Jason Shen

The Outlier Coach—helping founders build companies they can be proud of with partners who truly have their back · 3x venture-backed startup founder (acq by FB) · Author of 'The Path to Pivot' & 'Weirdly Brilliant' · ADHD · Former NCAA gymnast

Nov 20

Switching to Ghost: Why and How I Did It — I merged 3 digital publishing tools into 1 and this is the story of how and why. This is a rather long article so feel free to skip to the section that matters to you: * My Previous Publishing Setup * The Hassles of the Prior Setup * Considering My Options * Ghost: Built

Nov 13

078: Why Does Tech Seem to Burn People Out So Quickly? — This the 78th edition of Cultivating Resilience, a weekly newsletter how we build, adapt, and lead in times of change—brought to you by Jason Shen, a PM, resilience coach, 1st gen immigrant, ex-gymnast, and 3x startup founder 🧠 Why Does Tech Seem to Burn People Out So Quickly? Some time

Nov 07

077: Why External Benchmarks are Flawed & Evolution Breeds Inefficiency — 🖼 Return to Office (Scotch & Bean) + 👉 Koreans Were Boozing Hard in 1020 AD This the 77th edition of Cultivating Resilience, a weekly newsletter how we build, adapt, and lead in times of change—brought to you by Jason Shen, a PM, resilience coach, 1st gen immigrant, ex-gymnast, and 3x startup

Oct 30

076: How an Ex-Stanford Dean Learned to Embrace Her Child's Struggle — Julie Lythcott-Haims, former Stanford Dean and NYT bestselling author, discovered that shielding her child from struggle actually increased his anxiety rather than reducing it.

Oct 23

075: How to Ask for Help (According to Science) — 🖼 Scotch & Bean 030 - Monkey Mind + 👉 Musings & Perspectives (newsletter)

Oct 16

074: The Magic of Async Video Communication — 🖼 Premature Optimization (Scotch & Bean) + 👉 ADHD 2.0 (a guide for the hyperactive) This is the 74th edition of Cultivating Resilience, a weekly newsletter how we build, adapt, and lead in times of change—brought to you by Jason Shen, a 1st gen immigrant, retired gymnast, and 3x startup founder

Oct 12

Startups As Chemical Reactions — Originally written in 2014, updated with a new example in 2021 (Homejoy → Robinhood) I'm sometimes envious of people who studied subjects in college that correspond to their actual careers. Finance majors who become bankers. Computer Science majors who become software engineers. Must be nice to actually apply the

Oct 11

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why — Survivors of extreme situations share key traits: they face reality without denial, stay curious about their environment, and find meaning even in desperate circumstances.

Oct 09

073: How to Make Eng Oncall (and Your Life) Suck Less — 🖼 Recover (Scotch & Bean) + 👉 What else is true?

Oct 02

072: Lessons from a Failed War — 🖼 Mistakes were made (Scotch & Bean) + 👉 Hypefury (Twitter Posting Client)

Sep 25

071: The Cost of Obsession — 🖼 Extra Work (Scotch & Bean 019) + 👉 Minimal Flat Avatars

Sep 18

070: Three Metaphors for Productivity — What Does Productivity Look Like? 👨🏻‍🍳 Restaurant 🏎️ Pit Crew 🚀 Startup Accelerator

Sep 11

069: Advising a startup founder facing a mental health challenge within her team — 🖼 Onboarding (Scotch & Bean) & 👉 Riverside.fm (podcasting tool)I

Sep 05

Scotch & Bean 025 - Office Perk — Waste not, want not

Sep 04

068: How Music Gets You in the Zone (+ A Call for Questions!) — 🖼 Office Perks (Scotch & Bean) + 👉 Shang Chi—The Legend of the Ten Rings

Aug 28

067: How Not to Die in the Wild — 🖼 Yacht Party + 👉 "Run It" from Marvel's Shang Chi

Aug 21

066: How Masculine Ideals Affect Resilience — Hegemonic masculinity shapes how men build resilience, often for the worse — but not all masculine ideals are harmful. Some can be reframed as constructive strengths.

Aug 14

065: Massive, Aspirational, and Public Goals — 🖼 Appropriate Communication & 👉 Weight Plate Workouts

Aug 08

064: The Lost Art of Speaking to Strangers — 🖼 Social Anxiety + 👉 Techniques for Talking to Strangers

Jul 31

063: The Resilience of Simone & Suni — This is the 63rd edition of Cultivating Resilience, a weekly newsletter how we build, adapt, and lead in times of change—brought to you by Jason Shen, a 1st gen immigrant, retired gymnast, and 3x startup founder turned Facebook PM. Subscribe now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🧠 On Simone and Suni I wrote a