Husband and Dad to your typical, average Korean-Ethiopian-American family. Co-Founder and Former CEO at Nitrogen. Striving to live Isaiah 1:17. Love Idaho.
I've been sending a monthly email to a few friends with 3-4 of the best reads and listens of the last month, and usually something new I've written.
I turned it into an email newsletter last month called Contagious Leadership. 1 email a month of the best reads on business,
Fifty years ago, Charles Schulz wrote a story line where two boys who didn’t look like each other became friends, and one invited the other over for a sleepover. Radical for its time...but a dent in the universe. ❤️
[ angry response accusing you of massive political bias for not directing your peace and love exclusively toward my political team ]
May 2017-style politics be no more.
Life update: we did finish construction on our house in Eagle, Idaho. Maison de Liberté is truly a gift, and we look forward to making a lot of memories here with our family and friends. ❤️🇺🇸🍾
Wife asked for help clearing out and scanning old documents to get rid of paper.
Found 2002 tax return.
With a brokerage statement.
Where I sold 149 shares of AAPL for $3,536.
Which today would be worth $886,633. 😂
Ben, Ben, Ben...you look precisely 33% cooler when you’re holding a bottle of Miller Lite over a can. Which happens to be the exact per-ounce “visual cachet” premium the market is pricing in here.
V I C T O R Y // Right before our dinner date, we got word that, after countless letters, appeals and calls, Blue Shield has agreed to cover the cost of Spencer’s treatments. We had to break out the champagne to celebrate! So grateful. ❤️
I’m a nominal 49ers fan, but...
24 year old phenom quarterback who has got to be one of the greatest human beings in the NFL.
61 year old legendary coach who hasn’t won a Super Bowl.
Not hard to feel good about this Super Bowl.
“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” —General Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 6, 1944
#DDay
Today I learned how they fill in the color for the graves of our soldiers who lost their lives in Normandy.
They take the sand from Omaha Beach and scrub them into the letters to give them the brown/gold coloring.
#DDay
#DDay75Anniversary
Two years ago, he was in the middle of treatments and we had the first hopes he might go into remission. Today he graduates from eighth grade, with honors!
247 years ago, it was accepted fact that the world should be governed by kings. Lords ruled over peasants, and slavery was embraced by the elite in nearly every country on earth.
A group of radicals had a different idea. “All men are created equal,” they wrote in our Declaration
#BREAKINGNEWS
Gov. Gavin Newsom called for closure of all bars and wineries throughout the state of California and home isolation of those 65 and older.
#CoronaVirusUpdates
#COVID
ー19
B R A V E H E A R T // Seven years ago we’d just gotten our first Little League uniform. Today, this sweet boy is doing his third infusion treatment. He’s having a tough time getting the IV in this morning, so we’d welcome your prayers!
Celebrated two decades of marriage by renewing our vows in front of our three amazing kids, and a small handful of family and friends. Such a wonderful day. ❤️
#20YearsofKlein
1/So, some pretty big news today.
I've been CEO of Nitrogen (+ Riskalyze) for 50 quarters. We didn't have a product for the first 8...but it's been 42 straight quarters of growth since then.
Which also means...this is the largest company I've ever run, 42 quarters in a row.
G R A T I T U D E // Feeling a deep sense of it as today marks one year since we fell down the rabbit hole of Spencer’s illness. Twelve months, countless meetings with the medical team and eight infusions later, we’re almost to full remission. Counting our blessings today! ❤️
There are two kinds of people in the world.
Those who say “you suck, and the only way to fix that is to hire me.”
And those who say “what you’re doing is awesome, and I’d love to help build on that awesomeness by joining you.”
Always be the latter.
When I hear about the “student debt crisis,” I think about the 2000s.
I borrowed a lot of money to start a business then.
It failed.
It wasn’t all my fault, but it taught me a lot of lessons I use today.
It was crushing, but I paid it all back.
It’s the right thing to do.
Robinhood deletes tweets about launching checking and savings accounts, scrubs the page from its website, and now calls the offering a "cash management" program (
@julieverhage
/ Bloomberg)
So why did we build this house?
It comes down to our family mission: "Team Klein will spend its time, talent and treasure illuminating the darkness of our world with beauty and light, and seek to make our earth a more just and prosperous place before its renewal."
Life update: we did finish construction on our house in Eagle, Idaho. Maison de Liberté is truly a gift, and we look forward to making a lot of memories here with our family and friends. ❤️🇺🇸🍾
Wow. A brilliant legal mind AND a heart for the vulnerable. The mom of a multicultural adoptive family will be sitting on the Supreme Court. May ACB prove a worthy successor to RBG. ❤️
Rumor has it that Schwab and TD couldn’t get a SINGLE investment banker to work on their $26 billion dollar deal.
I’m guessing it was the zero transaction fees.
"When I say be kind to one another, I don't mean only the people that think the same way you do. I mean BE KIND TO EVERYONE."
In a world where everyone tries to invalidate each other's freedom of thought, Ellen and President Bush's example of grace and kindness rings true.
.
