About

I’m Joe. I think too much.

I had a life-changing moment back in December 2008. I wasn’t expecting it. I was on the second floor of a crappy Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, DC. It had snowed the night before, and if you’ve ever tried to wear a professional suit in the city slush, you know how nasty it was. It was supposed to be an economic symposium about the markets, and I was there to network. I had no interest in what the speaker was talking about (what WAS his name, anyway?!), but as I was stuck in this small group, I couldn’t NOT pay attention. I still have my notes from that day, written on a borrowed piece of paper. The speaker was the Chief Economist for (the soon-to-be-bankrupt) Wachovia Securities. He was supposed to be explaining what financial markets were going to do and why. (His name was John something…I’ll get it.) He didn’t, though. Instead, he changed my life. He discussed recency bias, confirmation bias, framework, and the feedback loop. Since that day, I’ve lived my life with a higher level of understanding about people because of this 30 minute discussion. If you want a life-changing moment like that, read The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis.