Cultivating Resilience is a weekly newsletter written for innovators to rebound & reinvent in times of disruptive change.
My goal is to reshare familiar concepts in new ways, point you to something delightful and unexpected, find the overlap between new research and ancient wisdom, and speak directly to you as as a peer—someone who is trying to introduce new ideas, products, and systems to the world in the face of headwinds and uncertainty.
Every Saturday, subscribers receive:
- thought-provoking questions to ponder
- curated links, ideas, and original essays around resilience
- fun and insightful comics, memes, and diagrams
- tips, tactics, or practical resources that can applied immediately
Cultivating Resilience is read by more than 1,600 founders, investors, technologists, and educators from places like Google, Facebook, Brex, Pfizer, Cornell, Royal Bank of Canada, and top Silicon Valley startups and VC firms.
What People are Saying:
"A very human take on the tech world I'm usually overly immersed in, and I love it for that" — Series C startup CEO
"Does a great job synthesizing concepts about resilience across different fields, book recs (and summaries) AND a fun + relatable comic at the end. what more could you ask for"—Microsoft PM
"Like a huge breath of fresh air" — Healthcare data scientist
“Interesting discoveries that come from all corners of the Internet” — NYTimes published journalist
Sample Issues
181: Strong Suit
Three ways to make your outlier obsessions an advantage you as an outlier
Jason Shen
165: 🛫 Taking the Leap
A story of emotional courage: how I opened up my heart after a difficult breakup to date and eventually marry the person of my dreams.
Jason Shen
131: How to Be Human in the Age of Generative AI
This is my first serious collection of thoughts on Generative AI. What these systems are and why they matter, What is uniquely valuable about human intelligence / labor, What I’m doing about all this
Jason Shen
120: Burned Out Tech CEO → Warehouse Associate
After a high flying 20+ year career in tech, Philip Su burned out. He found solace in an unexpected place: a retail Amazon job.
Jason Shen
080—Unpacking “Traditional Masculinity” and How It Relates to Resilience
In late 2018, the American Psychological Association put forward a set of guidelines for psychological practice with boys and men. The drafting process started way back in 2005 so it’s far from a flash-in-the-pan project.
Jason Shen
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 SuniI wrote a new column
Jason Shen
042: 🧠 How Near Misses and Failures Lead to Success
Also: 🖼 Morning Larks vs Night Owls + 👉 Self-Compassion Journaling
Jason Shen