Types of Thinking, Xi Jinping, Startups, & a bunch of Books
Hello friends,
I’m writing from a house on the Upper East side of NY. I wasn’t sure what I’d think of co-living. Nearly 3 months in, I’m loving it. The hacker house I’m in is a mixture of founders, startup operators, artists, students, etc. Living with other ambitious humans has brought levels of relational depth & serendipity to my life that I haven’t experienced since college. There’s something to be said for living life with a group of people that share your values.
In other news, NYC has captured my heart. This city has an energy you can only experience. I’ve come to adore the community of people I have here. I’m planning to find a long-term spot here early next year.
This week I head back to the Midwest for Thanksgiving with my family. After, I’m flying to SF then to Miami for Art Basel. If you’re in either city the week after Thanksgiving, hit me up.
Internet Reads 🔗
Focused and Diffuse: Two Modes of Thinking
According to Professor Barbara Oakley, there are two distinct modes of thinking:
Focused Thinking - This is the flow state. The state reached when doing deep productive work.
Diffused Thinking - This is state of thinking we reach when allowing our minds to be free, to wander, to reflect, etc.
Ambitious people typically optimize for focused thinking while undervaluing diffused thinking. There’s a reason why our minds often come up with our best breakthroughs & ideas while on a run, taking a walk, or in the shower. This “unfocused” headspace lets our mind’s do important processing work in the background.
In my opinion, we don’t make enough space for diffused thinking is because it feels unproductive. We are constantly trying to do more, be more, achieve more, etc. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to stop doing.
On Relationships
Beautiful thread on life, love, relationships, & more. I recommend reading the whole thread but I’ll share my favorite quote:
“We are always choosing how to value and live our relationships through our choices and actions. We always have choice about how to spend our time and talent. We are blessed with people to spend it on.”
Threads on Breaking into Crypto
Everyone on tech Twitter seems to be quitting their jobs & going all-in on Web 3. The advice from most of these people isn’t helpful. However, I found the two threads below practical for the crypto-curious who are considering pivoting into this space.
How to Get Rich in Crypto
Inspired by the classic Naval tweet thread, Jason Choi wrote a great thread on building wealth in Crypto. Lots of practical career building wisdom here. A few favorite quotes:
“People can always tell if you're in crypto to ‘get rich quick’. That will determine the people you get to work with and how far you go in the industry.”
“Whether you're a founder, investor, trader, operator, developer - most people in crypto get rich by the same thing: owning assets that appreciate in value over time.”
“Reputation is every founder and investor's top of funnel for hiring and deal flow. No amount of money is worth that if your goal is continual wealth creation.”
Deals, Funding Rounds, & Market Moves 💰
Solo Capitalists Are Gaining on Traditional Venture Firms
Angel List released data on the performance of Solo GPs on their platform versus traditional venture firms for Q3 2021. Seven of the top 20 firms were solo capitalists.
Angel List’s Top Solo GPs:
Elad Gil
James Beshara
Harry Stebbings
Josh Buckley
Lenny Rachitsky
Jack Altman
Naval Ravikant
This quote from James Beshara was particularly poignant, “Solo capitalists can weave through traffic like a motorcycle whereas these larger firms are like 18-wheelers,… I’ve found that founders love how simple, straightforward, and fast it is to deal with a solo GP as an investor, compared to a VC firm.”
I expect the number of prominent solo capitalists to continue growing — raising larger funds, leading more rounds, incubating more companies, & investing at later stages.
China's Political Elites Enshrine Xi Jinping as a Historical Leader
Xi Jinping has now attained a distinction that was previously only granted to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Since taking office in 2013, Xi has ruthlessly consolidated power charging ~1.34M CCP officials with some form of corruption & bringing Chinese big tech companies & their billionaire founders to heel.
People aren’t taking this new designation & Xi’s unassailable power seriously enough. Xi & his aims for China are undeniably ambitious. However, while he’s been honored at a level on par with Mao & Deng, his achievements don’t measure up… yet.
Mao founded the CCP, defeated Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalist party, & cemented China as a communist nation. Deng brought the country back from the economic brink brought on by Mao’s Cultural Revolution, establishing the system that transformed China from 3rd world country to economic superpower that now challenges the United States for geopolitical dominance.
Xi’s achievements while impressive do not compare to those of his now historical “equals.”
This brings us to Taiwan. Military tensions around the island nation have never been higher. Reuniting China with Taiwan is the achievement that Xi needs to earn his legacy in history. With US geopolitical power in question, now may be the best opportunity Xi has to take Taiwan without triggering WW3.
