A Blog by Nick Cosimano

Talking about Startups and Business

  • Probe and Progress

    Ever catch yourself staring blankly at the parts of your business that don’t thrill you? This is a major struggle for me. I’m thinking, what if I could sprinkle a little bit of the “Experiment and Excel” philosophy here? Inspired by the bold, somewhat reckless charm of “fuck around and find out,” I propose a…

  • F around and find out!

    I’ve always had a specific mode of operation, but it wasn’t until earlier this week, when I overheard someone threatening someone else on a street corner here in San Antonio, that I found the words to describe it. “Fuck around and find out.” Far from its origins as a threat to deliver a can of…

  • The Stoic Sprint: How Misunderstanding Stoicism Led Me to Burnout and Back

    Once, at my previous company I found myself at the helm, equipped with ambition and unwavering drive. I rushed on, feeling that pausing, reflecting, or resting was not possible because there was too much to do. Stoicism, to me, represented emotional detachment, a calm indifference to the highs and lows of the business rollercoaster. Little…

  • The Art of Self-Dialogue: Articulating Your Vision to Yourself First

    In my almost 41 year journey through life, I’ve met many successful people (not just financially successful people). A common thread among them is not just their capacity to express their vision to the rest of the world but also, I’ve realized (most importantly), to themselves. This insight has hit home for me as I…

  • Chasing the ‘Why’ Instead of Running from the ‘Why Not’

    My entrepreneurial journey used to be motivated by a desire to escape the limits of a typical employment, the fear of not having enough, and the Sisyphean challenge of climbing the corporate ladder. It was a race away from what I didn’t want — not toward what I really wanted.  Looking back. it seemed like…

  • The Stoic’s Compass in the Entrepreneurial Seas

    Stoicism is an old philosophical lifeboat in the turbulent seas of business, where emotional storms may hurl our endeavors about. But, before you see a stoic as an emotionless statue, allow me to sail this ship in a different path. Stoicism, which I used to misunderstand as a lack of emotion, is really about navigating…