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Notable Achievements at Age 29
Married Abigail Smith
Married Abigail Smith (later Abigail Adams), beginning a lifelong intellectual and political partnership.
First on-camera appearance on SNL (Kim Jong-un)
Made his first on-camera appearance on SNL in the Sandra Oh-hosted episode, portraying Kim Jong-un in a pre-taped sketch.
Appropriate premiered Off-Broadway at Signature
Appropriate debuted Off-Broadway at Pershing Square Signature Center (Mar 16–Apr 13, 2014), a critical breakthrough.
Co‑founded Coinbase (company founded)
Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam formally co‑founded Coinbase to let users buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies.
Portrayed Sean Parker in 'The Social Network'
Acclaimed acting role in the Oscar‑winning film about Facebook's origins.
Founded the Lifehacker blog
Launched Lifehacker (part of the Gawker Media network), focusing on productivity tips and 'life hacks'.
Oprah names Spanx a 'Favorite Thing'
Oprah Winfrey featured Spanx on her 'Favorite Things' list in November, massively increasing the brand's visibility and sales.
Won Grammy for 'You Got Me' (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group)
The Roots earned the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 'You Got Me' (featuring Erykah Badu).
Active years stated
Professional career noted as active from 1996–present (commonly cited 'Years active: 1996–present').
Married Lisa Simmons
Married journalist Lisa Simmons in a Jewish ceremony (New York Times wedding announcement July 2, 1995).
Earned Ph.D. in Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Completed doctoral studies and awarded a Ph.D. in biology from UAF, solidifying a research career in fisheries and stream ecology.
Ph.D. in Computer Science, UC Berkeley
Awarded Ph.D.; dissertation titled 'A Unified Theory of Inference for Text Understanding'.
Married Dru Ann Mobley
Married Dru Ann Mobley in Tulsa, Oklahoma (ceremony at First Methodist Church).
Began development of 'C with Classes' (later C++)
Started designing and implementing an extension to C to support objects and abstractions — the origin of C++.
PhD in Computer Science, University of Cambridge
Awarded PhD; thesis 'Communication and control in distributed computer systems' supervised by David Wheeler.
Pulitzer Prize (Public Service) awarded to The Washington Post
The Washington Post, including the Watergate reporting by Woodward and Bernstein, was awarded the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Covered Watergate break-in (June 17, 1972)
Along with Carl Bernstein, Woodward was assigned to and helped break open the Watergate story after the arrest at Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Completed Ph.D. at MIT; defended thesis
Defended thesis 'The Manager at Work—Determining his Activities, Roles and Programs by Structured Observation' (major in Policy and Organizational Studies).
Founded Tamla Records (label launch)
Tamla Records began operating on January 12, 1959; the company was the precursor to Motown.
Married Phyllis W. Beck
Aaron Beck married Phyllis W. Beck (later a Pennsylvania appellate judge); the couple eventually had four children.
💡 What this means for you
At age 29, you're at a pivotal point where many successful entrepreneurs made their breakthrough. Whether you're building your first company or scaling an existing one, these examples show what's possible with focus and execution.
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