NYT bestselling author of Flinch and Trust Agents. Exec coach. Also former CEO/founder Breather and Practice
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1/ there is this sense when you are young that your accomplishments need to be a list of things that seem impressive to others. A list of several items you did.
This isn't actually right, so here is another suggestion.
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Probably 35% of all founders are out there busting their ass because
a) they want to convince the world (ie themselves) that they aren't a fucking loser
b) they're sick of people not believing in them
c) they're unemployable otherwise
d) nobody else will give them a chance
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What's impressive about the Cybertruck is just that it exists. Would any committee in the world ever choose this? Would any hired CEO (non founder) ever risk their job to do it? Only a founder with enough power and grit would even dare. And even then, most would never.
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14/ real conclusion now
When you feel like quitting, the thing you should really get out of it is not "I quit" but instead
"ah! Most people probably quit at this time. If I continue, good things will happen and it'll be less competition."
Have a good weekend, and get to work.
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Best hires:
- no ego
- works independently
- you would want to spend time with them anyway
- goes after missing pieces without asking
- learns to do the next job they'll be needed for before it's even a job
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this reminds me of the time I asked ChatGPT for 10 options for naming something that didn't start with P, and then 3 of its choices started with P.
i was like, no, those start with P, and ChatGPT is like "my mistake!" and then it names those very same things again
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4/ what is actually difficult, and worthwhile, instead is to do ONE single thing for a very, very long time. It's much harder and much rarer and results in outlier outcomes much more often.
Of course you can find this out too late if you are chasing the dragon of Ted talks etc
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Me: *fixes a typo in my LinkedIn*
Linkedin:
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
Congrats on the new role!
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If you'd like to donate some time to a few people in the coming few weeks to help share your expertise, let me know, I have something that may be worth your time 🥰
We gotta help each other out there, man 🖖🏻
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The best investor "pitches" are actually just conversations.
The best decks are really just whiteboard sessions.
The best negotiations are simple discussions of priorities.
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7/ all of this is because it's the nature of the mins and the body to give up once things are hard- it's why grit is so valuable. It's why Jeff Bezos is the richest guy and not the dude who did 10 startups for that same period. Compounding efforts produce outlier results.
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Americans are very lucky to have so much country to travel in. Most of you take it for granted.
Canada has at most like 5 cities, depending on how you count. And we are BIG.
America has like 50-100, with highly varied culture, and roads that go on forever.
Huge privilege.
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Keith Rabois' frame of "how do we add a zero" (to users, to revenue, etc.) is a very simple forcing function for what matters and doesn't in a startup. It's a very simple bullshit detection methodology that every early stage company should try at least once.
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🌲 THREAD 🌲
Here is a quick list of 100 insights I've gotten over the past decade. Any one of them you adopt, or choose to believe, will probably make your life better. Enjoy.
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Now that I'm on the other side of it, I realize a ton of that time was wasted. Focus is what gets you places. Being deeply good at a single thing, or good enough at two things.
In case you're wondering, for me, that's a-product and b-getting people to believe in me + my thing.
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5/ if I had only worked on a startup for a year, I would've gotten nowhere, the same way that if you lift for 3 months, it achieves nothing. Everything good in life comes from perseverance, but at the beginning, you're just like "I need to be somebody!!!"
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If I had read one book 52 times - the right one - instead of racing through 52 books year after year, I think I would have been able to write Moby Dick by now. But the surface level stuff was too attractive, too shiny.
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what i love about it is that it isn't about looking young, just looking elegant and carrying what you're wearing well
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10/ so conclusion- choose one thing and spend 5 years on it. At the end of one year you won't have a ton of signal that it's working.
Example - My gf is one year into her ceramic sculpting and she just did her first show. People like what she does but she wants it to go faster.
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Has no one else noticed that the iPhone X and the XS are quasi identical? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
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3/ what I should have known at that time is that only young idiots like myself, with no accomplishments, find list of tiny achievements impressive. Anyone who has actually done anything of substance doesn't gaf
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2/ I remember being 26 and writing about reading 52 books a year. I wrote blog posts about it. They got copied. It became "a thing." Now it's in Twitter bios. It looks impressive but it's insanely useless and I shouldn't have done it.
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There needs to be the anti LinkedIn ie
"who would you absolutely never fucking work with again?"
This website would make a fucking killing 🤙🏻
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Today, my team and I are launching @Trypractice - a full suite of tools so YOU can launch and manage a coaching business, using what you already know. 🌈
practice.do
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Exciting stuff ahead! @Trypractice has raised $10m in seed funding, led by @andrewchen from a16z, as well as the nation’s #1 life & business strategist @TonyRobbins
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I recently came across @patrickc's collection of life advice he wished he could give himself before the age of 20. It inspired me to revisit a similar piece I wrote back in 2012. So here's my "updated" advice for those of you that are around 20—30. (I am about to turn 39.)
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Founders understand each other in a way that they are rarely are by others
I can only compare it to how powerlifters talk to each other -
Guy 1- "fuck I injured my back while deadlifting 575lbs."
Normal person: "so stop?"
Lifting buddy: "fuck dude when can you get back?? 💔"
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One of the most important decisions you're gonna make in your life is who you partner with - at home, at work, everywhere.
Choose well.
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Did you know? Printed non fiction books are often around 300 pages just because THEY NEED TO LOOK WIDE ON THE BOOKSTORE SHELF
So a lot of business books can be skimmed.
