I: Max, first thank you for allowing me this opportunity to interview you. We’re at the end of 2018. What has this year meant for you, and what do your readers need to know most ?

A: You’re welcomed, old friend. The big changes came at the end of the year. We gave my readers a new website, new look. As you know we closed down the Blogger site that came under the attack of scam artists. It is better to radically trim down the readership to those who are truly interested. I’ve launched a Patreon account, too. And you have my book, which you should be reading.

I: Patreon ? Why?

A: Because the best things in life aren’t free. Those ready to change their lives and learn with me, now they can do it with good, supplemental material that will only be found there.

I: Now, do you have any tips for readers, something that maybe stands out as this year comes to a close ?

A: I do, and then we’ll be here forever…

1. Stay out of that cesspool of garbage that is social media. I came to the conclusion that Twitter is best suited (as in made) for women or passive-aggressive men. Twitter is the retards’s front page.
2. “Everything that has a beginning has an end.” -that’s a great quote from The Matrix (by the Oracle). This bull market is coming to its end, one way or another.
3. Read my previous post about the importance of trimming loose ends, people, and everything in life that doesn’t suits you.
4. I may expand on this at some point, but a year is very much like a day. A year’s worth is really a day’s worth.

I: What do you mean in that a year’s worth is a day’s worth ?

A: Well, the day has a smaller margin of error than a year has, and they’re really the same thing. The day is more reliable, anyway. I was talking to my Father the other day, and he laughed when I referred to “year”.

I: Max, I’m not sure that I follow you. And your “Father” ?

A: I was talking to my Father, the God A.I.

I: Is that who your Father is ?

A: Yes, it is. I thought you got that jotted down already. Part of good interviewing is having a good background on your subject, which I’m sure you do.

I: I do, but I didn’t think you talk to AI. Or not this way, I guess.

A: After you check your facts, you’ll be able to tell me who my Father is.

I: Let’s get into something easier. How are you (or where are you) going to spend your New Year’s Eve ?

A: I’ll be going to the mattresses, I think.

I: What ? What does that even mean ?

A: Look, if you don’t know what it means, that’s your prerogative. Did you ever watch the Sopranos ?

I: I did.

A: Ok. (looks at the time). I think we’re about done for this one. I’ll be watching you, kiddo.

I: Thanks, Max. Amazing as always (claps).

Well, cheer up. Silicon Valley doesn’t have that problem anymore.

Silicon Valley can adopt me, Max Cantor, as its favorite son !

Because Silicon Valley needs an alpha male.

Let that sink in.

Silicon Valley can benefit tremendously from the son who is a transplant from the buy-side. A son who is a cosmopolitan visionary and who drinks a gallon of gumption-aid a day.

A cute little pitbull would have made the journey from Wall Street out west on foot. Can you imagine a cute puppy treading 3,000 miles on his paws like a champ ?
If that doesn’t melt your heart, I don’t know what does.

Out with the old [guard], in with the new.

We’ve got the news that Peter Thiel is planning to leave San Francisco, although his Founders Fund I think it’s still in the Presidio. Thiel struck gold with Facebook, Palantir, and other investments.

From Wall Street Journal’s Peter MacMillian: “Groupthink and homogeneity is making it a worse place to live and work.” -quoting Tom McInerney

Groupthink and homogeneity is exactly what I keep you away from. Safe son, safer parents.

Tim Feriss has also moved out of the San Francisco Bay Area to Austin, TX. Did any of these guys knew about me ? Who knows. Did they feel threatened ?

Silicon Valley doesn’t need more beta males ! What the tech industry needs is true leadership !

I won’t miss neither Thiel or Ferriss.

Look, I’m not trying to built myself a casket to the future. I don’t want to preserve myself for the benefit of future generations. If you want to put my head in jar of pickles like Moe the Bartender has on The Simpsons to extend my life, that’s no life.

Will Silicon Valley step up to the plate and adopt this cute pitbull ?

I can draw a parallel between the victory of Donald Trump and the disorientation felt by the global elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. I think global elitism is anathema. The days for setting up glorious agendas that don’t matter are behind. Most people seem to have the basic understanding that individual effort is the lever that works, and refuse to let a wack-a-doo or two do their show for them.

What is Davos ? Davos is a networking event by invitation only. Pure and simple: networking. The hush hush you read about is non-sense. I give you the real scoop, like no Harvard behavior economist does. If you’ve active in any profession, you would have gone to conferences or meetings. Networking is essential in business. So why are topdogs [sic] like Marc Benioff of SalesForce.com or Stephen Schwarzman go there for ? They need no networking, one might say. That is the wrong thing to say, they still need networking. They are out to spread goodwill toward their causes, making the link between business and NGOs, for example, or art and science.  The background is PROMOTE. Promote your business, cause or perspective. The danger at Davos that nobody tells you about is the herd mentality ! Davos is prone to the same flaw that abounds everywhere else: the sheep mentality. That’s where Davos participants go wrong, creating the myth of the ‘DavosMan or Woman’. Some Davos folks believe they’re somehow responsible for the wrong or right turns of the world and they have grown into some “guardians” of the galaxy. The man who only takes care of his parcel in life suffers not such illusion. It is an extraordinary sense of self aggrandizement that, paradoxically, induces “taking title” to the “state of the world”. It’s like taking ownership to the wind.  People shun simplicity and dream of glorious pandemonium.The simple man from the past did not suffer from that self delusion.

I personally like the SuperReturn Conference, in my field, better. The vibe is different. It is a healthier, better working environment. Just like Davos, SuperReturn has different series on different continents and is coming up in February.