To learn anything:
Step 1: Identify a topic.
Step 2: Try to explain it to a 5-year-old.
Step 3: Study to fill in knowledge gaps.
Step 4: Organize, convey, and review.
True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate.
Simple is beautiful.
Frameworks provide clarity in complex situations.
Here are 20 useful frameworks (on startups, investing, writing, & life):
To learn anything:
Step 1: Identify a topic.
Step 2: Try to explain it to a 5-year-old.
Step 3: Study to fill in knowledge gaps.
Step 4: Organize, convey, and review.
True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate.
Simple is beautiful.
"Study the undeniable arrows of progress." - @wolfejosh
The future is extremely difficult to predict—but there are clues.
Look at the trend line of progress and where it's pointing—directionally, not precisely.
Invest (or build) accordingly.
Place all of your tasks on a 2x2 matrix of urgency and importance.
(1) Important & Urgent
(2) Important & Not Urgent
(3) Not Important & Urgent
(4) Not Important & Not Urgent
Prioritize, delegate, or delete accordingly.
The goal is to minimize the number of regrets in life.
When faced with a difficult decision:
(1) Project yourself into the future.
(2) Look back on the decision.
(3) Ask "Will I regret not doing this?"
(4) Take action.
High expectations lead to high performance (and vice versa).
If you consistently see people as their potential, they will achieve more.
When you're occasionally let down, consider it a tax you pay for all the benefit from those you believed in.
If forced to choose between two options of seemingly equal merit, choose the one that doesn’t look the part.
The one who doesn’t look the part has had to overcome much more to achieve its status than the one who fit in perfectly.
Centralized Friend Group: one cluster of friends with shared backgrounds and beliefs.
Decentralized Friend Groups: small clusters of friends unconnected to each other.
Opting for decentralized friend groups is the key to independent thought.
Truly successful people rarely feel the need to boast about their success.
If someone regularly boasts about their income, wealth, or success, it’s fair to assume the reality is a fraction of what they claim.
Modern work culture is a remnant of the Industrial Age. It encourages long periods of steady, monotonous work unsuited for the Information Age.
To do truly great, creative work, you have to be a lion.
Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat.
Jerry Seinfeld would hang a huge calendar on the wall and use a red marker to put an X over every day that he completed his daily writing.
It wasn't about the writing being good, it was about the consistency.
Applies to more than just writing...
New innovation may take root by providing a simple solution to a segment of a market that is under or over-served by incumbents.
Upstarts provide the exact level of product/service needed and relentlessly drive this wedge to expand.
Skin in the Game means that the key principals participate in both the upside and downside associated with any decisions.
Always look for its presence in any new situation.
Avoid games where those making the rules don't have any skin in the game.
Hamilton Helmer's "7 Powers" is a holy grail of business strategy.
The 7 Powers are the foundation of durable value creation:
(1) Cornered Resources
(2) Counter-Positioning
(3) Network Economies
(4) Scale Economies
(5) Switching Costs
(6) Branding
(7) Process Power
Old Way: Learn to Play.
New Way: Play to Learn.
We are living in an unprecedented era—historical boundaries are being broken, enabling anyone to participate.
If you're trying to learn anything new, insert yourself into the game.
It's the only way.
A framework for analyzing the competitive intensity of a given market.
The five forces to consider:
(1) Competitive Rivalry
(2) Supplier Power
(3) Customer Power
(4) Threat of Substitution
(5) Threat of New Entry
Thoughtful consideration = better outcomes.
"What the smartest people do on the weekend is is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years." - @cdixon
Observe the weekend projects of the smartest people in your circles.
Odds are those will become a key part of our future.
Invest accordingly.
If someone proposes a crazy idea, ask:
(1) Are they a domain expert?
(2) Do I know them to be reasonable?
If yes on both (1) and (2), you should take the idea seriously, as it may be an asymmetric bet on the future.
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.
You can determine a lot about a company or person by regularly observing its or their habitual characteristics.
If something cannot be settled by experiment or observation, it is not worth debating.
This will save you from wasting a lot of time on pointless arguments.
