I'm Calvin, as in Calvin and Hobbes.

I'm currently based in the Bay Area. From 2011-2020, I spent most of my waking hours (and a decent number of my sleeping ones) thinking about how to grow Segment along with Peter, Ilya, and Ian.

In 2020, I spent time volunteering with USDR on vaccine distribution, and then working at YC as a visiting group partner for S21.

I'm currently digging into energy generation, data visualization, education, AI, and Tools for Thought.

Since 2019, I’ve started keeping a log of some the books I’m reading.

In my free time, I’ve been running various trail races and hacking on a number of different projects. Every so often, I'll mess around to try and make some art

Contacting Me: If you’d like to get in touch, I’m calvinfo at this domain.

Updates

If you’re curious about what I’ve been up to lately, I started a newsletter that I put out every few weeks with what I’m learning. You can find it here.

Newsletters

In addition to reading books, I subscribe to a number of different regular newsletters. Generally speaking, I think following the 24-hour news cycle is a waste of time, but I’ll gladly read any sort of content which offers deep analysis or contains new subject matter.

I haven’t found many forums for sharing the “best ones”, so I figured I’d add my own list here.

The Diff — economics, business breakdowns, tech perspective.
Astral Codex Ten — a wide variety of topics, generally rationalist, always interesting.
Stratechery — tech news with a strategy focus.
Money Stuff — finance errata, laced with wit.
Construction Physics — if you've ever wondered about the economics of construction, this is the newsletter for you.

For each of these, I typically apply an inbox label of Learning and snooze it until the weekend. Then I do a big batch of learning early in the day.

If you have a newsletter you’d recommend, please send it my way.

Podcasts

I don’t listen to a ton of podcasts, but there are a handful that I enjoy. I’ve switched mostly to audiobooks, but will occasionally switch things up with one of the following.

Acquired – I didn't tune into this podcast for far too long because it has a terrible name. It turns out to be a wildly interesting breakdown of how iconic companies got started. Great storytelling. Recommend starting with the Costco episode or Hermes.
Dwarkesh Podcast – Dwarkesh is one of the best interviewers out there. Digs deep, covers interesting topics. Recommend any of the episodes with Leopold Aschenbrenner, Patrick Collison, or Zuck.
Invest Like the Best — great interviews by Patrick O’Shaughnessy. It’s not strictly an investing podcast, but has a lot of interesting leaders and investors share their perspectives on the world. Patrick’s questions are what make it a true gem.
Conversations with Tyler – Tyler Cowen is one of those people who will drop tidbits of information at a dramatic rate. You may not always learn what you expect, but you'll always learn something.

Products

There are a bunch of products that everyone uses, but there are a handful which I’ve found particularly meaningful and useful. I consistently find them to be under-rated, so I’ll give them additional airtime here.

Aaptiv — a workout/health app. After repeatedly injuring myself and being told I was too inflexible, I started stretching every night. Aaptiv has a great set of guided audio stretches (and workouts) which take the annoyances of counting and focusing out of stretching.
Airpods — this product is perhaps the most well-known… but what can I say. Airpods are magic.
Audible — I first discovered Audible a few years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. I typically listen to books during my commute, on long runs, and during various forms of exercise. It’s a fantastic way to broaden knowledge.
EightSleep — I often get too hot while I sleep (especially while in heavy running season). EightSleep gives me better rest than anything else I've tried.
In-room whiteboard — I’ve found that having a whiteboard at home is one of the best hacks for thinking through complex ideas. I’ve ordered this one across multiple rooms that I’ve lived in.
Obsidian — I wouldn’t say that I’m a fanatic about which note-taking systems or tools I use, but I have found that Obsidian (along with Roam and Reflect) fits my thinking best. When using tools like Notion, I’d always be forced to figure out “where should this idea go?”. With Obsidian, I just start writing, and let the tool connect the dots for me. I'd also recommend Roam or Reflect if you care less about customization than I do.
Oura — I was skeptical about getting a sleep tracker, because I wasn’t quite sure what it would tell me, or what I’d do differently. It’s hard to explain the full value of the Oura ring, but think of it like a sleep coach. I started sleeping better almost immediately.
Oxo Cold Brew — Cold Brew will change your life. Well worth it.

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