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
Short Squeeze 101
If you follow financial markets (or if you watch Billions), you've heard the phrase "short squeeze" used quite frequently.
But what is a "short squeeze" and how does it work?
Here's Short Squeeze 101!
👇👇👇
1/ First, the basics.
The "short" in "short squeeze" refers to the concept of short selling.
The basics are covered in my thread below.
https://t.co/xecJYNCxMs
TL;DR - short selling is a way of betting against a stock - i.e. betting that its price will decline.
2/ "Short interest" is a measure of how heavily an asset is shorted by the market.
It is the total number of shares that have been sold short (borrowed and sold), but have not yet been covered (bought and returned).
It is usually measured as a % of the # of shares outstanding.
3/ A "short squeeze" occurs when a heavily-shorted asset experiences a rapid upward price movement.
When this happens, short sellers may be forced to close their short positions (i.e. buy the stock and return it to the broker), further accelerating the upward price movement.
4/ Let's look at a simple example to show this in action.
We will use Tesla, one of the most heavily-shorted stocks in the world.
Imagine the stock price is $1,000 per share. This seems crazy. Ricky Rational decides to short the stock at this level.
If you follow financial markets (or if you watch Billions), you've heard the phrase "short squeeze" used quite frequently.
But what is a "short squeeze" and how does it work?
Here's Short Squeeze 101!
👇👇👇
1/ First, the basics.
The "short" in "short squeeze" refers to the concept of short selling.
The basics are covered in my thread below.
https://t.co/xecJYNCxMs
TL;DR - short selling is a way of betting against a stock - i.e. betting that its price will decline.
1/ Short Selling 101
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) July 6, 2020
With the markets continuing to rally, there has been more talk of \u201cshorting\u201d or \u201cshort selling\u201d stocks.
But what does that mean and how does it work?
Here\u2019s a quick educational primer: Short Selling 101 pic.twitter.com/JTrJmuY7fI
2/ "Short interest" is a measure of how heavily an asset is shorted by the market.
It is the total number of shares that have been sold short (borrowed and sold), but have not yet been covered (bought and returned).
It is usually measured as a % of the # of shares outstanding.
3/ A "short squeeze" occurs when a heavily-shorted asset experiences a rapid upward price movement.
When this happens, short sellers may be forced to close their short positions (i.e. buy the stock and return it to the broker), further accelerating the upward price movement.
4/ Let's look at a simple example to show this in action.
We will use Tesla, one of the most heavily-shorted stocks in the world.
Imagine the stock price is $1,000 per share. This seems crazy. Ricky Rational decides to short the stock at this level.
More from Learning
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An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.
Check here 👇
https://t.co/cPTPFJbBPI
2. Web Programming with Python and JavaScript
This course takes you deeply into the design and implementation of web apps with Python, JavaScript, and SQL using frameworks like Django, React, and Bootstrap.
Check here 👇
https://t.co/DemRj49O0l
3. Introduction to Programming with Scratch
A gentle introduction to programming that prepares you for subsequent courses in coding.
Check here 👇
https://t.co/r0iwWNMlXD
4. Introduction to Programming with Python
An introduction to programming using Python, a popular language for general-purpose programming, data science, web programming, and more.
Check here 👇
https://t.co/4JCHtRSXt6
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THREAD PART 1.
On Sunday 21st June, 14 year old Noah Donohoe left his home to meet his friends at Cave Hill Belfast to study for school. #RememberMyNoah💙
He was on his black Apollo mountain bike, fully dressed, wearing a helmet and carrying a backpack containing his laptop and 2 books with his name on them. He also had his mobile phone with him.
On the 27th of June. Noah's naked body was sadly discovered 950m inside a storm drain, between access points. This storm drain was accessible through an area completely unfamiliar to him, behind houses at Northwood Road. https://t.co/bpz3Rmc0wq
"Noah's body was found by specially trained police officers between two drain access points within a section of the tunnel running under the Translink access road," said Mr McCrisken."
Noah's bike was also found near a house, behind a car, in the same area. It had been there for more than 24 hours before a member of public who lived in the street said she read reports of a missing child and checked the bike and phoned the police.
On Sunday 21st June, 14 year old Noah Donohoe left his home to meet his friends at Cave Hill Belfast to study for school. #RememberMyNoah💙
He was on his black Apollo mountain bike, fully dressed, wearing a helmet and carrying a backpack containing his laptop and 2 books with his name on them. He also had his mobile phone with him.
On the 27th of June. Noah's naked body was sadly discovered 950m inside a storm drain, between access points. This storm drain was accessible through an area completely unfamiliar to him, behind houses at Northwood Road. https://t.co/bpz3Rmc0wq
"Noah's body was found by specially trained police officers between two drain access points within a section of the tunnel running under the Translink access road," said Mr McCrisken."
Noah's bike was also found near a house, behind a car, in the same area. It had been there for more than 24 hours before a member of public who lived in the street said she read reports of a missing child and checked the bike and phoned the police.
