as possible is catastrophic. Not just for those companies, but for the us economy itself and the future of the US as a global innovator. Seeing online chatter, it’s clear to me that most people don’t understand how broad reaching this situation is. It’s MUCH bigger than a few “coastal leftist capitalist millionaires”.

Does that mean that taxpayers should be responsible? No. Ideally the capital would come from another bank acquiring the assets over the coming days/weeks. That seems unlikely, at least at a price that would cover all depositors.

Somebody is getting fucked. It shouldn’t be the depositors who only held cash. And it shouldn’t be the taxpayers. Very difficult situation.

Who do you think will be the White Knight? (Do you believe there will be one?)

Interesting question. No for-profit institution can truly be the white knight. They’re self-interested parties (which is fine) and are going to try to acquire the assets for pennies on the dollar. Meaning whatever is left will be a fraction of what was there before. The govt. Can certainly intervene, but to what end.

Ultimately, I think the question is really: Who is going to get screwed over the most in order to protect the rest.

If the government is the only way to make yourselves whole, what are your thoughts about the government taking equity positions in those companies rather than providing a cash bailout?

We need cash to operate. If that cash is in exchange for equity, I’m generally okay with the idea. In fact, I would personally love a closer relationship between govt and innovation companies. I have long maintained that we need our best people thinking about the biggest problems – govt, education, healthcare, etc. But because public sector salaries can’t compete, we often pool too much top talent in the private sector. A closer relationship between the two might have positive outcomes.

Did you start the company or just rise up to the position?

I started the company with two co-founders. They made salaries first. I started getting paid about a year later.

CEO compensation varies WIDELY by company, stage, and sector. I firmly believe that CEOs at most large corporations are grossly overpaid. That is far from my personal case. I currently make $150k/yr. I’m far from the highest paid employee at my own company. For early stage companies, there is a director correlation between a startup’s likelihood to fail and how much s/he pays him/herself. I made much more at previous companies, but founder/CEOs typically don’t work for the salary. They work for the potential equity outcome.

What were your roles and responsibilities as a CEO for this company.

At my stage, the primary responsibilities are hiring, budgeting, HR, team management, fundraising, and investor relations. After that, each CEO has a unique set of skills based on their background which determine what else they do. My background is in product management, so I also lead the design and development of our software product.

Typically external CEOs are brought into a startup after the company has achieved a certain degree of scale. Maybe the founder is ready to move on, or maybe the company needs someone with more expertise at that growth stage. Typically external CEOs come from within the existing social network, via investor introductions, or through an executive recruiter.

I’m 60. My biggest problem is having to work 50 or 60 (or more) hours a week just to keep up with the bills. Plus I have a bedridden wife with cancer and we’re raising our oldest grandson. As Sargeant Murtaugh once said, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”

37 and I’m going blind. I don’t know how long it will take, when I will be legally blind and unable to live my life with the richness, independence and everything else I expected, but it’s coming. It’s a crushing inevitability. Every day that I get to see my loved ones faces is a gift.

40’s and I drink too much and need to lose weight. I only drank 3 times in February and I’ve increased my daily walks so I’m working on it!

I’m just trying to find some reasons to not hate my own existence. But here we are. A couple days ago was my 43rd. My finances suck. I’ve been depressed most of my adult life but I’m just really sad right now too. There is a difference between sad and depressed and I’m both right now. And I don’t deserve to be either, I’m healthy, I still have all my limbs and digits thanks to modern medicine, and there are people who care about me, which makes the depression just feel like even more of a failure. I hope you feel better soon. I hope I do too.

74 and don’t really have any problems other knowing my time is limited. Don’t buy any green bananas. 🙂

78, and knowing I am terminal. I can handle it, but everybody else is in denial. I’m hearing lots of, “After all, doctors don’t know everything, do they?”

No. They don’t. But they do know the five-year survival rate is 1%. Now let’s all say that together boys and girls.

“The five-year survival rate is 1%.”

59 and my thoughts are consumed with losing my wife(and best friend). I’ve loved her for 42 years. I want 42 more.

The older I get the shorter it all seems, Ive heard the same from everyone. Everyone pretends to be at peace, I thinik it’s more for the others than that they really believe it. There isn’t anything you can tell someone when they are 16 that they will ever truly understand until they’re 60. I suppose this is where the bitter sweet thing hits. But it hits really fucking hard when it does.

