I’m the author of The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won’t Learn in College About How to Be Successful (Penguin, 2011,) and the co-author of The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever (Penguin, 2016.) I’m also the author of The Power of Eye Contact (HarperCollins, 2010.)
Currently I work as a freelance copywriter.
I was born in San Francisco in 1977, grew up in Berkeley, and graduated from Brown in 1999 with a degree—that I’ve never used—in International Relations. I now live back in Berkeley.
Other Stuff I’ve Done:
- The most widely-read thing I’ve ever written is “How I Overcame Bipolar II (and Saved My Own Life)” on Forbes.com. (1M+ views)
- I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, Will Dropouts Save America?
- I’ve spoken Google twice, the first time about The Education of Millionaires, and the second time about The Last Safe Investment. I’ve also spoken at Dartmouth, at Awesomeness Fest, at the Thiel Fellows Retreat, at TEDxSF, at UBTech, at the Wanderlust festival, and at the Commonwealth Club of California, among other places.
- While I’m proud of all my talks, the best one I’ve given, in my opinion, is “Your Competitive Advantage is Not Information, It’s Transformation,” on the stage of Jazz @ Lincoln Center, for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
- Sean Parker and Peter Thiel introduced me at the book launch party for The Education of Millionaires. That was fun.
- I collaborated with Dr. Marc Gerstein on Flirting With Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental (Union Square Press, 2008)
- Before my books, I was the creator of Eye Gazing Parties, a series of singles events based on eye contact, which was attracted press coverage from the New York Times, Elle, CBS News, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco magazine, Nerve.com, the Washington Post, and on Tim Ferriss’s blog.
Projects:
- I have begun writing and performing comedy. I debuted my first piece, “Freudian Kink” (2018) in Oakland. YouTube version here. (Warning: extremely raunchy!)
- I am producing indy erotic media showcasing authentic human connection and real-life education about consent. My first co-creation was “Luminous Lust,” a collaboration between co-students in feminist erotic filmmaker Madison Young‘s Erotic Film School. Luminous Lust recently premiered in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco at Dan Savage’s HUMP! Film Festival and is now touring nationwide with that festival. Luminous Lust premiered internationally at the Fish & Chips International Erotic Film Festival in Turin, Italy, January 2019, and premiered in the UK at the London Porn Film Festival in April 2019. I am currently at work on my next consent-based erotic media creation with somatic educator Alexa Razma.
- I’m the creator of the “Consent Pledge,” for men who have sex with women.
(This initiative was covered in the New York Times.) - I’m the Chief of Fan Magic for independent singer-songwriter-pianist Adey Bell. Her first studio album, released March 2018, is Silver Wheel. Listen and weep.
- I edit and maintain my father’s website Ellsberg.Net