I jump off this building to save these civilians
My strength and my honor is trusted by children
I'm ready and willing to fight all these villains

15 years ago today, I celebrated graduating from a top univeristy in New Jrsey. I’ll give you two guesses on which one it was.

In terms of honor, we ended every exam by signing this statement

"I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination."

I think one of my biggest strengths is that I follow rules. This is a blessing - I follow rules to learn music, to play instruments, to draw, to cook, to take a test. My best skills come from following rules. And this is a non-blessing. Rules are, by their definition, limiting. By adhering to rules, you are meeting someone else’s expectation of the right way of doing things. And in following rules, you may create something new, but you will not create something novel. At some point there is someone who creates the rules. These are the people who have the real power.

I know there were classmates who signed this pledge after looking up an extra answer online when taking a computer exam, or who had a few additional notes on their allowed scrap of paper. I don’t fault them for this, and I don’t regret upholding the honor code in everything I turned in. These same people are the ones who now have senior positions at hedge funds, venture capital firms, and companies like SpaceX, Google and Facebook.

I do regret following rules like NDAs and non-competes when others ignored them. I regret not using my own knowledge of companies or trends that I rightly experienced to not gain a personal advantage, whether through investing or strategizing. I regret not taking better advantage of the network this university in New Jersey has allowed me access to. I viewed this incorrectly as not “earning” an interview, or access to a job, or an opportunity at a company. I made rules for myself that weren’t there.

After 15 years, I’m done honoring systems that have been in place to limit opportunities. I’m done honoring rules that are nonsensical or from systemic racism. I’m done honoring my own self-limiting rules.

That is the honor code I want to uphold for my next 15 years. There are people who deserve an opportunity, who deserve a better chance at health, at transportation, at climate justice, and the best thing I can do is to honor the privilege I have to do as much as I can in these areas. Creating companies, hiring people, writing books, earning wealth. I will honor the rules by creating new ones for people who had no say in the current existing rules.