Optima & Outliers

Why is LinkedIn So Cringe - Part 2

In my last post, I argued that cringe occurs when the receiver perceives a gap between what they think someone meant to signal and what actually was…

Nov 10 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

17

2

5

October 2025

Why is LinkedIn So Cringe? - Part 1

Defining cringe and its dimensions

Oct 3 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

27

6

8

August 2025

Why Jane Street Pays 21-Year-Olds Half a Million Dollars

Why?

Aug 4 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

24

5

5

July 2025

What is Organizational Culture? (&NYC Happy Hour)

What do these words have in common?

Jul 27 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

7

4

2

Entrepreneurship As Recursive Price Discovery

Thinking about Startups from First Principles

Jul 16 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

8

2

June 2025

Money Gets Better with Age

When I told my wife I was writing this, she said "Do you really think people need to be reminded that it's good to make money?" I do.

Jun 16 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

19

4

4

O&O NYC Meetup: Show Off How You Talk To Claude

Hey All,

Jun 9 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

1

May 2025

Bad Advice, The Altruistic Case For IPOs, Process vs People and more with Charles Rubenfeld

I chat with Substacker and business nerd Charles Rubenfeld on quite a few topics of mutual interest.

May 16 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

 and 

Charles Rubenfeld

4

1:00:54

Dissecting Social Capital: Self-Interest, Reciprocity and Repeated Games

A friend recently told me about an awkward encounter.

May 13 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

15

3

7

April 2025

O&O NYC Meetup #2

Hey everyone,

Apr 15 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

March 2025

Recruiters as Accidental Underwriters: Why You Pay for Others' Poor Hiring Decisions

When I talk to founders, I don't have to work very hard to get them to complain about job boards and recruiters.

Mar 27 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

11

VCs as Unidirectional Market Makers

I feel the proudest when I can defend maligned and vulnerable groups so today the subject of my compassion is the VC industry (and no my fundraising…

Mar 12 • 

Vaishnav Sunil

5

2