Founded Checkraise
Ask me about it. I'll talk to anyone interesting about it!
Began Tweeting
@morganfriedman but heed the warning in my Twitter bio: I know a ton about a tiny number of topics; nothing about anything else. Each of my observations here is obvious, trivial, or wrong.
Began Noting Spanish Etymologies
Spanish Etymology: Spanish for Nerds. I am obsessed with understanding where words come from, in many languages -- and connecting the dots. My passion since I was 8 years old. I recently turned my decades of notes into a blog (with tens of thousands of subscribers!).
Founded Tinak
Created the market for modern art ketubahs. Led the company to profitability, and built a fantastic and loyal community around our art and style. Now I'm Chairman--just because that makes me sound important!
Ran Marketing Services @ Procentris
Procentris. As CEO of the Marketing Scientist, ran Procentris' marketing service division, managing the online marketing for its clients. In Bombay.
Keynoted Interesting New York
I love this speech I gave, all about my idiosyncratic way of walking around cities. (It starts out slow the first ~4 minutes... but stick it out for 13 minutes, it gets awesome as I get into the groove!)
Began WNIP: Wednesday Night Interesting People
WNIP. Every Wednesday since 2008, the best people I know in the country would come to my house for drinks. (Except for interludes when I'm abroad!). Often includes very, very awesome people.
Won a Presidential Election
As CEO of The Marketing Scientist, I ran the online component of Álvaro Colom Caballeros' candidacy for the Presidency of Guatemala. We won.
Founded The Marketing Scientist
The Marketing Scientist. Started an applied psychology lab: figuring out how to get 1+ million people buying your product. I've done it a few times :)
Penguin Published My Two Books
Buy the book. I've written two books -- both Top 10 best-sellers on Amazon, and both published by Penguin.
Founded Overheard in New York
Overheard in New York. Founded a humor empire with my (successful!) mission to get 10 million people to laugh at my jokes. Time Magazine's Coolest Blogger of the Year. Endless Media Attention: my 15 minutes of fame. (And our sister sites, incl. Overheard in the Office).
Began Wordcounter
Wordcounter. Founded the first & leading site to count the number of words in a document.
Was Senior Analyst @ Basex
Basex. Analyst, then Senior Analyst, then VP of Research at Basex. Focusing on Knowledge Management research.
Founded Tripsmith
My very first company: one of the first print-on-demand systems. Got lucky, right before The Crash.
Was Graduated from the University of Pennsylvania
Penn, the Low Ivy. Won the Alumni Society Award as one of the 10 best students of my year. Won the Lilian & Benjamin Levy Award for writing, too. And yes, I'm a pretentious grammar snob for saying "was graduated" rather than "graduated." I also use the Oxford Comma, folks.
Began the Cliche Finder
Cliche Finder. Began the first & most popular searchable database of cliches. I don't hide my love of cliches.
Began the Inflation Calculator
Inflation Calculator. Began the first & most visited site to calculate the US inflation rate.
Discovered 'The Net' and Made Some of the Very Early Interesting Pages
I discovered 'the Net' (information superhighway?) and had lots of ideas for web pages--and taught myself programming, made them, and years later, they still get a ton of traffic. There are many, but here are a bunch, for Memory's Sake: Yiddishisms: Yiddish Sayings (I also interviewed my relatives and wrote a book on my family history but that's not for public consumption!); the first Antoine de St Exupery page; the first Albert Einstein page; the first Simpsons Quote page; the first Ogden Nash page; the first Francis Bacon page; the first site about my hometown; my long-time game of finding words-in-other words; my favorite etymologies; my long-time favorite poem; my thoughts on wandering around; my game of trying to understand business-ese; the only guide to walking around NY's ethnic neighborhoods; some ancient quotes that once influenced me; my cv; books that moved me; and pre-Facebook photos of me.
Won Gold Medal @ NY Math Fair
Childhood math nerd.
Performed Piano @ Carnegie Hall
Childhood piano freak.
Obsessed Over Learning How To Imitate Anyone's Writing Style
In middle school, I read John & Abigail Adams' collected letters and loved their epistolary style. So I found lots of pen-pals and wrote to them like this. I did this for years until I became quite good. Then I spent a decade doing the same but for other lots of other people's styles.
Memorized (most of) the Dictionary
Starting when I was approximately 8 years old until late high school, I'd spend 2 hours every morning memorizing the dictionary (and its etymologies), before the school bus came. The trusty, unpretentious World Book Dictionary, of course.
Great-Aunt Dies while Cooking Dinner... And Family Eats Dinner
The entire extended family -- everyone, very poor -- all came to my great-aunt's house for dinner every Sunday night, for decades. The weekly luxury. When she was in her 90s, she laid down her head while cooking the dinner, and died. The whole family arrived over the next hours, as scheduled. They ate the dinner. It's what she would have wanted.
My Family Emigrates to NY... and All But One Return
Five poor brothers emigrated from Minsk, Belarus to NY. The great depression was so bad for them that four of them returned to Belarus. Those four were murdered (you know, that issue with Germany). The one who stayed in NY was my great-grandfather. Thanks for not moving back to Eastern Europe on the eve of Hitler and Stalin, G-Gramps!
Great-Grandfather Sends for Wife... And Gets Her Sister
My great-grandfather emigrated from "Minsk Gubernia" to NY. Saved money, sent enough back to send for his wife... and the ship arrived, and his wife's sister stepped off. Wife died and she took her place. She ended up being my great-grandma! Love those traditions.
Ashkenaz in White Russia
23andme tells me I'm 100% Ashkenazi via Minsk/Belarus, confirming the family lore. 23andme has not yet confirmed the other family lore, on all sides, that we were all the poorest of the poor peasants: penniless rabbis, and the women who took care of them.
Y-chromosomal Adam: My Original Ancestor
My story begins with my first known ancestor, Y Chromosomal Adam. He's the first "anatomically modern human" (as the evolutionary-biologists call them!), the one man whom science has taught us that I'm descended from. Oh, and all other modern humans, too. (Ignore the number of years ago it says: I don't know how to make it say 170,000 years ago!).
