Albert Brand

Working on the Fin in FinTech. Amateurly curious about most things.

[Kpaxs @Kpaxs]

Complaining is a way of feeling better about staying stuck. It's emotional methadone. It soothes you just enough that you never actually move. But the moment you take responsibility your mind starts generating options. Blame gives you zero moves, ownership gives you a menu.

[Kpaxs @Kpaxs]

The perfectionism paradox: protecting the work from criticism often protects it from existence.

[Kpaxs @Kpaxs]

If a belief is merely factual, facts can move it.

If a belief is structural, the structure must be addressed.

If a belief is a shelter, you need to understand what weather the person is hiding from.

If a belief is a badge, you need to understand what group it grants access to.

If a belief is a mask, you need to understand what face feels too dangerous to show.

If a belief is a rope, you need to understand what abyss it is suspended over.

Then, maybe, logic can help.

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

Take the risk.

[Chris Williamson @ChrisWillx]

Walk more.

I’m not saying going for a walk will solve all your problems, I’m just saying there’s almost no problem that’s going to be made worse by going for a walk.

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

A reminder from Atomic Habits by James Clear:

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

The magic is in that last 20%.

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.”

— Heraclitus

[Rory Duncan @RoryDuncan1966]

This is my home along the banks of the Kamannassie River just above it's confluence with the mighty Oliphants River 500 meters below the homestead in the KleinKaroo.

We have water rights to pump from the river into a huge man made dam some 185 meters long x 25 meters wide and 6 meters deep. It holds millions of liters of water. Behind the dam are level fields of 4 hectares and beyond that a further 16 hectares of arable land.

This year we are going to build the first 2 hectare growing house to plant Sceletium tortuosum and will expand constantly from thereon by building more shade houses to expand our Sceletium production to 10 hectares.

The Sceletium plant is a small annual succulent which usually only grows in winter in the wild. But under shade cloth and with the right pots, soil, water and light management we have made it grow year round.

This plant has been used for millennia by the Khoi people of the Klein Karoo and the San folk further north west as a stimulant. The compounds of alkaloids in the plant are extremely powerful and they all work inside the brain. It is a psycho-active plant, not a psychedelic plant. It is fully legal and there is no known lethal dose.

When we first ventured into the Sceletium business we camped for 1 year deep in the Baviaanskloof wilderness living with a man who had made Sceletium medicine extracts and concentrates in the ancient artisanal way. We set up a growing facility and sought out a genotype from the hills above Willowmore 120 kilometers away.

After a year of hard work in the deep bush we had successfully manufactured our first large batch of Sceletium concentrated paste. We did the process in a scientific way by recording all events in the process, taking and freezing samples every hour over the 12 day fermentation period and logging all activity throughout the process.

We then took the paste to Professor Stander at her Stellenbosch University Central Analytics Laboratories where the multiple samples were analyzed marking step by step the changes in molecular structure of the compound of alkaloids in the mixture.

Eventually we had achieved a powerful extract which with just 5mg of paste consumed by mouth would give one a powerful feeling of well being and a calm energy and focus. The substance was a thick sticky tar-like substance, dark brown and highly aromatic, but almost impossible to work with due to its tacky gooey nature.

We then went to Oudtshoorn, the largest town in the Klein Karoo and we found a family business there run by the Groenewald's. A group of scientists with special skills in fermenting plants to make pro-biotics, among many other smart plant products.

We formed a joint venture with the distinct purpose of commercializing the fermentation, filtering, and drying of the compound into a workable powder so that we could use it in capsules and other delivery methods.

This worked well and we launched our first products 3 x capsule variants, 1 for kids and a vape juice too.

However we needed to go deeper into molecular concentration and so for the next two years we worked tirelessly at the extracting and concentration of only the active alkaloids and getting rid of all plant matter, remaining only with the molecular mass of the concentrated actives.

Im proud to say that we've finally done it. We now have a world class, pharmaceutical type extract, blended down from a 70% alkaloid concentrated mass to a standardized 5% inclusion of live alkaloids.

This substance is incredibly powerful and effective. It is wonderfully elevating. It gives you heightened sense of clarity of vision and hearing that is phenomenal. Your energy levels increase wonderfully and yet you have complete focus and self control. You can use it regularly without any negative effects such as a hangover and afterwards one sleeps like a baby. It is simply put, a breakthrough in plant medicine and supplements and is now being used in beverages, chocolates n gummies around the world

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

I’m in love with this sentence:

“The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth he can accept about himself without running away.”

[Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 @AndrewYang]

Block just cut 40% of its 10,000 workers, the highest percentage layoff in the history of the S & P 500. Its stock jumped 20%. This is a huge sign of what’s to come. Major companies are going to jettison workers on an unprecedented scale and be rewarded for it.

[rahul @0interestrates]

every company should have an # ask-data slack channel where anyone in the company can ask data questions and get instant answers with AI

it’s 2025. AI can write SQL and understand schemas. no reason data shouldn’t be democratized

use @juliusai

[Brett Winton @wintonARK]

More than 40% of your parenting time has elapsed by the time your kid enters kindergarten.

Once they get into middle school it is 2/3rds gone.

[Albert Brand @albertbrand]

@NoLayingUp Is no hat Pat the perfect adversary Rory needs to see at the top of leaderboard to motivate him?

[Albert Brand @albertbrand]

@KylePorterCBS @Garmin 122,500

[James Clear @JamesClear]

The secret is not to find the meaning of life, but to use your life to make things that are meaningful.

[Adam Grant @AdamMGrant]

A key to steady progress is prioritizing goals over moods.

Whether you aim to get in shape, learn the guitar, or write a book, the question is not whether you feel like it today. It's who you want to become tomorrow.

Enthusiasm fluctuates. Consistent action accumulates.

[James Clear @JamesClear]

On Hats, Haircuts, and Tattoos

I think about decisions in three ways: hats, haircuts, and tattoos.

Most decisions are like hats. Try one and if you don't like it, put it back and try another. The cost of a mistake is low, so move quickly and try a bunch of hats.

Some decisions are like haircuts. You can fix a bad one, but it won't be quick and you might feel foolish for awhile. That said, don't be scared of a bad haircut. Trying something new is usually a risk worth taking. If it doesn't work out, by this time next year you will have moved on and so will everyone else.

A few decisions are like tattoos. Once you make them, you have to live with them. Some mistakes are irreversible. Maybe you’ll move on for a moment, but then you'll glance in the mirror and be reminded of that choice all over again. Even years later, the decision leaves a mark. When you're dealing with an irreversible choice, move slowly and think carefully.

From: https://t.co/DqKzvbgOAK

(Hat tip to @tferriss, who once compared making decisions to choosing a sweater, which sent me down this line of thinking.)

[Codie Sanchez @Codie_Sanchez]

Why most people in business fail:

They focus on everything but the bottom line. Your business lives and dies by cash.

A few more harsh business truths for you:

[Albert Brand @albertbrand]

@hendrikcronje71 Part 2: Part 2: Jacques spots Rassie on his own, and literally as the team lifts the cup, Jacques walks over to hug his mate. Exemplary leadership.