Had such an incredible time interviewing @krainak! The man is intelligent, thoughtful and kind. Cheers to your continued success 🍻
Check it out here
https://t.co/9EDnX2TBTL
imagine you’re Travis Kalanick
you built Uber from nothing into a $70 billion company and changed how every city on earth moves
then in the worst three weeks of your life, family tragedies hit, and five of your investors hand you a letter demanding you resign
so you step down
the board replaces you, your successor and board sell off the self driving division you created, the thing you believed was Uber’s entire future
gone
$4 billion to Aurora
the mainstream media tries to write your obituary: toxic culture, bad leadership, and a cautionary tale
silicon valley moves on
as they always do
but you don’t
you don’t really forget
you go quiet, completely quiet
you take $150 million and buy a ghost kitchen company called CloudKitchens
you raise over a billion dollars, hit a $15 billion valuation, build a company with thousands of employees
and nobody even knows the name
eight years in stealth, employees aren’t even allowed to put your company on their LinkedIn
then today you rename the company Atoms, and it’s not a kitchen company anymore
it’s a robotics company
1. food
2. mining
3. transport
your first move?
acquiring Pronto
the autonomous vehicle startup
built by Anthony Levandowski, the same engineer you originally swooped away from Google to build Uber’s self driving program
oh and he went on to deploy 100+ autonomous trucks for one of the largest materials companies on earth
now he’s coming back to work with you
and the reports say Uber itself
the same company that pushed you out, is now backing you to go after self driving harder than Waymo
the guy they removed is the guy they end up needing
poetic justice
your framework aka everything in civilization is mined or grown, manufactured and moved
you call it the golden age
your manifesto ends with three words:
“I never left”
eight years of silence
then this
but here’s what people keep getting wrong about your situation
everyone wants to call it a comeback or a revenge story
it’s neither
you just went quiet and built for eight years while everyone who wrote you off had stopped paying attention
that’s not revenge, that’s just what true builder obsession looks like
most founders would’ve stayed bitter
most would’ve written a book and done a podcast tour, most would’ve taken the $2.5 billion in shares and disappeared off to a beach or Epstein’s island
you didn’t do any of that
you just kept building
and now the same people who pushed you out need you again
so whether you love him or hate him
the most dangerous person in any room is the one who goes quiet yet never stops building
karma is real
welcome back Travis
Yesterday we hosted our first Zerion Sauna House event at #ETHDenver
Q: What's better than a bunch of guys in a podcast studio talking about crypto?
A: Crypto hot takes during a cold plunge
Real talk.
I got laid off recently.
My renters are moving out at the end of this month.
I don’t want to sell any of my @veefriends to float things if I can avoid it.
So I’m asking my network:
If you or someone you know needs a custom website, I’d be grateful for the opportunity.
I build sites that are clean, strategic, and built to generate real results.
Even a referral would mean a lot right now.
Starting now 🔴
Join Maya Reshef, @nicmeln, and @GabrielC_NFT for the nReach Web3 Prospecting Playbook.
Automation or human-first? Learn what actually drives results in Web3 outreach.
🎥 Join here: https://t.co/vdume3s0mR
Meet @GabrielC_NFT, one of the speakers at the nReach Web3 Prospecting Playbook: Automated vs. Manual on Telegram 🎯
With 13+ years in sales, Gabriel has helped build and scale teams at HubSpot, Paycom, Art Blocks, and Rarible, driving growth from first contact to close.
📅 November 5 at 10:30 AM EST
🎟 Register: https://t.co/b9PcZdMmb9
@metastevensview@veefriends@Topps What’s crazy is not seeing S1 spec PSA 10 cards not going for even close to that unless it’s a top 10 character. Wonder why
New episode: "How Elon Works"
This episode covers the insanely valuable company-building principles of Elon Musk
A few notes from the episode:
1. The mission comes first.
2. Retreat is not an option.
3. A maniacal sense of urgency is our operating principle.
4. Product design should be driven by engineers.
5. You should not separate engineering from product design.
6. Having separate design and production departments is bullshit. Keep everything together and feedback immediate.
7. The leader should be on the front lines. You should be a battlefield general.
8. "If they see the general out on the battlefield, the troops are going to be motivated. Wherever Napoleon was, that's where his armies would do best."
9. Apply The Algorithm constantly. (1) Question every requirement. (2) Delete any part of the process you can. (3) Simplify and optimize. (4) Accelerate cycle time. (5) Automate.
10. Repetition is persuasive. "I became a broken record on the algorithm. I think it's helpful to say it to an annoying degree."
11. You should go ultra-hardcore on deletion and simplification.
12. Camaraderie is dangerous. It makes it hard for people to challenge each other’s work. (Refer to point #1)
13. Never ask your troops to do something you wouldn’t do.
14. Hire for attitude. Skills can be taught. Attitude changes require a brain transplant.
15. Good attitude = A desire to work maniacally hard.
16. The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a recommendation.
17. Keep your entire company committed to a common goal.
18. If things aren’t going well, throw away the existing design, start from first principles, question every requirement based on fundamental physics.
19. Find the limit. You want to delete as much as possible and you can’t do that unless you find the limit.
20. If you aren’t adding back at least 10% of the things you deleted, then you didn’t delete enough.
21. Maintain control. Avoid joint ventures. Eliminate middlemen.
22. Have a relentless dedication to questioning every requirement.
23. No work about work, just work.
24. Go to the problem. Get on the plane. Fly to the source. Go to the exact location in the factory. Go to the problem and stay there until it's resolved.
25. The best part is no part.
26. Be wired for war.
27. Do not fear losing. It hurts the first 50 times but then you’ll be able to play with less emotion. You will take more risks.
28. Stay heads down focused on doing useful things for civilization.
29. When something is important and has to be done quickly, have meetings every 24 hours to run the algorithm and check on the previous days progress. You'll be shocked at how fast this speeds things up.
30. Life needs to be interesting and edgy.
31. Delete, delete, delete, delete.
There are 100 more ideas in the episode. I hope you listen to it. 30 years of Elon’s career + 60 hours of reading and research and me just absolutely ripping through idea after idea at 2x speed for 90 minutes.
It will be hard to find a better use of time.
Cup of Joe with W3JOE / Ep. 23 ☕️
This series features interviews with Web3 leaders to discuss how to land your dream job over coffee.
Join us TODAY at 9:30am PT/12:30pm ET with @GabrielC_NFT, Director of Sales & BD for @rarible 🏆
RSVP 👉 https://t.co/NWuUroA8DZ
Finding quality leads in Web3 starts where most conversations happen: Telegram
But should you scale with automation or focus on manual, human-first outreach?
Join Maya Reshef, @nicmeln, and @GabrielC_NFT from @rarible for @nreach_io Web3 Prospecting Playbook: Automated vs Manual on Telegram webinar and learn:
🔹 What truly drives ROI in Web3 sales
🔹 When automation helps (and when it hurts)
🔹 How to combine both for real conversions
📅Wednesday, November 5th at 10:30 AM EST
🎟 Register here in the link below 👇
In 10 years, many more people will use crypto, but they may not know they're using crypto.
They only need to feel the benefits, not understand the systems behind it. The best tech is often invisible.
At NYC Comic Con last week, @jonathancolon caught up with @krainak from @VeeFriends at their booth🐈⬛
They discussed the new onchain storefront they launched with Rarible and how it’s making it easier than ever for anyone to collect VeeFriends NFTs.