Pankaj R Shukla

Ambitionist

[Pankaj R Shukla @PunkajShukla]

"Whenever you're stuck, try inverting the problem. Ask yourself, What do I want to avoid?

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A Tiny Thought in the @farnamstreet newsletter. Read the rest and sign up here: https://t.co/M5x3qa4xnr

[Michael McGuiness @mikemcg0]

Q: How do you build effective teams?

Keith Rabois, Founders Fund Partner and former COO of Square, has a great framework for building effective teams that he calls: “Barrels and Ammunition.”

When most companies begin scaling, they just hire a lot of people. Naively, they expect that—as they add people—their velocity of shipping will increase. But startups don’t work that way, and in fact you sometimes get less done when you add more people.

Keith argues that the reason for this is that most people in your company—even great people—are what he calls “ammunition.” But what you need in your company are “barrels”. He defines barrels as extremely talented people who can take ideas from inception all the way through to fully shipped product.

To increase company velocity, you need to add “barrels” and then stock them with “ammunition.” Most companies start with one barrel (the founder) and then double their throughput when they add another one.

In the clip below, he explains this framework and some specific tactics for identifying and managing barrels:

[Ryan Holiday @RyanHoliday]

“When a man can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.” — Viktor Frankl

[Kunal Shah @kunalb11]

Most people who have built substance have a strong personal identity and probably don’t get offended easily when their social identity is ridiculed.

Those with no substance but strong self image often get easily triggered with social identity being mocked.

[George Mack @george__mack]

How I fixed my smartphone addiction:

I have 2 phones - Cocaine Phone & Kale Phone

Here's how it works:

1. The Smartphone Paradox - Your phone is a gateway to the world's best knowledge -- and the world's best distractions.

It's like having the best teachers, strip clubs, and social clubs in your pocket 24-7.

2. Society's Solution - There are 2 paths people use to deal with the smartphone paradox:

• Phone addict - Glued to phone constantly.

• Phoneless luddite - No access to the best technology of this century so far.

You either burn out or miss out.

Instead, there's a 3rd door nobody in society is talking about: The Cocaine-Kale Phone protocol.

3. The Cocaine-Kale Protocol

I have 2 phones:

• Kale Phone - Full stack serotonin. Only notes, Kindle, Uber, Maps, and emergency number for 2-3 people to call.

• Cocaine Phone - Full stack dopamine. Twitter. Instagram. TikTok. WhatsApp. Anyone can contact.

4. How does the Kale Phone work?

I can check this 24-7 - but it's so damn vanilla I don't feel the need to.

If I want to procrastinate on it, I must read a book or generate ideas in my notes. (Win-Win)

I get 90% of the upsides of having a phone -- with none of the addiction.

5. How does the Cocaine Phone work?

I don't check it until ∼12pm on weekdays and ∼2pm on weekends.

I still get the optionality that smartphones and social media produce.

But I don't consume it 24-7 until my brain melts.

6. What are the impacts?

• The Kale Phone resets your baseline.

• Your Cocaine phone feels too intense after 60 minutes per day. You start to crave the Kale phone.

--------

I get countless DM's of people who have said this has fixed their smartphone addiction.

[George Mack @george__mack]

The most useful razors and rules I've found:

1. Bragging Razor - If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim

If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim

2. High Agency Razor - If unsure who to work with, pick the person that has the best chances of breaking you out of a 3rd world prison.

3. The Early-Late Razor - If it's a talking point on Reddit, you might be early. If it's a talking point on LinkedIn, you're definitely late.

4. Luck Razor - If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line.

I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix. In hindsight, it was the highest ROI decision I've ever made.

5. Buffett's Law - "The value of every business is 100% subject to government interest rates" - Warren Buffett

6. The 7-Figure Razor - If someone brags about "7 figures" -- assume it's closer to $1 million than $9 million.

7. Mack's Rule - Break down the investments your parents made in you: Time, Love, Energy, and Money.

If they are still alive, aim to hit a positive ROI (or at least break even.)

8. Instagram Razor - When you see a photo of an influencer looking attractive on Instagram -- assume there are 99 worse variations of that photo you haven't seen.

They just picked the best one.

9. Narcissism Razor - If worried about people's opinions, remember they are too busy worrying about other people's opinions of them. 99% of the time you're an extra in someone else's movie

10. Everyday Razor - If you go from doing a task weekly to daily, you achieve 7 years of output in 1 year. If you apply a 1% compound interest each time, you achieve 54 years of output in 1 year.

11. Bezos Razor - If unsure what action to pick, let your 90-year-old self on death bed choose it.

12. Creativity Razor - If struggling to think creatively about a subject, transform it:

• Turn a thought into a written idea.
• A written idea into a drawing.
• A drawing into an equation.
• An equation into a conversation.

