On the final day of 📝PrimeMind's life, 📝Judy Estrin was there along 📝David Carrico breaking the news of their decision—to shutter the startup. While the publication didn't make sense financially, the principle of "exploratory journalism designed to foster critical thinking" resonated with the readers that found it's stories. As we cleaned out our desks—understanding the hard truth, but none-the-less passionate about what it stood for—I meekly inquired about the fate of our small mountain of branded hoodies sitting against the wall. David responded, "Go for it."

As I dug through the carcass of this startup that we all loved, Judy joined in, digging through the boxes alongside me. After a few moments, she broke the silence and asked, "do you watch Silicon Valley?" Surprised by the mundane nature of the question in such an intense moment, I shared that I did, but hadn't watched the most recent episode. She replied, "watch it later, you'll get the joke."

She was referring to the Startup Swag episode:

This moment, later in the episode, made the reference more clear:

As Gilfoil said, "your shame is my paradise." Judy was right, they were extremely comfy hoodies.

Finding the levity in a difficult situation—refunding investors and taking a seven-figure personal loss because the financials didn't work out—was a true distillation of Judy's character.

Contexts

• 🏷️#judy-estrin (See: 📝Judy Estrin)