{"id":37396,"date":"2026-01-06T13:56:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/?p=37396"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:16:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:16:48","slug":"the-way-of-all-flesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/the-way-of-all-flesh\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way of All Flesh"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Way of All Flesh<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n
youtu.be<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
**The Way of All Flesh**  <\/div>\n
*by Larry Chiang (with co-author credit to Alyssa, as per the original video inspiration)*  <\/div>\n
A semi-autobiographical entrepreneurial bildungsroman, posthumously published (hypothetically) to usher in the **Victorian Secretive Age** \u2014 an era of surface-level propriety in Silicon Valley and startup culture, where founders maintain impeccable LinkedIn profiles, pitch decks full of moral posturing about “changing the world,” and pious devotion to “impact investing,” while concealing the raw ambitions, cutthroat networking, credit hacks, party-crashing, and underground deal-making that truly drive success. Just as Butler exposed Victorian hypocrisy, this novel reveals the “secrets” beneath the hoodies and hoodwinking of modern entrepreneurship.<\/div>\n
The novel traces four generations of the Chiang-Pontifex family (a nod to the original Pontifex line), culminating in the protagonist’s liberation through street-smart enlightenment. It spans **72 chapters** (expanded from Butler’s 86 for deeper dives into FICO scores, VC subterfuge, and hashtag metaphysics).<\/div>\n
### Chapters 1\u201372:<\/div>\n
1. Concerning Old John Pontifex, the Carpenter Who Built Solid Foundations (But Never Scaled)  <\/div>\n
2. The Rise of George Pontifex, Who Invented the Wheel (But Forgot Distribution)  <\/div>\n
3. George’s Marriage and the Acquisition of Proprietary Tools  <\/div>\n
4. Theobald Pontifex Is Born Under Auspicious Market Conditions  <\/div>\n
5. Theobald’s Early Education in Rigid Hierarchies  <\/div>\n
6. Theobald Discovers the Hypocrisy of Inherited Wealth  <\/div>\n
7. Theobald Enters the Clergy (Read: Corporate Ladder)  <\/div>\n
8. Theobald’s Courtship of Christina, a Seemingly Angelic Co-Founder  <\/div>\n
9. Their Marriage: Mergers and Acquisitions Gone Awry  <\/div>\n
10. The Birth of Ernest Chiang-Pontifex, the Protagonist  <\/div>\n
11. Ernest’s Infancy and the Tyranny of Parental OKRs  <\/div>\n
12. Early Signs of Entrepreneurial Spirit Suppressed  <\/div>\n
13. Ernest at Home: Lessons in Obedience and Credit Denial  <\/div>\n
14. The Family Moves to Battersby (Palo Alto Analog)  <\/div>\n
15. Ernest’s First Encounters with FICO Scores  <\/div>\n
16. Theobald’s Sermons on Moral Hazard and Bootstrap Pulling  <\/div>\n
17. Christina’s Pious Ambitions for Her Son’s Series A  <\/div>\n
18. Ernest Sent to Roughborough Academy (Elite Boarding School for Future Founders)  <\/div>\n
19. Life Under Dr. Skinner: Bullying as Bootcamp  <\/div>\n
20. Ernest Picks Up Vices Like Cold Emailing and Party Crashing  <\/div>\n
21. Theological Crises: Questioning the Grand Narratives of Unicorn Myths  <\/div>\n
22. Ernest’s Confirmation and First Pitch Rejection  <\/div>\n
23. University Years: Cambridge Becomes Stanford Engineering  <\/div>\n
24. Ernest Studies Divinity (But Secretly Reads Paul Graham Essays)  <\/div>\n
25. Encounters with Evangelical Startups and Their Hypocrisy  <\/div>\n
26. Ordination as a Clergyman (Joining a FAANG as Middle Management)  <\/div>\n
27. Ministry in the Slums: Exposure to Real Distribution Problems  <\/div>\n
28. The Temptations of Towneley (Charismatic Mentor VC)  <\/div>\n
29. Ernest Falls In with Bad Company (Overvalued Seed Rounds)  <\/div>\n
30. The Disastrous Investment in Priestly’s Ponzi-Like Scheme  <\/div>\n
31. Imprisonment for Misplaced Trust (Metaphorical Burnout and Down Round)  <\/div>\n
32. Release from Prison: A New Beginning with Zero Equity  <\/div>\n
33. Ernest’s Illness and Recovery Through Underground Credit Knowledge  <\/div>\n
34. Meeting Ellen: The Seemingly Perfect Co-Founder Match  <\/div>\n
35. Marriage to Ellen: Secrets Beneath the Term Sheet  <\/div>\n
36. Discovery of Ellen’s Prior Commitments (Hidden Cap Table)  <\/div>\n
37. Separation and the Pain of Vesting Cliffs  <\/div>\n
