Howard's Riffs
Interconnected Agency
Agency is a real word. It means something - or it used to. And now Silicon Valley has it.
Howard's Riffs
Personal stories, hard-won lessons, and observations from the edge. The unfiltered takes on creativity, entrepreneurship, and life that didn't fit anywhere else - but probably needed to be said.
Howard's Riffs
Saturday mornings
The loop that builds senior judgment is closing. The institutions can't move fast enough. So what happens in the gaps?
Howard's Riffs
Madri: A Beer from Nowhere
A "Spanish" beer brewed in Burton-on-Trent is now the UK's fourth most popular. How did they figure this out?
Howard's Riffs
Chicken or Egg?
A touch of Grafitti wisdom
Creative Business
Boredom created Bond
Ian Fleming wrote his Bond novels at a villa with no hot water and no glass in the windows. I think I've found my equivalent.
Howard's Riffs
I'd love to work with you
Someone offered to help without showing they'd read what I sent. One detail would have been enough. Which makes it stranger when it's missing.
Howard's Riffs
The Sphere Wasn't Built for Rock Bands
A side project from an Italian techno duo is now selling out 18,000-seat venues with robotic cellos and an AI character rendered across a 16K dome.
Howard's Riffs
The Meta Post
What Claude Code saw after reviewing dozens of my blog posts. TL;DR: A lot.
A.I.
My A.I stack - February, 2026
Tools come and go. Here's where I've landed on the AI stack - for now.
A.I.
Notes on Claude Code
Reflections on six weeks on the Max plan
Howard's Riffs
A Quiet Way to Know Someone
On receiving a book someone's already read
Howard's Riffs
Same book, different you
Why it matters to play it again
How-To Guides
What I've learned from evaluating 1000+ SXSW proposals
Every year, I find myself deep in proposal evaluation mode. Fortune 100 CEOs, ambitious VPs, indie strategists, even actors and
Howard's Riffs
Is it Sivers? Because this is just one of many options
Derek Sivers once had a voice teacher who made him sing the same song as if it was 4am and
Howard's Riffs
The Playground Inspector
Permits filed, invoices paid. But the general contractor keeps showing up on Friday afternoons
A.I.
Why is no one talking about the job thing...?
Err, can we talk about the job thing? Y’know, the thing no one’s talking about? Brushing under the
Howard's Riffs
If it's new to you, it's still new
In a quiet NYC coffee shop on July 4th weekend, the 90s electronic music playlist kicks in - along with the late afternoon cold brew
Learning Innovation
Why great event design doesn't need to be complicated
Simple conversation cards and a glass of milk turned a networking event into an adventure worth remembering.