61(F)… Relationship heartache and likely to be let go at work. I’m too old for either of these when 6 years away from retirement.

29. All my bills are going up, but my paycheck is not.

I’m 62 and I am watching my wife die day by day from pancreatic cancer. She is the love of my life, God’s gift to me. I had been married before but never have I known love until I met her. I cannot breathe. I cannot cry because I must be strong for my beautiful bride. My heart is breaking day by day. When the end comes I cannot imagine living a day without her smile and laughter.

My mother just passed away, leaving me with implied responsibility for my same-aged brother with special needs. There was no plan, despite me begging them for years to figure something out. I live ten hours away and work full-time plus. Now I’m supposed to figure it all out.

31, grief, anxiety, money, never being able to afford a home and by extension claw my way out of poverty. I have more money now than I ever did in my life and it still won’t get me anywhere.

55, live alone, work 100% from home, and have no friends and family. Shit be lonely.

27 and more and more I’m coming to the horrifying realization that I don’t really like the world, where it’s headed, the way we idolize and reward cruelty and selfishness, the way the world is just kind of… ugly. This is not the world I envisioned living in when I was younger, and that crushing realization is a lot to come to terms with. Some days are especially difficult. Other days I wonder whether it’s worth sticking around for something I dislike so much.

I’m 48 and my son is 16. He has a muscle eating disease call Muscular Dystrophy and has lost the use of his legs, his arms have weakened to the point that he can barely lift a glass and he’s in a wheelchair. He has an upcoming major surgery for scoliosis (caused by the disease) that will enable him completely for up to a week. He worries about it and about the disease (dying) and on top of that, he gets very depressed about not being able to do the things that other kids his age can do. I worry constantly about him, but there is nothing I can do. That’s my biggest problem (he’s not the problem, but the fact I can’t do anything but worry).

My kids won’t stop getting sick. They’re missing so much school. It’s like their bodies have decided to just alternate weeks with different respiratory viruses.

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1. When you unexpectedly catch a smell that reminds you of a person or a place that you love.

2. Laying awake with someone, and being so lost in conversation that you talk for hours without even realizing it.

3. When something funny catches you off guard in just the right way, and you laugh uncontrollably.

4. A dog or cat or just a fluffy, non threatening animal coming up to you and cuddling you until you can’t breath.

5. Being close to someone you have a crush on and just nearly touching. The almost touch is a magical thing.

6. Farting away a stomach ache

7. Seeing someone happy with the gift you gave them.

8. Taking a piss after holding it for the whole car ride

9. Getting that popcorn kernel out of your teeth

10. Tingles from listening to some good music

11. Having a 3 day weekend and waking up on that Saturday realizing you still have two more days off.

12. Having a conversation with someone who’s genuinely interested in what you have to say

13. Waking up in the middle of the night and realizing you still have 5 hrs more to sleep.

14. Head massage. Even those wire “hands” you can get to do it yourself feel amazing.

15. Sleeping in a bed with clean and warm sheets straight out of the dryer.

16. That moment of clarity when your brain stops going and you’re just present, wherever you are.

17. Silence. Just go to an area with no civilization whatsoever and sit. No expectations, obligations or unnecessary needs.

18. Waking up at 3 am with massive thirst and then you take that nice, cold and godly sip of water

19. First sip of coffee when you wake up on vacation.

20. Water coming out of your ear after it’s been stuck there for a bit.

21. When you’re at someone’s house and their pet chooses your lap to sit on.

22. Taking a smooth, efficient, clean poop. Also taking a huge shit that you’ve been holding for too long.

23. Contagious laughter, to the point no one remembers what made us start laughing.

24. Love. Long ago in a relationship -I said something awkward that revealed my feelings but not directly and the response was ‘I love you too stupid, let’s go get some coffee’

25. When you find yourself genuinely looking forward to the next time you’ll see/talk to someone, then you realize you’re smiling like an idiot.

26. When you feel like someone truly sees you.

27. When you put down your judgment long enough, to let yourself be proud of the things you’ve accomplished.

28. When someone says, “I love you” for the first time, or you finally muster up the courage to say it yourself.

29. When you get together with siblings or cousins, and laugh for hours while retelling childhood stories that you all have already told 100 times.

30. Watching people enjoy the food you cooked.