Jonathan Yagel

I read a lot and share the best insights I find. I write about prioritization. Before: @spire @simonsinek @clickup

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

Hey, I started a @substack newsletter! It's called "1" bc I'm going to send out the single best insight I encounter, every week. My goal is to send you things that take 1 minute to read, but could change your life. Check it out👇 https://t.co/8aOzcPEJe9

[Michael Brooks Jr. @michaelbrooksjr]

Today is the day! Introducing Sunflower - a quiet revolution against the chaos of email. I can't wait to show everyone what we've been working on.
Join the waitlist below 🌻

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

@dinodaizovi This is spot on. Love the emphasis on focusing on prioritization within scope.

For what it’s worth: We’ve actually built this exact system within ClickUp (unified project management & automated, contextual ‘Answers Agent’) … and can confirm: it’s been gamechanging!

[Nick Huber @sweatystartup]

I’ve gotten a lot of bad advice in my career and I see even more of it here on Twitter.

Time for a stiff drink and some truth you probably dont want to hear.

👇👇

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

@ethananderson @EllenRhymes @onlyfootnotes @justthelettery

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

This is incredible. I feel so honored to be included. Thank you, @EllenRhymes (and @onlyfootnotes)!!

[Ellen Fishbein @EllenRhymes]

If you’re like me, you don’t own a printer.

But you sometimes wish you could print out some of the best online writing & read it peacefully

…offline. 🛋️📖

Enter Printernet by Jake Weber (@onlyfootnotes)!

Below are the 5 pieces I picked for my personal edition. 😊

If you’d like your own copy of this curation, you can get ‘Ellen’s Edition’ of Printernet here: https://t.co/bGfjZ0WfHB. Proceeds will go to Jake.

(1)
Do Things That Don’t Scale by @paulg (https://t.co/r2kget1Lg4). I want to have this with me even if the lights go out.

(2)
Entrepreneurship Is Metaphysical Labor by @josephkelly (https://t.co/zaCGyUzUNl). Joe is a serial entrepreneur and friend. He took the time to share this article with me in November, but I still haven’t finished reading it, because I don’t really feel like I internalize philosophical posts like this one when I read them on my phone, or even on desktop. Time to honor his gift.

(3)
Welcome to the Post-Information Age by @jwby (https://t.co/70wqUyNhI0). Information is everywhere, but the abundance doesn’t always benefit us. This is a thought-provoking piece opening the door to what might come next.

(4)
A Walk Among The Tombstones by @TomJWhiteIV (https://t.co/yXYNG3NRyO). This left an impression on me when I read it on my phone. I wonder if it will have even more gravity in print.

(5)
Bob Dylan: 1991 Song Talk Interview (https://t.co/d3r7WCgd4h). I found this a few years ago. It’s one of my favorite interviews, and it’s being hosted at a totally random link. I could copy it over to my note-taking system, or even better… I can archive it in this Printernet edition.

[Ellen Fishbein @EllenRhymes]

If you’re like me, you don’t own a printer.

But you sometimes wish you could print out some of the best online writing & read it peacefully

…offline. 🛋️📖

Enter Printernet by Jake Weber (@onlyfootnotes)!

Below are the 5 pieces I picked for my personal edition. 😊

If you’d like your own copy of this curation, you can get ‘Ellen’s Edition’ of Printernet here: https://t.co/bGfjZ0WfHB. Proceeds will go to Jake.

(1)
Do Things That Don’t Scale by @paulg (https://t.co/r2kget1Lg4). I want to have this with me even if the lights go out.

(2)
Entrepreneurship Is Metaphysical Labor by @josephkelly (https://t.co/zaCGyUzUNl). Joe is a serial entrepreneur and friend. He took the time to share this article with me in November, but I still haven’t finished reading it, because I don’t really feel like I internalize philosophical posts like this one when I read them on my phone, or even on desktop. Time to honor his gift.

(3)
Welcome to the Post-Information Age by @jwby (https://t.co/70wqUyNhI0). Information is everywhere, but the abundance doesn’t always benefit us. This is a thought-provoking piece opening the door to what might come next.

(4)
A Walk Among The Tombstones by @TomJWhiteIV (https://t.co/yXYNG3NRyO). This left an impression on me when I read it on my phone. I wonder if it will have even more gravity in print.

(5)
Bob Dylan: 1991 Song Talk Interview (https://t.co/d3r7WCgd4h). I found this a few years ago. It’s one of my favorite interviews, and it’s being hosted at a totally random link. I could copy it over to my note-taking system, or even better… I can archive it in this Printernet edition.

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

@david_perell @neilhimself would be a perfect guest for the show: Incredible insight on the writing process AND an amazing voice.

[Nathan Baugh @nathanbaugh27]

I’m on a mission to get you to read more fiction.

Here are 10 of my favorite ideas – all from fiction:

1. Frank Herbert, Dune

[Players' Tribune Football @TPTFootball]

Gio Reyna: "One of these days I really need to say thank you to Sergio Agüero.

For a long time I have been like, I need to play against this guy, just so that I can talk to him. Not just because my grandfather is Argentine, or because Sergio is one of my family’s favorite players, or because at the World Cup two years ago we all sat in front of the TV rooting for Argentina.

