Lessin: Pushing humor right to the edge signals social mastery
Sam Lessin · How to show up in any room with a low heart rate: Silicon Valley’s missing etiquette playbook · Jan 15, 2026 · at 43:29
Slow Ventures partner Sam Lessin explains the tactical use of humor in high-stakes professional and social environments.
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“The thing about humor is it kind of, there's this interesting subtlety to why it's so useful in social studies, which is one, it kind of shows the ultimate mastery of a social situation. If you're able to tell a joke, Which is right up to the line or even pushes it one degree to show your own comfort in the space, right? It's the ultimate demonstration of comfort in a space is to tell a joke. It's a little over the line or a little off color, but not too off color. It's like the ultimate thing.”
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