Reunification of Taiwan will be one of the most important geopolitical issues of our time.
Startup Ideas💡
Tokenized Consumer Loyalty Programs
Consumer loyalty programs should be tokenized. Why?
Incentive Alignment, Ownership, & Value Accrual - Tokenizing consumer reward points allows customers to get economic upside in the future of their favorite brands. Imagine the power of Disney fans being able to share in the economics of Disney’s business.
Tradability - Consumers should be able to buy or sell their favorite brand’s loyalty tokens at a fair market price.
Customer Acquisition & Retention - Done correctly, the incentive alignment achieved by tokenizing will bring down CTAs & improve retention. I’m far less likely to switch from Sweetgreen to a new salad chain if I’ve earned tokenized economics in the success of Sweetgreen’s business.
Transparency - A common argument I’ve seen against this idea is that this could be executed off-chain. I disagree. Having the system on chain makes it transparent, interoperable, etc. Consumer loyalty has to move on chain for the above benefits to work. Long-term, Tokenization only works with the associated transparency.
The list above is not exhaustive, but these are some of the initial reasons for why I think the future of consumer loyalty programs will be tokenized. Travala is an interesting example of a project trying to do this in the travel industry.
H/T to conversations with my friend Erik de Stefanis that sparked this idea & to Daren Cotter for letting me ask him questions about his experience building web 2 consumer loyalty programs.
For a deeper dive on this concept, I recommend this thread by Magdalena Kala.
The Future of Wealth Management & Financial Advisory
I believe the future of wealth management & financial advisory will look drastically different. The current system is full of incentive misalignment, high fees, & salesman feigning financial expertise. As boomers age, retire, & die (not trying to be morbid but death does come for us all), their assets will pass to the next generation. Digital first generations don’t want a 60/40 portfolio, boring index funds, & t-bills. I don’t the current landscape of robo advisors solve this problem.
This is more of a problem space observation than a startup idea. I’m planning to spend more time developing my thoughts & ideas here. Will share more in future issues.
Intellectual Rabbit Holes 🐇
Books I'm Reading 📚
To better understand the future, I study history. This book is a deep dive on the paradigm shifts brought on during the reformation & renaissance, covering everything from the printing press to military contracting to state finance to religion. Highly recommend this one.
People have been urging me to read this sci-fi novel for years. This is one of the few novels that lives up to its immense hype.
Michael Ovitz built CAA into a Hollywood talent powerhouse. Fun fact, a16z modeled their venture capital firm after CAA. Ovitz also suffered one of the most brutal humiliations in corporate history at the hands of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. His memoir is surprisingly vulnerable. It’s fascinating to see the drivers & emotions behind someone so ambitious.
Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned
A group of researchers’ discovery leads to an argument on why objectives are not helpful in achieving ambitions things. Instead, they argue for a path of following your curiosity.
H/T to Matt Figdore for recommending this one.
Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power
I almost didn’t read this book. The author is clearly biased, writing with pre-suppositions & pre-conceived agendas. Don’t read it if you want an unbiased take on Peter Thiel. That said, he did uncover interesting facts & stories about Thiel that have not been written on previously.
I recently discovered the poet Yung Pueblo on Instagram. His new book of poetry & short essays will touch your soul.
Excellent read for anyone interested in leveling up their skillset as a manager. Most books on management aren’t practical, especially for folks in startups, but this book is an exception. The author Julie Zhou (one of Facebook’s earliest employees) has walked the walk. Her book is full of practical guides, strategies, tactics, etc.
I finally read Steven Pressfield’s two non-fiction books on the creative process. If you’ve ever built or created, these books verbalize things you’ve never been able to articulate.
Several friends on Twitter recommended I read this sci-fi series. It’s one of the best works of fiction I’ve ever read. I made my way through 5 books in 4 weeks. Now, I’m anxiously awaiting the 6th book in the series.
Ryan Holiday has long been one of my favorite writers. His newest book is excellent. It’ll force important reflection on the presence (or lack) of courage in your life.
Currently reading:
Content from me 👋
Nomadic Adventures ✈️🚗
I finally have a new phone so I can take pictures again. The photo below was post-bike trip in Miami with my friend Evan. 🚴♂️
Took this during a run in central park a couple weeks ago. Central park in the fall is undefeated. 🍂
I’m very excited that the Holiday season is here. It’s always been one of my favorite times of year. The decorations, the joy, the friends, the family, — it’s a wholesome vibe.
I hope all of you find time & space to be with those you love this season (and I hope one of those people is yourself).
Wishing you all an incredible Thanksgiving if you celebrate. 🦃
Andrew