Collections
like, you know, no reference point to go off of, that’s ego system. That’s “I am the synthesizer; therefore, you consume me and I give purpose to your
I think a lot of kids are in that situation where you know ultimately they're just not being given the codes. They have, they have unlimited curiosity
The structures for learning are disappearing faster than new ones are forming. Remote work has accelerated this breakdown, erasing the in-person mento
The most subversive thing you could build isn't faster note-taking or better brand recognition - it's tools that help people develop their own interna
The kids are joining running clubs, buying “dumb” phones, woodworking, rocking Walkmans, joining supper clubs, etc because their lives have been swall
There’s this funny balance where some writers get way too purist about it and they’re like, I don’t want to have to package my work up for the masses
Let me assure you, as someone who has been publishing books for sixteen years, that no matter how much you think you’ve talked about your book, no mat
Buckets are little homes for the things you want to explore deeper. Maybe you’ll write or draw or build about them one day, but that’s not really the
Are you building a practice or a cathedral? - Yancey Strickler
Algorithms today feel similar — we’re given little ability to choose where we’re going. We’re being fed content, post after post, pushed in directions
people think they want choices. but they prefer good defaults.
What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed for ourselves.
When you see the world As devoid of something Only you can bring to life You create magic And if you fail, You can still take comfort In knowing you
The most subversive thing you could build isn't faster note-taking or better brand recognition - it's tools that help people develop their own interna
The words of Paul Mazur, a leading Wall Street banker working for Lehman Brothers in 1927, are cited: "We must shift America from a needs- to a desire
stay focused...ignore the rat race...try to build things that are cool. the rest will fall into place
I'm going to talk about "Self-Renewal." One of your most fundamental tasks is the renewal of the organizations you serve, and that usually includes pe
It’s always top-own. It’s really always top-down. If there's a problem with a company culturally or just, a little bit of culture, but like they're a
If you don’t have a slogan, you don’t have a movement
People already have pretty sophisticated understanding of brands already, and brand isn't underestimated. It's just that you really have to stress tes
Instead of asking people for advice and looking for the average of all the advice you get, you should probably be taking bigger, bolder bets.If the av
“Strategy is the art and science of moving into a position of advantage in an adversarial environment”
Today’s software is far from personal. Unbundling the app is just one important step; we must also invent new interactions around a new set of core pr
Optimism is unfashionable today, particularly among intellectuals. Everyone makes fun of it. Someone said "Pessimists got that way by financing optimi
The best design work rarely starts with order. It starts with questions, with play, with a lot of mess. We need tools that make room for that. Because
Instead of asking people for advice and looking for the average of all the advice you get, you should probably be taking bigger, bolder bets.If the av
"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your li
This situation, where more data is the goal, means there is great collection software and terrible decision making software. We are told to star, favo
Vega Power Devices Photovoltaic Module Product Sheet
“According to the Tiqqun collective, we have become the innocuous, pliable inhabitants of global urban societies.7 Even in the absence of any direct c
Truth Sandwich (George Lakeoff, 2018?): trying to refute an idea can spread it, because your audience is probably not the audience that was first expo
our quantitative understanding of elasticity is shortterm we can estimate what a price reduction will do this week in this quarter but we cannot estim
Repetition helps persuade people that something is correct, a phenomenon known as the illusory truth effect.
This desire, eyes wide and knowing, this is at the core of all our pursuits. It was there during the renaissance, the enlightenment, and it is ever pr
It’s any time someone hesitates to make the thing they desperately want to make because they succumb to the avoidable things that kill creativity. The
I encourage the viewer to slow down, and interact, and don’t worry that we might lose them if the information they think they want isn’t immediately p
But time and scale and riches and glories later. We now see what I generally call “meta-startups” Their only goal is playing the game. They have no
In the post-Snapchat, pre-Tiktok breakout… every single consumer app company tried to reproduce the Snap magic. At the same time, every investor was b
Yancey Strickler’s Nine Creative Meditations To me or to the mean - Focus on what makes your work strange or unique rather than trying to fit in with
TLDR: Silicon Valley has been de-mystified, but you’re asking “where’s the magic?” // One thing I’ve been meditating on in Tokyo is “de-mystificatio
the goal of life is to be excited to go to work and excited to go home
The lesson is that you find out what it’s like to properly care about something and whether or not what you’re doing matters. Otherwise, you’d yield.
