Making Sublime

you’re not building a product you’re engineering culture

Every time I fail a spaced repetition review for a card which I remember thinking was almost too trivial to write down, I become more convinced that everything I read without making cards for is a waste of time.

A cool way to bootstrap a cooperative: package the business plan as a beautiful zine and sell 1,000 copies (doubling as memberships) for $100/ each.

a curated personal knowledge base has never mattered more

a viable strategy in many markets that are saturated by VCware or big tech: make the same thing but principled + user-supported

This is how we create Tesla products

A great thing about taking notes is that it subtly encourages you to live a ‘notes-worthy life’ You end up seeking interesting conversations to build your memex; experimenting with new recipes to add to your collection; reading more widely to find surprising connections etc.

“I love it” at very first glance of a new brand means it’s too familiar (and explains why cohorts of new DTC brands all look the same). The better sign is when, at first glance, you’re a little uncomfortable - need to brew on it - and then gradually like it more and more…

A degree of relaxation is necessary to have good ideas because one doesn't have them so much as receive them—and one cannot receive anything with clenched fists.

I have been keeping both physical and digital commonplace books for over five years. The last couple of years, my commonplace book has been entirely digital. This is my process for keeping a commonplace book in @obsdmd from start to finish. 👇