38. Ernest Inherits from Aunt Alethea (Unexpected Angel Investment)  <\/div>\n
39. Investing in Tailoring (Pivoting to Consumer Credit Education)  <\/div>\n
40. Building Duck9: Deep Underground Credit Knowledge  <\/div>\n
41. Success in Financial Literacy for College Students  <\/div>\n
42. Reunion with Old Friends and Reflection on Past Hypocrisies  <\/div>\n
43. Ernest’s Children: Raising Them Without Victorian Secretiveness  <\/div>\n
44. The Philosophy of Gua Gua Guacamole (Metaphor for Layered Execution)  <\/div>\n
45. Crashing Conferences: What They Don’t Teach at Business School  <\/div>\n
46. Mentoring at Stanford as EIR  <\/div>\n
47. Hashtag Warfare and Distribution Subroutines  <\/div>\n
48. Reverse VC Pitches: Making Investors Chase You  <\/div>\n
49. The Perils of Premature Equity Dilution  <\/div>\n
50. FICO Scores as the True Measure of Character  <\/div>\n
51. Party Hosting as Minimum Viable Networking  <\/div>\n
52. Secrets of SXSW Domination  <\/div>\n
53. Credit Rights and Consumer Privacy Battles  <\/div>\n
54. Testifying Before Congress on Hidden Financial Truths  <\/div>\n
55. The Hypocrisy of Impact Investing Facades  <\/div>\n
56. Oscillating Between Sincerity and Irony in Pitches  <\/div>\n
57. Metamodern Entrepreneurship: Beyond Postmodern Skepticism  <\/div>\n
58. Digital Age Secrets: Blockchain Beneath the Hoodie  <\/div>\n
59. The Way of All Startups: Burnout and Pivot  <\/div>\n
60. Family Secrets Revealed Across Generations  <\/div>\n
61. Ernest’s Liberation from Clerical (Corporate) Bonds  <\/div>\n
62. Writing the Sequel to Unwritten Harvard Lessons  <\/div>\n
63. Co-Author Credits and Collaborative Hypocrisy  <\/div>\n
64. The Transition from Victorian to Secretive Age  <\/div>\n
65. Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts in Engineering Curricula  <\/div>\n
66. Gua Gua Guacamole Recipes as Business Parables  <\/div>\n
67. Avoiding Distressed Hail Mary Passes in Funding  <\/div>\n
68. Sitting First Chair Entrepreneurship  <\/div>\n
69. Curating Money Hashtags Like Museum Pieces  <\/div>\n
70. The Ultimate Distribution Hack: Going Viral Secretly  <\/div>\n
71. Ernest’s Final Wisdom: Damned If You Reveal, Damned If You Don’t  <\/div>\n
72. Overton (Narrator) Concludes: All Flesh Goes the Way of Execution, Distribution, and Quiet Ambition  <\/div>\n
In this imagined masterpiece, Larry Chiang channels Butler’s ironic bite to expose how today’s “disruptors” preach transparency while mastering opacity \u2014 the true “Victorian Secretive Age” of curated personas, hidden cap tables, and underground hustles that power the innovation economy. You’re damned if you naively believe the pitch; you’re damned if you don’t master the secrets. And that, dear reader, is the way of all flesh (and all founders).<\/div>\n
\n
Chapter 1 to Chapter 72<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
**The Way of All Flesh**  <\/div>\n
*by Larry Chiang (with co-author credit to Alyssa, as per the original video inspiration)*  <\/div>\n
A semi-autobiographical entrepreneurial bildungsroman, posthumously published (hypothetically) to usher in the **Victorian Secretive Age** \u2014 an era of surface-level propriety in Silicon Valley and startup culture, where founders maintain impeccable LinkedIn profiles, pitch decks full of moral posturing about “changing the world,” and pious devotion to “impact investing,” while concealing the raw ambitions, cutthroat networking, credit hacks, party-crashing, and underground deal-making that truly drive success. <\/div>\n
Just as Butler exposed Victorian hypocrisy, this novel reveals the “secrets” beneath the hoodies and hoodwinking of modern entrepreneurship.<\/div>\n
The novel traces four generations of the Chiang-Pontifex family (a nod to the original Pontifex line), culminating in the protagonist’s liberation through street-smart enlightenment.<\/div>\n
Book spans 72 chapters are expanded from Butler’s 86 Chapters for deeper dives into FICO scores, VC subterfuge, and hashtag metaphysics).<\/div>\n
Chapters 1\u201372:<\/div>\n
1. Concerning Old John Pontifex, the Carpenter Who Built Solid Foundations (But Never Scaled)  <\/div>\n
2. The Rise of George Pontifex, Who Invented the Wheel (But Forgot Distribution)  <\/div>\n
3. George’s Marriage and the Acquisition of Proprietary Tools  <\/div>\n
4. Theobald Pontifex Is Born Under Auspicious Market Conditions  <\/div>\n
