Take full responsibility for your challenges and company, as no one else will fix them or make you rich; it’s up to you to convert potential into kinetic energy.
Consciously choose the people you surround yourself with, as you become the average of your five closest friends, and their questions will become your own.
To overcome self-consciousness and analyze your life objectively, create physical or mental distance from the environment that shapes your identity.
Do not conflate your identity or value with your rank, position, or what you can do for others, as this can be detrimental long-term.
Form relationships that feel ‘at will,’ where both parties frequently re-up, fostering a voluntary and less attached connection with employees, investors, and others.
Operate in a way that requires less effort from others, acting like a concierge service to make interactions stress-free and easy for them.
Consistently communicate your needs, feelings, and what’s happening now, next week, and next month to reduce stress for others and allow them to solve problems before they arise.
Spend time writing and revising emails and other communications to ensure clarity and provide all necessary context, saving time for all involved and elevating the conversation.
When seeking help, make very specific requests (e.g., ‘an intro to X’ with a blurb and deck) rather than generic ‘how can I help?’ to enable quick and efficient assistance.
Be mindful of the books you read, people you listen to, and tweets you follow, as you absorb their perspectives and ‘you are what you eat’.
Engage in deep reading about your industry and other subjects, and also explore broadly to find new and different connections and insights.
Read books and learn for the sake of knowledge and becoming smarter, rather than for social signaling or immediate external validation.
Recognize that observation is a fundamental skill; truly seeing what’s in front of you and noticing details is often the hardest part of learning or creating.
To learn a skill, break it down into its fundamental building blocks and master those sequentially to gain a deep understanding rather than just memorizing.
Seek to understand the fundamental physical reasons behind phenomena (e.g., why hot water cleans faster) to gain a deeper grip on reality and apply knowledge effectively.
If you aspire to a certain role (e.g., founder), spend time hanging out with people in that role and working in related early-stage environments.
Cultivate relationships by discussing product or other topics without an agenda, as this builds trust and can accidentally do the work for future opportunities.
Actively build and create things, rather than just having ideas or needing others to do everything for you, as this demonstrates initiative and capability.
If you want something badly, figure out how to start with what you have, even if it’s not your ‘dream project,’ and learn as you go.
Take initiative and proceed with your ideas and projects without waiting for external validation or permission.
Instead of a numbers game (e.g., 100 emails for 3 yeses), focus on sending fewer, highly personalized emails (e.g., 3 emails, 3 hours each) with the expectation of a high success rate.
If your venture-backed company isn’t growing as fast as needed, pause, recalibrate, and figure out a new strategy before drastic measures are required.
Utilize software tools like Calendly, Zapier, and Airtable to automate routine tasks, effectively operating as if you had a full-time executive assistant.
When someone asks to ‘catch up,’ proactively ask them what they want to talk about to ensure both parties are prepared and the meeting is efficient.
Do the necessary work ahead of time (e.g., reading material) so that you can contribute effectively and potentially avoid the meeting altogether if information can be shared asynchronously.
If a thought is stuck in your head, process it by figuring out what it is, why it is, and packaging it for clarity, then share it to release it.
Dedicate focused, intense effort to solve problems, treating it like a workout where you push yourself to concentrate deeply.
Structure your life to alternate between engaging in interesting conversations and spending time completely alone.
Read Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ as a canonical example of operating in a way that makes others’ lives easy and stress-free.
Read Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ to understand cognitive biases and decision-making.
Read Matt Ridley’s books to understand the physical and biological constraints of the brain and body, helping to differentiate what you can and cannot control.
Read ‘The Beginning of Infinity’ and ‘The Fabric of Reality’ by David Deutsch to explore concepts like parallel universes, quantum mechanics, and free will.
Read books like ‘The PayPal Wars’ and ‘In the Plex’ to learn from the experiences of those who built companies before, applying timeless lessons rather than starting from scratch.