We have a lot of questions that we ask initially. Even when we deal like our initial calls with prospect, it's mostly us just asking questions. And t
This industry spent the last 20 years proving that we know how to assault the senses to hijack attention, install addiction, etc. Software built in t
That’s the environment. But the white pill is that substance, can cut through even more. The people genuinely yearn for the next Apple. Care, craft, a
Are you building a practice or a cathedral? - Yancey Strickler
“Artists excel at creating worlds. They do this first for themselves and then, when they share their work, for others… World-building means creating e
It is clear that the path forward for me is to seek that balance of hard, valuable, and fun in every project I start, join, back, or advise. Hard is f
Working on difficult problems is also intellectually more rewarding to an engineer, which is who I am, after all. To sustain that interest though, it'
“Artists excel at creating worlds. They do this first for themselves and then, when they share their work, for others… World-building means creating e
I don't think there's anything inherently evil and consulting. I think that without without owning something over an extended period of time, like a f
you do something and think about it later
Do what you want. Don’t imagine the faceless mass. Build it for yourself. - Yancey Strickler
The Bucket Theory of Creativity
Buckets are little homes for the things you want to explore deeper. Maybe you’ll write or draw or build about them one day, but that’s not really the
.@sama - memory needs to be your primary focus. It will unlock everything. The problem with democratized AI isn’t access—it’s talent inflation. When
We are digitally stuffed, like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Yet we are no more aware of the problem than the Turkey is in early November. It is normal to de
The photo of the object itself increases its Authority - Jack Self
Cause it’s hard to sell a restaurant that does sushi and pizza David Broner
“What does a beautiful thing tell you?” Patrick asks. “It tells you the person who made it really cared."
What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed for ourselves.
Too many people think freedom is the ability to do anything you want, instead of the discipline to not be a slave to your compulsions.
Consistency trumps everything.
still one of my favorite lines of all time: and when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do
This is choice paralysis. Previous generations didn’t have many options so they stuck together through hard times and made it work. Now, abundance (or
What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed for ourselves.
Most software entangles the abstract functionality of the application with the interface that presents it to the user. For example, in Google Maps, us
very day computers offer ever more powerful substitutes for traditional analog tools: calendars become dynamic, weather forecasts get regular updates,
We can't write off the danger of complacency, growing rigidity, imprisonment by our own comfortable habits and opinions. Look around you. How many peo
We survive by naming shapes. Lion, lightning, invoice. Commit to memory, move on. That shorthand spares calories, keeps skin intact, and lets us cro
Easy to find an idea Transformational ideas for software—the ones that could become huge businesses and change the world—are rare and hard to spot. Ev
So, if you’re a programmer: the next time you come across an annoying problem on a web app frontend, maybe consider writing a browser extension to mak
Consistency trumps everything.
Obsess over perfection. If you are designing something that a customer is going to use or that will represent us in public, it’s not good enough unles
I can tell you that for renewal, a tough-minded optimism is best. The future is not shaped by people who don't really believe in the future. Men and w
Consistency trumps everything.
Writer David Foster Wallace said that he thought good nonfiction was a chance to “watch somebody reasonably bright but also reasonably average pay far
Your influences are all worth sharing because they clue people in to who you are and what you do—sometimes even more than your own work… If you fail t
Nir shares a useful protocol for identifying your internal triggers and working through them. It’s part journaling, part meditation: First keep a no
It’s any time someone hesitates to make the thing they desperately want to make because they succumb to the avoidable things that kill creativity. The
The lesson is that you find out what it’s like to properly care about something and whether or not what you’re doing matters. Otherwise, you’d yield.
There is no “Marie Kondo” for your Instagram.
I grew to love my system so much that I strained it. After a few years of reading and running down rabbit holes, I found myself with 15,000 articles,
My digital clutter is horrific but hidden. - Jimmy Ceroneii
“Why don’t you just delete social media?’ “I still want to find fun new content, and not miss out and hear from my favorite thinkers.”
