This page is about my interest in building external systems for memory, reference, and shared understanding.
I spend a great deal of time trying to make ideas, decisions, and context easier for other people to access. Written systems help with that. They make it easier to preserve knowledge, reduce repeated explanation, and create continuity across time, projects, and teams.
I am especially interested in the challenge of making these systems usable by more than one person. A second brain is not very powerful if only its creator can understand or maintain it.
What I Mean By A Second Brain
For me, a second brain is not just a notes app. It is the broader external memory system that holds context, decisions, reference material, and enough structure that I do not have to rely on recall alone.
The best version of that system is shared-first. It should help other people understand what happened, why something matters, and how to pick the thread back up later.
Main Surfaces
- Confluence for structured shared knowledge across ventures, teams, and hierarchies
- Apple Notes for fast capture and low-friction personal reference
- Notion for public-site and publishing experiments
- Obsidian as an incubating space for more linked personal notes
- Google Calendar as operational memory for time and commitments
- Google Drive as shared file memory
- ChatGPT as a synthesis partner, not the canonical system of record
Why It Matters
When these systems are working well, they reduce repeated explanation, shorten onboarding, preserve decisions, and make complex work more legible over time.