Today I had lunch with a friend who I have known for well over a decade and worked with on and off in a number of different settings. Although we don’t see each other that often, the lunch rapidly evolved towards ideas we are excited about, innovations we are interested in exploring and startups that would be cool to do something about. Most of our ideas never leave the idea stage, but I reflected on how important it is to have people that you can use as a sounding board or sparring partner. It is way too easy to get spinning in your own head and never get any further as you get stuck in your thinking. You need another brain to elevate your thinking and pull you out of a local optimum. Of course, using a LLM such as ChatGPT or Perplexity can also work, but there still is value in the human connection, in my experience. So, as today’s reflection: who is your sounding board or sparring partner?