Try reading the first sentence of every paragraph for a whole chapter. You can still get the whole thing.
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Airbnb is certainly the marquee company of this phase of startups.
1. has piles of cash
2. old market players took forever to adapt
3. founder run
4. founders STILL INNOVATE
5. founder run products are amazing (experiences is 🎉)
6. used a loophole to start it that is now closed
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VCs: "fundraising is easy when you're a hot company! Just be a hot company! It's that simple!"
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Here are the skills needed to do well in life. You don't need them all, but probably a few at minimum.
Feel free to rate yourself!
Persuasion
Habit building
Work ethic
Ambition
Intelligence
Organizational aptitude
Ability to delay gratification
(I think that's pretty much it.)
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11/ if she quits now, it dies (and she proves herself right).
But year 2 is easier. Your network is wider. More people see your thing and recognize it. Your second set of pieces get seen enough to develop your reputation. Etc.
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12/ so on with year 3, 4, 5, etc. Now you're really somewhere! And most people have quit. So you're now way ahead in a much less crowded pack!
PS this is her thing in case you're wondering.
instagram.com/p/BqBewDEAAIB/…
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I have a big fear in me about not doing enough, about being a loser, about being a nobody.
People made fun of me in HS and it compounded a lot of my issues and made them worse. I'm still dealing.
That said, at day's end, life is good. Remember all the stuff you have ⭐️ 💫 ☀️
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Running a company is basically a process of getting your heart broken over and over again and still coming back for more, all for the love of what you're doing and the people you work with. (The fact that you can make money along the way is obviously also a nice side effect.)
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Me: Emailing some person I know who's based in Silicon Valley
3 months later
Them: "Oh hey Julien sorry! I've been tripping balls in the Amazon with the Xyasdtqe tribe. I'm back now though, let's hop on the phone!"
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I'm lucky that I am 39 now and have done enough to feel that my monkey ambition brain is satisfied (for now). I was meeting a dude the other day and he goes "why did you start your company, did you get sick of writing New York Times best sellers?"
Like ha ha, but he's right.
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25/ Perhaps the most important part of being young: this is a period of your life in which you should choose to DO SOMETHING ALL OF THE WAY.
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Had a discussion with an entrepreneur where he confides that he's struggling with a thing.
Then I get a text this morning- "sorry I wussed out yesterday."
Imagine how tough it is that you're apologizing for confiding in someone.
Ffs. Let some people in! You can't do it alone.
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I say this legitimately - I brainwashed myself into 10 years of vegetarian / vegan diets until I started seriously reading about it and was like... woops
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do you consider twitter "productive"? i learn so much from here but it’s also such a source of FOMO and a time suck
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13/ in startups, same issue. How credible is the guy who raised 100m$ vs the guy who raised 10.
Not 10 times more.
100x more.
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It's truly amazing to me that those that are willing to try intermittent fasting, buy a Peloton, and check their glucose to manage their health are mostly unwilling to count calories
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Instead of weird alternative meat products how about we just eat the WHOLE animal- blood sausage, organ meats etc.
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This is so impressive. Almost nobody would have the balls to do a 5 year ask. But @RoamResearch does and I bet they get buyers in this category.
The name "Believer" is really something, too. Lets you buy in.
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People are obsessed with remote being the new thing in startups - I think the reality is gonna be way more complicated.
For one, culture is the most important thing in startups, and remote working makes culture blurry.
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People that want to advise, and get options for it, but won't invest, are a curse.
Put in $1000 for fuck's sake.
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If you go to the gym, and you rack the weights properly, then you're already better than 95% of people
It's that simple
Have some fucking courtesy ffs
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The drug dealers in my neighborhood all get together for a daily standup in the park across the street from my house. At least they're organized, I guess.
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The richer you get, the weirder you get. As it reduces friction, money exposes who a person really is to the world.
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Unless I'm crazy, I am still seeing companies in Canada that are IMHO crazy under valued. It's so wildly disproportionate rn
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1/ so you have a new year's resolution. congratulations, and at the same time, god help you. here are the issues you'll experience in the next 12 months, trying to keep it.
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I can tell from looking at landing pages all day that nobody in startups understands the power of good writing.
Or, they know its power, but they have no idea what it looks like or how to find it.
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Fitness Twitter : "eat reasonably and exercise, make sure to rest enough and manage stress"
Tech Twitter : "do intermittent fasting, check your glucose levels, do keto, and buy a 1500$ Mirror and on yeah don't forget an 8 Sleep"
Me : "hmmm which to choose" 🙄
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Seed = holy shit I hope this works
Series A = holy shit it seems to be working, what do I do
Series B = oh fuck it's kind of working / falling apart, now what
Seed = finding product-market fit
Series A = figuring out distribution
Series B = building the organization
Our most recent @VersionOneVC blog post on what founders should focus on at each stage of their startup’s journey.
versionone.vc/so-you-just-ra…
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It's staggering to me how many people just stand around at red lights at crosswalks while there is absolutely no car in sight. No wonder most people don't start companies.
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All I know how to do is to try really hard. That's my one skill.
And then maybe convincing others to try really hard.
That's it.
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Your network is so important and undervalued.
I spent YEARS underdeveloping. And I'm pretty networked.
The right way to do it, if you have any kind of budget at all, is just FLY THERE AND MEET -worry about the tradeoff later.
It's how business gets done. You just don't know.
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