Nah. I have a story to tell him. Many years ago Sergio scored a goal that gave me one of the happiest moments of my life.

To understand why, you need to know about my older brother, Jack.

Jack was my hero when I was a kid. Some people think that my dad, Claudio, made me a good player, since he was a pro himself. Sure, he gave me great advice and some pretty good genes. But when I was growing up in Manchester, where Dad was playing for Manchester City, the one who always played with me in the backyard was Jack.

We had the old Samba goals, you know? One-on-one, nowhere to hide. I was four years old and Jack was three years older, so he would sometimes let me win by letting a few shots slip under his foot. Most of the time, though, Jack would make sure I lost. And I’d get angry. I’d kick him, bite him, fight him. Then I’d cry and run to my mum, Danielle. Those games made me grow up a lot, and Dad will tell you the same thing. My competitiveness, my feistiness, all that came from trying to beat Jack.

He was the perfect brother. I was always a shy kid, so he would include me in whatever he was doing with his friends, which meant that I got used to playing against kids who were several years older. That gave me confidence. When I wasn’t around, he’d say nice things about me. When he realized that I was going to be better than he was, he pushed me to become the best I could possibly be. And if I had played a good game, he would be the first person to call me to tell how well I had played.

In 2007, our family moved to New York, where Dad played for the New York Red Bulls. In the summer of 2010, Jack was diagnosed with brain cancer. He was 11 years old. At one point it looked like he was going to make it, but in December 2011, the doctors discovered that the tumor had come back. Shortly after that, when we went on a vacation to Mexico, Jack started to get sick and put on pounds because of the chemotherapy. He could still walk and swim, but he got tired very quickly. That was when I figured out that this could end in a very bad way.

Over the next few months I did everything I could to help him. I had to grow up fast. He couldn’t pull himself up. There was a point where he had to wear diapers. I learned how to microwave food, I did the dishes, stuff like that. I also hung out a lot with my younger brother, Joah-Mikel, and my younger sister, Carolina, who were having a tough time, too. I just wanted to make my family happy, and to make Jack happy, of course. All of us did, especially when we knew that he only had a few months left to live. Every night at the dinner table we would tell each other stories and laugh. Every night. Somehow, even in such a devastating situation, we managed to have some fun.

One day in May 2012, when Jack was 13, we gathered in the living room to watch the final day of the Premier League. I think even my grandparents were there. We are all big City fans, because Dad played there, and on that particular day City could win its first league title in 44 years by beating Queens Park Rangers at home. If City didn’t win, we had to hope that Manchester United, which was behind City only on goal differential, didn’t win either.

We were all pretty positive that City was going to beat QPR, one of the smaller teams in the league. When City scored in the first half, the win, and the title, seemed like a formality.

But QPR turned the game around and took the lead in the second half. Since United was winning, City needed two goals. In our living room nobody was smiling anymore. I felt bad for Jack. He was so sick at that time that he couldn’t walk or talk. Now he wasn’t going to see City win the league either.

Two minutes into stoppage time Edin Džeko equalized. That gave us some hope, even though the game was almost over. Two minutes later Agüero scored the winner.

You’ve seen the goal. You’ve heard the commentary.

“AGÜEROOOOOOO!!”

We went crazy in the living room. We were jumping around, shouting and celebrating and hugging each other. A first league title in 44 years! Won in the most incredible manner. We looked at each other in disbelief.

Suddenly we heard someone gasping for air. It was Jack. He was rolling around on the floor, which came out of nowhere because he barely had any energy left in his body. We got very concerned. For 20 seconds it looked like he couldn’t breathe.

Then, slowly, Jack broke into a smile and began to laugh. We realized that he was celebrating the goal. He was just as happy as we were.

I’ll never forget that moment. It was so amazing, so funny, so crazy.

A bit more than nine weeks later, on July 19, Jack passed away."

[dharmesh @dharmesh]

I'm fascinated by simplicity and clarity.

“Amazon is Earth’s most customer-centric company.” (6 words)

"HubSpot helps millions of organizations grow better." (7 words)

“Google organizes the world’s information and makes it universally accessible.” (10 words)

“Coursera provides universal access to world-class learning so that anyone, anywhere has the power to transform their life through learning.” (20 words)

“Canva is an online design tool with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design anything and publish anywhere.” (21 words)

“Airbnb is a web platform where users can rent out their space. Travelers save money, hosts make money, and both share their cultures.” (23 words)

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

So many fascinating ideas in this video.

Related reminder: Registration for the fall @1WriteofPassage cohort closes TODAY! Don't miss your chance!

[David Perell @david_perell]

You were made for more than this.

(A short film)

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

Postman goes on: “Here is what Henry David Thoreau told us: 'All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end.'”

Do you agree?

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

I’m drawn to contrarian takes and wow, did I find one this week.

In 1992, author and educator Neil Postman criticized our cultural obsession with not only technology, but with information, itself:

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

Virtual Reality and tell us this is the answer to spiritual poverty. But that is only the way of the technician, the fact-mongerer, the information junkie, and the technological idiot."

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

@EllenRhymes @heydannymiranda @simonsinek

[Jonathan Yagel @jwby]

@AndrewArruda My solution: Use the 50:50 lifeline and change up the odds 😄