5. Theobald’s Early Education in Rigid Hierarchies  <\/div>\n
6. Theobald Discovers the Hypocrisy of Inherited Wealth  <\/div>\n
7. Theobald Enters the Clergy (Read: Corporate Ladder)  <\/div>\n
8. Theobald’s Courtship of Christina, a Seemingly Angelic Co-Founder  <\/div>\n
9. Their Marriage: Mergers and Acquisitions Gone Awry  <\/div>\n
10. The Birth of Ernest Chiang-Pontifex, the Protagonist  <\/div>\n
11. Ernest’s Infancy and the Tyranny of Parental OKRs  <\/div>\n
12. Early Signs of Entrepreneurial Spirit Suppressed  <\/div>\n
13. Ernest at Home: Lessons in Obedience and Credit Denial  <\/div>\n
14. The Family Moves to Battersby (Palo Alto Analog)  <\/div>\n
15. Ernest’s First Encounters with FICO Scores  <\/div>\n
16. Theobald’s Sermons on Moral Hazard and Bootstrap Pulling  <\/div>\n
17. Christina’s Pious Ambitions for Her Son’s Series A  <\/div>\n
18. Ernest Sent to Roughborough Academy (Elite Boarding School for Future Founders)  <\/div>\n
19. Life Under Dr. Skinner: Bullying as Bootcamp  <\/div>\n
20. Ernest Picks Up Vices Like Cold Emailing and Party Crashing  <\/div>\n
21. Theological Crises: Questioning the Grand Narratives of Unicorn Myths  <\/div>\n
22. Ernest’s Confirmation and First Pitch Rejection  <\/div>\n
23. University Years: Cambridge Becomes Stanford Engineering  <\/div>\n
24. Ernest Studies Divinity (But Secretly Reads Paul Graham Essays)  <\/div>\n
25. Encounters with Evangelical Startups and Their Hypocrisy  <\/div>\n
26. Ordination as a Clergyman (Joining a FAANG as Middle Management)  <\/div>\n
27. Ministry in the Slums: Exposure to Real Distribution Problems  <\/div>\n
28. The Temptations of Towneley (Charismatic Mentor VC)  <\/div>\n
29. Ernest Falls In with Bad Company (Overvalued Seed Rounds)  <\/div>\n
30. The Disastrous Investment in Priestly’s Ponzi-Like Scheme  <\/div>\n
31. Imprisonment for Misplaced Trust (Metaphorical Burnout and Down Round)  <\/div>\n
32. Release from Prison: A New Beginning with Zero Equity  <\/div>\n
33. Ernest’s Illness and Recovery Through Underground Credit Knowledge  <\/div>\n
34. Meeting Ellen: The Seemingly Perfect Co-Founder Match  <\/div>\n
35. Marriage to Ellen: Secrets Beneath the Term Sheet  <\/div>\n
36. Discovery of Ellen’s Prior Commitments (Hidden Cap Table)  <\/div>\n
37. Separation and the Pain of Vesting Cliffs  <\/div>\n
38. Ernest Inherits from Aunt Alethea (Unexpected Angel Investment)  <\/div>\n
39. Investing in Tailoring (Pivoting to Consumer Credit Education)  <\/div>\n
40. Building Duck9: Deep Underground Credit Knowledge  <\/div>\n
41. Success in Financial Literacy for College Students  <\/div>\n
42. Reunion with Old Friends and Reflection on Past Hypocrisies  <\/div>\n
43. Ernest’s Children: Raising Them Without Victorian Secretiveness  <\/div>\n
44. The Philosophy of Gua Gua Guacamole (Metaphor for Layered Execution)  <\/div>\n
45. Crashing Conferences: What They Don’t Teach at Business School  <\/div>\n
46. Mentoring at Stanford as EIR  <\/div>\n
47. Hashtag Warfare and Distribution Subroutines  <\/div>\n
48. Reverse VC Pitches: Making Investors Chase You  <\/div>\n
49. The Perils of Premature Equity Dilution  <\/div>\n
50. FICO Scores as the True Measure of Character  <\/div>\n
51. Party Hosting as Minimum Viable Networking  <\/div>\n
52. Secrets of SXSW Domination  <\/div>\n
53. Credit Rights and Consumer Privacy Battles  <\/div>\n
54. Testifying Before Congress on Hidden Financial Truths  <\/div>\n
55. The Hypocrisy of Impact Investing Facades  <\/div>\n
56. Oscillating Between Sincerity and Irony in Pitches  <\/div>\n
57. Metamodern Entrepreneurship: Beyond Postmodern Skepticism  <\/div>\n
58. Digital Age Secrets: Blockchain Beneath the Hoodie  <\/div>\n
59. The Way of All Startups: Burnout and Pivot  <\/div>\n
60. Family Secrets Revealed Across Generations  <\/div>\n
61. Ernest’s Liberation from Clerical (Corporate) Bonds  <\/div>\n
62. Writing the Sequel to Unwritten Harvard Lessons  <\/div>\n
63. Co-Author Credits and Collaborative Hypocrisy  <\/div>\n
64. The Transition from Victorian to Secretive Age  <\/div>\n
65. Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts in Engineering Curricula  <\/div>\n
66. Gua Gua Guacamole Recipes as Business Parables  <\/div>\n
67. Avoiding Distressed Hail Mary Passes in Funding  <\/div>\n
68. Sitting First Chair Entrepreneurship  <\/div>\n
69. Curating Money Hashtags Like Museum Pieces  <\/div>\n
