mindsets

Thiel defines secrets as important truths about the world that other people don’t yet realize.

If you open a roadside motel, expect that tired and demanding budget travelers will arrive. If you run a fancy restaurant, don’t be surprised if people will angle and cajole and lie to get a …

Listen now (10 min) | Abstraction & synthesis of the most transformative year of my life

The most liberating aspect for me of writing emails rather than tweets is the natural limit on topics I might be tempted to have a take on. When I was primarily writing tweets, I could easily involve myself in a dozen topics in a day. HERE'S A TAKE, THERE'S A TAKE, TAKE THAT! With email, it's a sliver of that. But it goes even deeper t...

The Paradox of Reading: The books you read will profoundly change you even though you’ll forget the vast majority of what you read. The Paradox of Writing: Great writing looks effortless. But because the ideas are so clear, casual readers don’t appreciate how much time it took to refine them. The Paradox of Creativity: Your

Watch on YouTube   Something that has always fascinated me is the concept of a Polymath or Renaissance Man, or a person who has many talents and knowledge in multiple domains. One of the modern day polymaths I’ve learned the most from is Josh Waitzkin. When it comes to touching excellence in multiple domains Josh... Read More

Six Spokes Theory shows that we can’t neglect important areas of life if we want to live optimally. This requires making tough choices

There’s a profound moment in Episode V of Star Wars in the midst of Luke Skywalker’s jedi training. After trying to get his ship out of the water with the force, Luke gives up (“I…

A summary of Paul Graham’s 200+ essays. This is an introduction to his ideas on startups, writing, society, decision-making and more.

After many years of writing for big companies, a few universal truths have emerged from hundreds of projects, no matter the budget: Having a clear audience is critical for creation, promotion, and sales. Having a clear goal is existential for the project and ultimately the company. It’s rar

Here are John Maeda’s ten laws of and three keys to simplicity. Ten laws Reduce The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. Organize Organization makes a system of many appear fewer. Time Savings in time feel like simplicity.

Listen now (10 min) | 20+ powerful paradoxes on growth, business, investing, and life

Remove any ambiguity by eliminating 7 from the classic 10 point rating scale. Next time you ask someone to rate on a scale of 1 to 10...

Why you shouldn't guilt yourself for eating that donut.

Listen now (17 min) | 20 useful frameworks on startups, investing, writing, & life

Are you ready for another 30-day challenge from Stylelife and Neil Strauss? Don't complain for the next month. Sound easy? Read on and see why it's not!

Listen now (5 min) | To investors, Last week, I told the limited partners at Pomp Investments that I would be returning all outside capital at the end of the year and would be converting my investment activities into a family office. The response to this communication was incredibly powerful so I figured that I should share the decision publicly. No matter your occupation or life goals, my hope is that the letter below can help you.

Chris Dixon's blog.

A Partial Register of the 927 (or was in 928?) Eternal Truths. Sheldon Kopp.  This is it ! There are no hidden meanings. You can’t get from there to here, and besides there’s no place else to go. We are already dying, and we will be dead for a long time. Nothing lasts. There is ... Read more

Quality is defined as consistently meeting spec. A measurable promise made and kept. Effort is what happens when we go beyond our normal speed. When we dig deep and exert physical or emotional labo…

40 of the best Alan Watts quotes you'll find on the Internet, covering everything from love and death to our place in the cosmos.

Our elite graduates need to understand that they’ve already been winners in the lottery of life—and they certainly don’t need any more safety nets.

All too often disagreements spiral into conflict. Prevent that happening by signalling your receptiveness with these words

Ben Holliday -

Yesterday I had lunch with a former Ph.D student of mine, who is now highly successful and tenured at a very good school.  I was reminded that, over twenty years ago, I was Graduate Director of Admissions.  One of my favorite strategies was to take strong candidates who applied for Masters and also offer them […]