In the process of transforming it, you begin to spot new creative connections.

13. The Roman Empire Razor - Historians now recognize the Roman Empire fell in 476 - but it wasn't acknowledged by Roman society until many generations later.

If you wait for the media to inform you, you'll either be wrong or too late.

14. Physics Razor - If it doesn't deny the law of physics, then assume it's possible. Do not confuse society's current lack of knowledge -- with this knowledge being impossible to attain.

E.g. The smartphone seems impossible to someone from the 1800s -- but it was possible, they just had a lack of knowledge.

15. Skinner's Law - If procrastinating, you have 2 ways to solve it:

• Make the pain of inaction > Pain of action
• Make the pleasure of action > Pleasure of inaction

16. Network Razor - If you have 2 quality people that would benefit from an intro to one another, always do it.

Networks don't divide as you share them, they multiply.

17. Gell-Mann Razor - Assume every media article contains a % of false information.

Sandbox the article from your worldview until you've:

• Seen primary sources
• Spoken to 3 domain experts

18. Taleb's Surgeon - If presented with two equal candidates for a role, pick the one with the least amount of charisma.

The uncharismatic one has got there despite their lack of charisma. The charismatic one has got there with the aid of their charisma.

[Abid Hassan 🇮🇳 @abidsensibull]

In a world divided by medical opinions, there are three things that everyone seems to agree when it comes to a longer, better life

- Eat less (calorie deficit)
- Sleep very well
- Exercise

[Pankaj R Shukla @PunkajShukla]

@gauravmunjal Amazing Work!

[Peter Yang @petergyang]

70 million sign ups just 24 hours after launch.

I spent time studying why this app became the fastest growing consumer app ever.

Here's what I found 👇

[George Mack @george__mack]

The Midwit Meme: Guide To Life

10 memes more valuable than any life coach:

[Marc Randolph @marcrandolph]

I would say that “being comfortable being sloppy” is probably the most important skill I’ve developed over my forty years as an entrepreneur.

I’m a perfectionist by nature, so it’s been a very difficult thing for me to let things go when they are obviously not ready. But after forty years of doing just that—and probably thousands if not tens of thousands of experiments, in which I released things sloppier and sloppier—I’ve never gotten to the end of something and said, “ooh. . .that was too rough”.

[Marc Randolph @marcrandolph]

Hiring is not about avoiding mistakes.

Probably the most important thing you can do to increase your odds of success are to surround yourself with exceptional people.

But you are not going to hire them. You are going to discover them.

Interviewing is a horribly inexact science.  You just can’t know how well someone will perform in a role until they’ve actually had a chance to do it.

So be careful not to set up a hiring process so rigid and exacting that it guarantees you only hire great people.  Not only will you slow your hiring to a crawl, but you’ll have certainly turned away  dozens of people who would have been amazing - had you only given them the chance to show you that they could be.

[David Hoang @davidhoang]

@VCBrags Reminds me of the guy who watched The Last Dance and said finally, Michael Jordan can relate to me.

[Nitya Sharma | SImpl @nsharma0813]

One thing I don’t even have on my list is “work hard.” If you don’t know that already, or you’re not willing to do it, you probably won’t be going far enough to need my list anyway.

- Sam Walton

[Nikhil Kamath @nikhilkamathcio]

The more #philosophy you read (not stoic), having a community seems to be the biggest precursor to #happiness (as fleeting as it might be).

I have 5 bros in my life I would do all for, life-changing this is, seriously ♥️

[Kunal Shah @kunalb11]

Running a start-up is like eating glass. You just start to like the taste of your own blood.

Sean Parker

[Ankit Sawant @SatanAtWink]

I want atleast one person from Forbes 30 under 30 to be honest & post the invoice for it too.

[The Knowledge Project @TKPPodcast]

When people choose to be loved rather than respected, they optimize for people liking them in the moment rather than respecting them long term.

[Gaurang Bajaj @gaurangbajaj]

@AndheriLOCA @DefenceMinIndia @CMOMaharashtra @PMOIndia @Dev_Fadnavis @PreetiSMenon @rubenmasc @rajuparulekar @ravirajaINC @Clyde_Crasto @rais_shk @SardesaiVarun @MPLodha @mid_day this policy is very disturbing to many residents and senior citizens of #juhu #mumbai- i know so many senior citizens struggling on rent and are homeless, including my parents. why suddenly activating a rule from 1976 suddenly in 2010? #technology not advanced? absolute injustice

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

"Software will eat the world," Marc Andreesen said in 2011.

Now in 2023, it's "AI will eat the world."

And Andreesen is investing in it.

A16Z's recent AI investments 👇