SRB Ventures

The curiosity-driven venture fund of @SahilBloom. Investing in and accelerating the most compelling startups in the world.

[Aaron Slodov @aphysicist]

what we've been able to pull off in ~2 months speaks to the power of this movement. REINDUSTRIALIZE is going to be an absolute banger. thank you to everyone for your support. full agenda and details will be up on https://t.co/smsDisilYP soon!

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Enjoyed spending time with Jay Shetty in LA this week.

He was even more genuine, positive, kind, and helpful than I had imagined.

Create more positive ripples in the world.

Things are happening…

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Ok, this is a really cool story from history (that you've probably never heard):

How a lost suitcase created one of the greatest writers of all time...

In 1922, Ernest Hemingway was a 23-year-old aspiring novelist working as a foreign correspondent in Paris for the Toronto Star newspaper.

The young Hemingway, who was recently married and embracing the culture of Paris, would work for the paper during the days and then work on building his body of fiction work at night.

In December 1922, a bit of carelessness (and bad luck) led to a creative tragedy:

While traveling to visit her husband, who was on assignment in Switzerland, Hemingway's wife, Hadley, lost the suitcase that contained every single one of his novel manuscripts and copies.

It was a devastating blow to the writer, who had spent years working on the pieces.

Note: I can't imagine how this must have felt. I get extremely frustrated when I lose a few minutes of work due to an issue with Microsoft Word or the WiFi...imagine losing years of work just like that...

But rather than be completely derailed by the challenging blow, Ernest Hemingway found a way to benefit from the chaos:

Feeling new time pressure, he made his writing more concise, using fewer words, shorter sentence structures, and tighter paragraphs.

As it turns out, that shift in style dramatically improved his overall writing quality and output. To this day, Ernest Hemingway is known for his writing style that involved short sentences and simple language.

Hemingway's Lost Suitcase is a perfect example of a challenge that was turned into an opportunity with a growth mindset.

Adaptability is essential (and it's a skill you can build).

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change." - Charles Darwin

Life is chaotic. If you can embrace that chaos and roll with it, you'll find a way to win.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

A mentor told me this years ago and I’ll never forget it:

There’s someone out there living the life you want simply because they took action and you didn’t.

You don’t need more information. If information were the problem, everyone would be rich, fit, and madly in love.

Your entire life will change the moment you stop gathering more information and start acting on the information you already have.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

The worst mistake I made in my 20s: Trying to be liked by everybody.

Better to be authentic and loved by the few than fake and liked by the many.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

An old story on happiness that I can’t stop thinking about…

A teacher asked her students to write their names on balloons and release them into the room.

She then asked them to find the balloon with their name on it, but none of them could.

She then asked them to take the first balloon they found and give it to the person whose name was on it. They completed the task in seconds.

The teacher concluded:

The balloons represent your happiness. Search for your own happiness and you may not find it, but help others find theirs, and you will find yours too.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

My advice to anyone just starting out: Do the "old fashioned" things well.

• Be reliable
• Look them in the eye
• Stand up straight
• Be on time
• Have a confident handshake

It's amazing how far you can get by following that playbook. Sometimes it really is that simple...

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

An important truth I've learned:

Stress is the result of not having a clear plan to close the gap between your expectations and your present reality.

Once you have the plan, the stress goes away, as it just becomes about daily execution, which you know you can handle.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

This simple mindset changed my life (and may change yours).

The Surfer Mentality:

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

This short clip is a masterclass from Mike Krzyzewski:

"The very first thing is that in order to get better you change limits. And when you change limits, you're gonna look bad and you're gonna fail."

Life Hack: Embrace the embarrassment of being a beginner.

The only way to accomplish something meaningful is to endure days, weeks, months, or even years of embarrassing failure.

Every expert started out as a beginner. Those who embrace the embarrassment will eventually win.

Coach K adds:

"You're not gonna get there alone. Be on a team. Surround yourself with good people, and learn how to listen."

Surround yourself with people who have:

1. High Expectations: They see you for your full potential. They are willing to hold you to that standard.

2. High Support: They provide the love and tangible support to help you meet those high expectations. The combination is powerful.

The concluding insight is one of his best:

"I just like to work hard every day...make every day like it's my first day, but with the experience of 42 years."

Lesson: Show up with the hunger of Day 1, but the knowledge and wisdom of Day 1,000. If you do that, you'll be unbeatable.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

If you don't set your priorities, someone else will set them for you.

If you don't set your boundaries, someone else will set them for you.

If you don't set your goals, someone else will set them for you.

Stop letting other people set the terms of YOUR life.

Take control.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Teddy Roosevelt

Remember: Action doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be right.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

My grandfather used to say effort was the great equalizer.

You can’t buy effort.

You can’t pay someone to:

- do that workout
- build a loving partnership
- create a parent-child bond
- find inner peace

Rich or poor, the stakes are always the same to earn things that matter.

Focus on the areas of life where effort is a primary lever for success.

- health
- relationships
- mental clarity

There’s no “4 easy payments of $29.99” to build these areas.

That’s why the you’ll find the true gold there.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

This is the best thing you will read all week...

A beautiful true story, written by a woman named Pam Kearney, on the impact of even the most tiny, inconsequential actions...

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

I feel this:

"If you have a problem with me, call me. If you don't have my number, you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me." - Christian Bale

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

PSA: Please stop saying "live a little" when trying to convince someone to do something unhealthy.

We need to normalize saying "live a little" about doing healthy things:

• Eating whole foods
• Doing hard workouts
• Going to sleep early

Come on, do it. Live a little!

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

You can get pretty damn far in life by just showing up and doing what you say you’re going to do.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Ok, this is pretty interesting and worth your time...

Consider this thought experiment:

If you had to live your current life on repeat, would that be horrifying or affirming?

Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote on the idea of Eternal Recurrence:

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Ok, random interesting experience yesterday that I want to share:

Playing in the backyard with my son, when I notice some bees flying around a tree.

Take my son inside and get closer to investigate.

Here's what I saw (and what I learned):

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

This is a beautiful passage from Rumi:

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

In Ancient Indian traditions, there is a belief in a concept called the Wheel of Time (or "kalachakra").

The idea is that time goes through a natural three-part cycle:

• Creation
• Destruction
• Rebirth

Every period of creation is followed by a period of destruction. Every period of destruction is followed by a rebirth and period of creation.

This has always resonated with me.

I believe our lives follow a similar natural cycle from creation (growth) to destruction (struggle) to rebirth (new beginnings).

The true wisdom is found in outlasting the darkness of the periods of destruction—knowing that the darkness is a necessary precursor to your rebirth.

As Rumi wrote, the wound (darkness) is the place where the Light (rebirth) enters you.

Lesson: View each period of pain, sorrow, and struggle as a natural precursor to your inevitable growth. Have faith. Sit with it. Allow that light to enter and grow within you before it shines for everyone to see.