Michael Girdley

Last week I spent a few days in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. It’s a common stop for many ambitious young people between 28 and 32. They move there after they’re done with the every-night Manhattan party scene, and before they couple up and move somewhere with a yard. The first thing you notice is how fit everyone is. I was walking with a cofounder of mine from Argentina, who’s a fit guy. He said, “I haven’t seen any place in America that’s this thin.” It’s a competitive neighborhood.

In 1997, Apple was almost out of money. Then, they brought Steve Jobs back. He’d been gone for twelve years, and the company was a mess. The team was full of passionate builders, but it was a mess. They had a huge product line, making multiple versions of the same product and using confusing numbering schemes just to stop people from price shopping. Jobs asked his staff, “Which one do I tell my friends to buy?” and couldn’t get a simple answer.

Quick note: early bird ends Monday night for Compound Conference 2027 — $6,500 instead of $7,500. Save your seat with code GIRDLEY. I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan. Lived here most of my life. If you’re not a basketball fan — they’re in the NBA finals series against the New York Knicks. Wednesday night was game 3. And it was a weird game. Normally, teams trade points back and forth pretty evenly. Not Wednesday. The first two quarters, San Antonio dominated — they were up 29 points by halftime.