Documents capture thought process and context In our early prototypes, we explored ways for GUI widgets to compose with one another. For example, we t
This situation, where more data is the goal, means there is great collection software and terrible decision making software. We are told to star, favo
Your influences are all worth sharing because they clue people in to who you are and what you do—sometimes even more than your own work… If you fail t
On the one hand, of course, the conditions of perception are more consciously acknowledged in environments created by artists, but on the other hand t
Cognitive psychology is one of those fields of discussion which was, at least historically, of great importance for the exhibition of art. The first d
What is important in my opinion is that the room is honest, so there is no patronising. *Niklas Maak *When is a room honest? *Charlotte Klonk *Well, a
I think that the word museum triggers a specific cultural behaviour – devout, silent. I believe that exhibiting in a white cube is by now an exhibitin
We found that being able to freely write notes anywhere in our planning tool provided a graceful fallback for any situation: we could write down anyth
We believe that rather than forcing people to adapt to rigid, one-size-fits-all interfaces, our software environments should adapt to each person’s ne
FLORA is a process tool. Like I said before, at it’s best it feels like creatively ice skating. And process tools are meant to be a springboard and si
You can look at these things as games and dismiss them, or you can look at them as very simple simulated learning environments. So, as an example, in
Internal triggers are the primary culprit of distraction. When negative feelings well up inside of you, your brain looks for refuge in something that
The things you learn in maturity aren't simple things such as acquiring information and skills. You learn not to engage in self-destructive behavior.
I’m the proud owner of a terrifying cache of 20,000 articles, almost a thousand Goodreads books, and hundreds of writing drafts. My digital clutter is
Why should we care about digital hoarding? Storage is cheap, why not keep it all? To be clear, storage is cheap - cheaper than ever before. The clutte
But for the most part, Mars is really a point of inspiration; it’s a sort of direction to move in.
nstead of focusing on issues directly, focus on the thing that is going to collectivize people best. Focus on the story arc, the thing that is going t
The first mistake creative and entrepreneurial people make is being too optimistic about the ability of their audience to retain the information they
You shouldn’t not be afraid to use your intuition. And feel-think your way through the, have the experience and trust your inner knowing of what it is
The issue with advice is that everyone has an opinion but few have context.
our quantitative understanding of elasticity is shortterm we can estimate what a price reduction will do this week in this quarter but we cannot estim
Having a certain degree of indifference about your idea, your work and its potential outcome will serve you better than giving every ounce of yourself
I think a lot of kids are in that situation where you know ultimately they're just not being given the codes. They have, they have unlimited curiosity
I think I probably philosophically disagree with the statement that we've destroyed Earth. But this is about the mirror; this is about thinking larger
You have within you more resources of energy than have ever been tapped, more talent than has ever been exploited, more strength than has ever been te
“If your world is not enchanted, you’re not paying attention.”
You have to have optimism. You have to have energy. You have to create positive energy. - Jeff Bezos
10/10 speech “The truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness” - refreshingly honest, a break from the usual disingenuous humblebrags - knows he’s be
nstead of focusing on issues directly, focus on the thing that is going to collectivize people best. Focus on the story arc, the thing that is going t
f I may offer you a simple maxim, "Be interesting," Everyone wants to be interesting -- but the vitalizing thing is to be interested. Keep a sense of
The more I see of human lives, the more I believe the business of growing up is much longer drawn out than we pretend. If we achieve it in our 30's, e
The things you learn in maturity aren't simple things such as acquiring information and skills. You learn not to engage in self-destructive behavior.
You come to terms with yourself. You finally grasp what S. N. Behrman meant when he said "At the end of every road you meet yourself." You may not get
You have within you more resources of energy than have ever been tapped, more talent than has ever been exploited, more strength than has ever been te
the real disease of the Western world is the idea of the true self. I think the true self is kind of, it's the sort of idea that is foundational to th
I think I probably philosophically disagree with the statement that we've destroyed Earth. But this is about the mirror; this is about thinking larger
"The barnacle" the author explained "is confronted with an existential decision about where it's going to live. Once it decides.. . it spends the rest
We can't write off the danger of complacency, growing rigidity, imprisonment by our own comfortable habits and opinions. Look around you. How many peo
my guess is that the next gen of ios will push the limits of customization and personalization more than it ever has with a smart, minimal user interf
I truly believe we are headed for a new type of spiritual crisis with the devices we have. Put as directly as possible, I believe it’s a dopamine cras
If there’s one thing I saw at Eternal, despite our ability to create incredible brands and audiences → distribution on old platforms is broken.