Jeff Bezos famously said that investing in what might change is risky, but investing in what will stay the same is safe.
The future is hard to predict, so looking for constants you can deliver against may provide a cleaner path to success.
Follow me @SahilBloom for more threads on business, finance, and decision-making.
I plan to expand on many of these frameworks in individual threads in the future…
If you’re a company, DM me for details on how you can have your roles featured. https://t.co/OrTeubzGii
More from Sahil Bloom
From a young age, we are taught to view the world as black and white.
But many of life’s most important truths appear contradictory on the surface.
THREAD: 15 powerful paradoxes (on growth, business, careers, and life):
Sprezzatura (“Studied Carelessness”)
You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless.
Effortless, elegant performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice.
Simple is not simple.
Slow Down to Speed Up
Want to speed up? Try slowing down.
Slowing down gives you the time to be deliberate with your actions.
You can focus, gather energy, and deploy your resources more efficiently.
It allows you to focus on leverage and ROI.
Move slow to move fast.
Learn More to Know Less
The wisdom paradox - the more you learn, the more you are exposed to the immense unknown.
This should be empowering, not frightening.
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” - Albert Einstein
Embrace lifelong learning.
Shrink to Grow
Growth is never linear.
In order to grow, sometimes you need to shrink.
Shedding deadweight may feel like a step back, but it is a necessity for long-term growth.
This principle applies to your career, startup, or life.
One step back for two steps forward.
But many of life’s most important truths appear contradictory on the surface.
THREAD: 15 powerful paradoxes (on growth, business, careers, and life):
Sprezzatura (“Studied Carelessness”)
You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless.
Effortless, elegant performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice.
Simple is not simple.
Slow Down to Speed Up
Want to speed up? Try slowing down.
Slowing down gives you the time to be deliberate with your actions.
You can focus, gather energy, and deploy your resources more efficiently.
It allows you to focus on leverage and ROI.
Move slow to move fast.
Learn More to Know Less
The wisdom paradox - the more you learn, the more you are exposed to the immense unknown.
This should be empowering, not frightening.
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” - Albert Einstein
Embrace lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning is a competitive advantage.
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) June 6, 2021
But contrary to what you\u2019ve been told, lifelong learners are built, not born.
THREAD: 20 lifelong learning habits you can start developing today.
Shrink to Grow
Growth is never linear.
In order to grow, sometimes you need to shrink.
Shedding deadweight may feel like a step back, but it is a necessity for long-term growth.
This principle applies to your career, startup, or life.
One step back for two steps forward.
More from Learning
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Handy guide for Dominic Raab and other Brexiteers, and for anyone keen to replace our EU trade with trade with the rest of the world on WTO terms...
You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea
But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster
And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical
Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot
You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea
In 2016, the UK transported 484,000,000 tons of freight by sea, but just 2,511,000 tons by air (192x less than by sea). Therefore absurd to think of simply substituting air freight for sea freight (e.g. if we have to fly in food or medicines because of post-Brexit jams at ports)
— Edwin Hayward (@uk_domain_names) October 28, 2018
But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster
Here's the truth about Brexit, the "punishment" some people claim the EU wants to inflict on us, the full horrific consequences of no deal, and the dangers lurking behind any deal we reach. Buckle in, it's pretty long. Better to be thorough than to leave anything out. 1/47
— Edwin Hayward (@uk_domain_names) October 14, 2018
And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical
Ok, it's high time to look at the REAL effects of Brexit. As the Tories implode & Labour sits on its hands, companies are executing contingency plans, shifting jobs & assets, slashing investments, or redomiciling (accounting exercise). Happening NOW, not in a fantasy future. 1/95
— Edwin Hayward (@uk_domain_names) November 14, 2018
Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot
Unicorn Shredder: Hard Brexit Truths
— Edwin Hayward (@uk_domain_names) November 15, 2018
- The major economic harm Brexit is already inflicting on the UK
- Reality of "no deal" & WTO terms
- EU "punishment" narrative
- Endangered industries: automotive & haulage
+ much, much more...
(Each tweet is a self-contained thread.)
