Adnan Faisal

Investor and entrepreneur

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Rory Sutherland made a quietly devastating observation about one of the biggest societal shifts of the last 50 years.

He said the move to the double-income household started as an option but quickly became an obligation. The big winners? Governments (twice as many people to tax) and property owners (now two salaries were needed to buy a house). The big loser? The family itself, which lost roughly 35 hours of discretionary leisure time per week — with no real increase in living standards, because the extra money was largely soaked up by higher house prices and taxes.

It’s a classic example of how something that begins as liberation can quietly turn into a new form of constraint.

Longitudinal studies on happiness and time use (including data from the American Time Use Survey and OECD reports) show that the sharp rise in dual-earner households correlated with stagnant or declining leisure time for families, while subjective well-being metrics for parents have not risen in line with the additional income — supporting the idea that much of the gain was captured by housing costs and taxation rather than improved quality of life.

It’s a reminder to look carefully at changes that society presents as inevitable progress.

What do you think — has the double-income model delivered more freedom or more pressure for most families?

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

This man created the model for Consciousness used by the CIA but was later killed in the deadliest plane crash in American history.

Itzhak Bentov, the Czechoslovakia-born Israeli-American scientist and inventor, who became an innovator in the field of bio-medical engineering in the US, suggested that consciousness is the common uniting element of all creation, and that through this link all things are in permanent contact.

Bentov believed that our minds are not just in our heads, but are connected to everything around us and even to the universe. He thought that this connection is what makes us alive and aware. (Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the mechanics of consciousness, Itzhak Bentov, Wildwood House, 1978).

For a long time, scientists didn't study consciousness because they didn't understand it. But in the XX century they started to learn more about it. Now, many scientists are working to understand consciousness, and yet it's still a mystery.

Think of consciousness like a big puzzle that we're trying to solve. We know some of the pieces, but we don't know how they all fit together yet. Bentov's idea was an important piece of the puzzle, and scientists are still building on his work today.

[Startup Archive @StartupArchive_]

Sam Altman on the qualities of the best founders

“The trick to being a great founder… is your ability to be presented with a problem unlike anything you’ve seen before and solve it very quickly.”

When Sam was CEO of Y Combinator, they were looking at 20,000+ companies per year and tracked the founder qualities that correlated with certain startup outcomes. In no particular order, Sam believes the following qualities matter most:

1. Clarity of vision. “Can the founder explain what they do and why? If the founder can’t explain it clearly to us, then (a) they’re not going to be able to recruit, hire, sell, talk to the press; and (b) it means they’re not the kind of person who is a really clear thinker in general and that’s so important to a business.”

2. Determination & Passion. “There are founders who don’t take no for an answer and bend the world to their will and those are the ones we want to fund. Then there are founders that every time they run across a small impediment just turn around. Unfortunately you run into so many impediments every day that if you’re the kind of person who just turns around, that’s really a problem. You also have to really believe that what you’re doing is important. The best companies are always mission-oriented.”

3. Raw intelligence.

4. The ability to get things done quickly. “It’s not entirely accurate to say that speed and quality of decision-making correlate exactly with startup success but it’s not a bad first approximation. Being quick, decisive, and getting things done quickly—if you look at our data, that would just correlate almost exactly with all of our successful founders. And other founders that look on paper like they should be really successful but fail are often missing this one trait.”

Video source: @GreylockVC (2015)

[Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs]

This guy explains why everything we know about addiction is actually wrong

[Naval @naval]

A government is the “biggest gang,” with a local monopoly on violence.

It’s good at preventing and stopping things.

It’s bad at building and running things.

Its main job is law and order, and a government which fails at that, is a failed government.

[Today I Learned @TodayiLearrned]

Start Ancient Aerobic Exercises for Powerful Health Benefits! 👇

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

Babies 🧵

This wholesome thread is the happiness refresh button you didn’t know you needed

1. When you realize that even your legs are under your own control

[Shehzad Arbab @ShahzadArbab1]

Mining is a priority sector that can change the fate of Merged Districts but how is it being treated by the govt is pathetic. Since 2023 there has been token allocation for all 4 schemes with 0 expenditure in ADP. And then we cry that mining sector is being taken over by FG

[Shehzad Arbab @ShahzadArbab1]

Wars in Afghanistan, war on terror. Who suffered the most?Residents of ex FATA. Renewed wave of terror, again it is ex Fata under attack. What has the State given to Fata, unmet promises. For how long will it endure state’s callous neglect ?

[Brendan Boyle @themustachedad]

5,740,000,000 people are being poisoned by their own body & don't even know it.

If you have:

- Brain fog
- Chronic fatigue
- Unexplained pain

Your body’s lymphatic system is likely broken.

Here's the truth about this worldwide health crisis (and how to fix it in 10 minutes):

[Leddy @LeddyLLC]

Every person over 35 blames aging for their stiff, aching joints.

Turns out it's not age... it's years of neglect catching up.

Here is 8 simple ways to rebuild your joints and feel 25 again🧵:

[Fascinating @fasc1nate]

A guide to sushi varieties.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

NEW from @DropSiteNews: DeepSeek just proved Lina Khan right

The former FTC Chair warned that enabling protectionism for tech monopolies wouldn’t just hurt all of us, it would hurt them too. Now they’re getting wiped out.

Story by @ryangrim and @worqas
https://t.co/2gKh12H2kV

[Jaya Gupta @JayaGup10]

"Service as Software" is Silicon Valley's hottest buzzword right now.

Everyone's talking about SaaS becoming service providers, but no one's explaining HOW. The answer? After 6 months of research and 100s of startup conversations, we have the answer: Systems of Agents.

We're looking at a $4.6T opportunity.

[Andreas Klinger 🦾 @andreasklinger]

Europe – we need your help.

Please sign this petition to create a pan-european legal entity and promote it as much as you can: https://t.co/4tUsJd3ay2

We got RIGHT NOW a once in a generation chance to improve Europe for startups. 🔥

We got 6 weeks until the new comission sets their work agenda for the years to come. Uniting the European startup ecosystems needs to be part of this agenda!

The solution is known, it's just one out of hundreds for politicians. It's our job as industry to show how important it is.

First co-signatories are people like @patrickc, @nzennstrom, @martinmignot, @MattClifford, @Taavet, Eléonore Crespo, @jobvo, @roxannevarza and many many more coming in the next weeks. Hopefully including you! ✌️

How you can help:
- Sign this
- Get your friends, your team, your investors, your portfolio to sign
- Share this in your whatsapp, slack and discord groups
- Get this in front of press, newsletters, and influencers

https://t.co/UlL8qA0DZ7

For Europe, for the next generations to come: Let's make Europe the best place for innovators.

Uniting as one ecosystem is the first step - a pan-european ecosystem is the key here. Let's go!

[Jakob Foerster @j_foerst]

When I discussed quitting Google to do a Phd, my manager, Steve Cheng, gave me the advice of "6 shots": Doing something meaningful usually takes about 5 years and we are productive for roughly 30 years. That gives you 6 attempts. So pick each one carefully and give it your best.

[Adnan Faisal @Adfaku]

@MikeBenzCyber @MoeedNj

[salman akram raja @salmanAraja]

Kindly listen.
ہماری رگوں میں آبا کا لہو ہے تو یہ لہو بولتا کیوں نہیں؟

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Why do 80% of Americans live east of this line?

[🎞️ wluntly]