70. The Ultimate Distribution Hack: Going Viral Secretly  <\/div>\n
71. Ernest’s Final Wisdom: Damned If You Reveal, Damned If You Don’t  <\/div>\n
72. Overton (Narrator) Concludes: All Flesh Goes the Way of Execution, Distribution, and Quiet Ambition  <\/div>\n
In this imagined masterpiece, Larry Chiang channels Butler’s ironic bite to expose how today’s “disruptors” preach transparency while mastering opacity \u2014 the true “Victorian Secretive Age” of curated personas, hidden cap tables, and underground hustles that power the innovation economy. You’re damned if you naively believe the pitch; you’re damned if you don’t master the secrets. And that, dear reader, is the way of all flesh (and all founders).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
1-14\u2019s an \u201cEaster Egg\u201d at <\/span>#ch1 to #ch14. Including #ch2 which\u2019s chapter 2 at my house in Napa California<\/span><\/div>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ejeIz4EhoJ0<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/div>\n
On 09-09-39, “What They Will NEVER Teach You at Stanford Business School” debuts at 300 w 44th St at New York Fashion Week’s front row
\n<\/span>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QXIaNZi3mHQ<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\nWhat A Super Model Can Teach a Harvard MBA About Credit <\/span>www.slideshare.net\/larrychiang\/what-a-super-model-can-teach-a-harvard-mba-about-credit<\/a><\/span><\/span>American Express hosts me mentoring you about FICO scores at New York Fashion Week
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
t.co\/inxTmZAj<\/a><\/span><\/span>My video boils down 20,000 hours and moves you to the right on the entrepreneur bell curve 
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eudADPfTWiE<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span>***********<\/span><\/div>\n
Steve Jobs Texted me on 650-283-8008 in the same way that Mr Jobs called Bill Hewlett <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/x.com\/superSaiyanSkai\/status\/1941392367304761636\/video\/1<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Larry Chiang<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Fund of Founders<\/span><\/div>\n
Founding Stanford EIR<\/span><\/div>\n
@duck9 alum, Deeply Understood Capital Credit Chinese Knowledge 9<\/span><\/div>\n
Solo Founder Uber API<\/span><\/div>\n
650-566-9600 Office<\/span><\/div>\n
650-566-9696 Direct<\/span><\/div>\n
Cell: 415-720-8500 <\/span><\/div>\n
650-283-8008 (cell)<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
Editor of the widely syndicated “What They Don’t Teach at School”
\n<\/span>whattheydontteachyouatstanfordbusinessschool.com\/blog<\/a><\/span><\/span>CNN Video Channel: <\/span><\/div>\n
ireport.cnn.com\/people\/larrychiang<\/a><\/span><\/span>Read my last 10 X posts at <\/span><\/div>\n
www.X.com\/LarryChiang<\/a><\/span><\/span>Author of #WTDTYASBS a NY Times Bestseller released 09-09-09 at #NYFW on a runway under the tents
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
whattheydontteachyouatstanfordbusinessschool.com\/blog\/?s=Ny+times+bestseller<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
www.fastcompany.com\/embed\/c0d4562ea2049<\/a><\/span><\/span>52 Cards. Two Jokers. What They DO Teach You at Stanford Engineering
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vDBY0GkI3-g<\/span><\/span>Emergency swings and cutting deals as an 9 year old
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OFGY7v9C4G0<\/span><\/span>Hunter Pence shared thoughts before winning WORLD SERIES’ Game #7
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=usu0luYy9pw<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Way of All Flesh youtu.be   **The Way of All Flesh**   *by Larry Chiang (with co-author credit to Alyssa, as per the original video inspiration)*   A semi-autobiographical entrepreneurial bildungsroman, posthumously published (hypothetically) to usher in the **Victorian Secretive Age** \u2014 an era of surface-level propriety in Silicon Valley and startup culture, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cal-entrepreneur-week","category-turnarounds"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37396"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38143,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37396\/revisions\/38143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}