Tom Schmidt

John Steinbeck on ignoring the finish line and starting:

“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.”

Overthinking is underdoing with better vocabulary.

progress, not perfection.

‍Elon Musk proposed to George Hotz the following to build vision system for Tesla autopilot:

$12 million payment if it was delivered the next day. For every month that passes where it's not delivered, the payment would be reduced by $1 million.

If you had an incentive scheme where dollars disappear like a ticking clock each minute, would you need mot... See more

When I’m stuck on a problem and need their help, I take the time to write a good description of my dilemma, before reaching out to them. I summarize the context, the problem, my options, and my thoughts on each. I make it as succinct as possible so as not to waste their time.

Before sending it, I try to predict what they’ll say. Then I go back and ... See more

Having a fascinating life story is not just an exercise in vanity -- it has a real impact on your success in life. You'll have an easier time attracting friends as well as life and business partners. It'll also make it much easier to sell yourself or your products. It has a kind of compounding halo effect

Imagine you have an evil identical twin whose sole job is to have 10x the agency of you. What ideas would they have? This thought experiment allows the mind to explore creative ideas you'd never think of.

Write your thoughts down. Draw the problem. Use a whiteboard. Create a spreadsheet. Talk out loud to a smart person. Go for a walk or run with a specific question.

The act of transforming out of your head to another medium acts like a filtration system, removing the vague mud from your thinking.

Each time you transform your thoughts out of your head... See more