You know, absent solving some of these big problems, things are going to be so much better off. Alzheimer's, obesity, you know; we'll have a cure for
Very often, people would tell me they had forgotten that Twemex wasn’t part of Twitter itself. I think this also points to the benefits for users: wou
So, if you’re a programmer: the next time you come across an annoying problem on a web app frontend, maybe consider writing a browser extension to mak
If there’s one thing I saw at Eternal, despite our ability to create incredible brands and audiences → distribution on old platforms is broken.
A new business type here is the paid community: a direct subscription to join in. Today, most paid communities live on the outskirts of existing socia
Algorithms pick winners. The worst content you make will be seen by NO-ONE. That should liberate you - Eugene Healey
Easy to find an idea Transformational ideas for software—the ones that could become huge businesses and change the world—are rare and hard to spot. Ev
Return to first principles and act quickly on your new conclusions. It’s very easy to take the world as it is, as opposed to envisioning it as you wan
I think what’s important here too is that this isn’t about removing cultural nuance. It’s not about removing the richness of language or the richness
you have to be a learning machine you have to be doing the work now he he referenced many times that it takes a long time now but it makes you go fast
don't spend any time worrying about what other investors do I spent all my time studying great companies and studying great Industries if Nick and Zac
I think there’s a really big myth of the genius founder. While being there, there are some exceptional people. It is always about the like 80 people t
like, you know, no reference point to go off of, that’s ego system. That’s “I am the synthesizer; therefore, you consume me and I give purpose to your
Like, this is more about open referencing, and actually, like, um, we call it kind of a layered approach. Which is that everything you make should poi
It also helps to have the candidate you’re trying to see clearly ask you questions. Questions have very high signal value compared to most anything el
Steve Jobs - Look at each person as % of hiring. If 3/10 are not great that’s 30% of your company. Why would you start a company like that?
In hiring, value intelligence highly. Like focus, intelligence yields increasing returns. Like focus, intelligence has a convex output curve — the sma
Confabulation (Skeptic’s Dictionary): see also Power of Fiction. NB. “children and many adults confabulate when encouraged to talk about things of whi
Confirmation Bias: Most people are much better at making up arguments for something they want to believe or against something they don’t want to belie
Defensiveness: its embarrassing to be wrong in public, so once you have publicly committed to a position its hard to change your mind.
Truth Sandwich (George Lakeoff, 2018?): trying to refute an idea can spread it, because your audience is probably not the audience that was first expo
The job description Bezos wrote for his very first employee said, “You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable
I'm hiring a designer! The world is becoming more visual by the day, and I need help visualizing ideas. I want to convey information in ways that are
WANTED A founding engineer to join Rostra and work with me on a novel tool for founders. Like a Waymo, you will be fully self-driving. Like the medi
“How can we live a meaningful, non-bullshitty life in a world increasingly full of irony, entertainment, and distraction?”
Caro asks: How does political power really work in America?
How can words capture the full depth, structure, and texture of reality?"
Caro’s question is: How does political power really work in America? Once he asks it, it takes the wheel. Caro is willing to go broke to answer it.
We spend our money on the things we believe in. Look at psychographics instead. Understand what permissions people give themselves in order to do or b
The end goal is starting to matter less, and the experience of getting there is starting to matter more. Consumers are gradually entering a constant s
Start in the future and work backward
If you pay attention, you’ll see that today’s winning brands understand the customer’s story is the only one that matters. Your most important job as
Solving a problem for your user is great, but easing their cognitive dissonance can have a much greater emotional impact. There is likely something th
The Questions Before the Questions
ideas only become clear once you begin to work on them
I’ve noticed this subtle, sneaky, nearly undetectable pattern in myself where I’ll have an idea, and I’ll then say to myself: oh, that’s a great idea.
Write a hundred pieces. Each time take one thing and make it better: a better title, better structure, better ending, better descriptions, better dial
How did workplace management systems, body-positive nutritional supplements, bean-forward meal kits, woman-owned sex toys, and woman-owned day-trading
Outdoors, the situation is depressingly similar. After New York replaced the sodium-vapor lights in the city’s 250,000 streetlamps with shiny new LEDs
Why Is Everything So Ugly?