@TheEllenShow
explains how she ended up in Jerry Jones’ box this weekend (she was a guest of his daughter) at the Cowboys/Packers game.
And she also talks about her friendship with former President George W. Bush
How it started...and how it’s going. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my sweetheart. 20 years and you’re still more beautiful inside and out, every single day. I’m so grateful for our life together. Can’t wait to celebrate with you this weekend! ❤️
BREAKING NEWS: The New York Times has just reported on Congressional members trading during the banking crisis.
They showed how members traded during the crisis, while the public worried.
Here is the list of members highlighted:
This is Spence from a year ago. On this PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day, we’re nearly a year into his remission. He’s healthy and thriving. So incredibly grateful. ❤️
1/We're thrilled to share the news that
@Riskalyze
has been recapitalized by
@HgCapital
, one of the world's leading software investors with $37B under management. This is a huge step forward for the Fearless Investing Movement.
“When a man tries to mistreat a woman...he is unlikely to get very far with a woman whose father has made her feel that she’s worth a whole lot.” Very thoughtful read from
@AbigailShrier
We did it! Lori and I were so thrilled to accept this award on behalf of the tens of thousands of advisors who make the Fearless Investing Movement strong. 💪👏🎉
#Wealthies
#WMIA19
Incredibly fortunate to get to experience GAME 2 of the
#WorldSeries
in person! So grateful Spence is in remission...his FIRST World Series game. Go
#Dodgers
!
This afternoon, we gathered a bunch of his industry colleagues for a group photo to let
@gspitzner
know that we are all
#TeamGavin
, we know he’s going to beat cancer, and we’re behind him 110%.
#FISummit
Today is Queen Elizabeth’s 96th birthday. That means that, during her reign, she’s had the privilege of watching America win two world wars, literally invent cars (thank you President Ford), and become the oldest and greatest country on earth. You’re welcome, your majesty.
“People with scarcity mindsets are always unhappy in my experience.” An absolutely phenomenal must-read interview with
@bhorowitz
. The contribution and abundance principle is a defining belief of our time.
About once a year,
@pmarca
does the world a great service by sorting out the builders from the critics.
The outrage and attacks against a convincing and optimistic vision are very telling, and helpful.
THE TECHNO-OPTIMIST MANIFESTO part 1
“You live in a deranged age — more deranged than usual, because despite great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.”
— Walker Percy
“Our species is 300,000 years old. For the
California Public Health has decreed that my vaccinated parents can't see their grandson graduate from 8th grade in an OUTDOOR ceremony. This ignores DECADES of viral science and CDC guidance.
We are not a totalitarian society. It's time for this anti-science nonsense to end.
Our leaders have tough decisions to make. Life and death for people, and their dreams and livelihoods.
I don’t know about you, but I’m praying for the success of folks like the President, VP, Governor Newsom, Governor Cuomo and so many others.
We need them all to succeed. 🇺🇸
Spence is starting infusion
#10
today. If all goes well, this one will put him over the edge into full remission and he’ll only do these when he has a flare up in the future! So grateful. ❤️🎉💪
Still just a little bit in shock at this great honor from our industry…CEO of the Year at the Wealth Management Industry Awards. Thank you
@wealth_mgmt
for this great honor and thank you Nitrogen team…this is for you! 💜
P R O G R E S S // Spence is showing some great progress post-treatment. More ability to verbalize, fewer hallucinations. We’re so grateful, however slow it might be! Out for a Chinese dinner tonight. ❤️
Jim Bowen is ONE OF A KIND, and he always brings a world of insights from his team at
@ftportfolios
to the stage. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about 2020 and beyond!
#FearlessWeek
C O U R A G E // Spence made it through his second treatment today and did a great job! Such a good IV placement, they got it down in seven hours each day instead of nine. Grateful.
#LoveConquersAll
Prayers tonight…
…for the interpreters who risked their lives for freedom
…for women fearful for their human rights
…for little girls who wonder if they’ll be allowed to go to school tomorrow
…and our heroes in uniform trying to do in a day what should take weeks.
The days of "if you accept this debt package / line of credit for your business, you must park 75% of your cash at our bank" are over.
Years ago, we were subject to such a covenant, and I wouldn't sign it even with the strongest bank after this last few days.
InvestmentNews honors Aaron Klein, CEO and Co-founder of
@Riskalyze
as one our 2020 Innovator winners who helped shape and transform the financial advice profession. Learn more about Aaron here:
#innovateIN
1/Just sent out an email abolishing annual performance reviews at Riskalyze. And I don’t think anyone will miss them.
In its place is our new Performance Feedback process, which asks Riskalyzers and their managers to answer two simple questions 3x/year.
In the elevator just now, a little boy was beaming and told me “I just got my citizenship!”
“Where were you born?” I asked.
“Nigeria,” he said. “And now, American!”
I was thrilled to tell him about my three kids who got their citizenship just like him.
God Bless America. 🇺🇸❤️
This morning, we closed the transaction to partner with
@HgCapital
and exit Riskalyze's early investors.
This next chapter in our story means more investment, more innovation, and more growth for the advisors we love to serve.
I'm ready for our second decade. Let's go! 🚀