Newsletter Archive

Since 2018 I've sent a weekly newsletter Monday mornings with the best things I read that week – startups, investing, philosophy, and whatever else I find interesting.

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#3921 reason to be a builder

#391Love, music, Americans, and bowling

#390Getting defensive

#389How to be a successful founder

#388Shutting down my company

#387Humans are the AI bottleneck

#386Scott Adams believed in Jesus

#385Welcome back

#384Richard Posner reviews a biography of William Douglas

#382My friend ran for office and wrote about it

#381"My dad could still be alive, but he's not"

#380Optimism might help you live longer

#379Information does not want to be free

#3782 ways to invest your money

#377A new city in California is finally being built

#376Diversification is underrated

#37510 ideas for overthinkers

#374Don't RSVP with a "maybe"

#373Why Radiology AI didn't work

#372How the US intelligence community works

#371Minnesota's home prices went down

#370Why having kids is great

#369First do no harm, always & forever

#368Having agency makes you feel alive

#367Stripe as an index of the AI economy

#366Living a divided life

#365"Hope is the thing with feathers"

#364Killers of the king

#363It's sales all the way down

#362Good interview with Costco's CEO

#361Don't take public advice from successful people

#360Give me anonymous feedback

#359Trying hard is underrated

#358Who's up and down in status

#357Baseball is benching its star pitchers on purpose

#356How much money would you need to live in a deserted island for 1.5 years?

#3556 ways to understand DOGE

#354How to sell someone else's patented drug

#353Why American Christianity has stopped declining

#352I'd like to buy Stripe shares

#351AI predicts how much money you make

#350I'm investing in early stage AI startups

#349The men who lost their babies

#348How to succeed in a world of AI

#346Mamba mentality

#345Greenland, Lithium, and the fires

#343Optimism now, optimism forever

#342Who can cut the government?

#341Interstellar is in theatres

#340Please read the art gallery piece

#339People prefer order

#338Ghost engineers

#337You should try Claude

#336The case for optimism

#335How much do you think Nerds Gummy Clusters makes per year?

#334Wake up & go directly to work

#3332 new cities

#332A $5m telegram

#331The only free lunch in finance

#330Is the American Dream alive?

#329The world is not efficient

#328Useful and Overlooked Skills

#327Why John Carmack worked for Steve Jobs

#326I started a prediction market for my weight

#325Great tweets

#324Sabbath Hard and Go Home

#323Optimism today, tomorrow, and forever

#322Claims about Taylor Swift

#321People unlike you

#320Working at Enron

#319Choose life

#318Be critical

#317Help your parents

#316Optimistic ought to be a verb

#315Product reviewers are too mean

#314I'll go where you want me to go

#313The housing theory of everything

#312The mindset of speed

#311Nobody cares

#310You can't tell people anything

#309Optimism should be a verb

#308It's harder to be kind than nice

#307The life of every person is a singularity

#306Try to go faster

#305How to do things

#304Real life starts now

#303I'd like to invest in your startup

#302How to increase your agency

#301Most people don't read the books

#300Happy New Year :)

#299Merry Christmas!!

#298How to make new friends as an adult

#297It's December

#295It's gonna be a great week

#294Fear of responsibility is a catastrophic bottleneck

#2934 book reviews

#292Get tickets to the Lincoln assassination

#291Being a professional

#290Sam and Rebecca

#289The metric system

#288Have a great week

#286Be in first person

#285Help progress, build an audience

#284How to drop out

#283Villains Act, Heroes React

#282Tell stories

#281How to have better conversations

#280Become great

#279We're here, because we're here

#278What to do with your life

#277I'm hiring a Data Engineer

#276Sam, Sam, and Sam

#275Success & the imaginary rules you live by

#273The Last Lion

#272Hardware is hard (but cool)

#271Can we talk to whales?

#270Everybody is the main character

#269Buying a history building you can't actually afford

#268How to win an Olympic Gold medal

#267Let there be light

#266Hang in there

#264Cadavers & Banknotes

#263Getting to know you

#262How to get 7 million TikTok views in 6 weeks

#261Four articles from 4 founders

#260The one change to make in 2023

#259I'll pay you $100 if you beat me at ping pong

#258NYC Pizza tracker guy

#257Startups are an act of desperation

#256Happy new year

#255Merry Christmas!

#254How to live forever

#253Is there such a thing as good taste?

#252How not to kill your company

#251How to live a meaningful life

#250How to open a Swiss bank account

#249What a time to be alive

#248Kobe Bryant's practice free throw success rate

#247What it's like being poor

#246Failures to cope

#245The greatest startup in the history of the world

#244Audacity is underrated

#243Night owls vs morning people

#242Why Mr. Beast canned an k video

#241How Tesla ships software

#240The 15 minute city

#239There is no beating the Soviet gulag (good morning!)

#238The best thing you've ever read

#237When everything is important but nothing is getting done

#236The worst person in the world

#235How much should you criticize people?

#234Watch a comedian write a joke

#233A day late but never a dollar short

#232In praise of talented, high agency people

#231Things you're allowed to do

#230How heritable are various sports abilities?

#229Being hard to work with

#228The deal of a lifetime

#227Successful startups don't grow exponentially

#226Why you'll never lose anything in Japan

#225Processing your emotions is a competitive advantage

#224A lot can change in a week

#223What Napolean would look like today

#222Turning dreams into reality

#221Red light green light

#220The banality of genius

#219Thank you for your help last week

#218Announcing my new company right now

#217I'm announcing my new company tomorrow

#216How to design a house to last 1,000 years

#215My personal theme for 2022

#214My favorite things from 2021

#213Should I shut down the newsletter? UPDATE

#212Should I shut down the newsletter?

#211Push yourself

#210Become successful

#209The most dangerous fallacy

#208Stop lying to yourself

#207How to talk to your heroes

#206Was Dune any good, 2 months of living in America, how to try new cultures

#205Looking stupid, NASA on aliens, and getting divorced on Saturday Night Live

#204The path to success always goes through hell

#203How to design an organization

#202How to save America

#201There's 2 kinds of people in this world

#200100 miles late

#199My new company

#198How to find talent

#197Announcing The Roots of Progress

#196The best in science, optimistic science fiction, how obesity happens...

#195Is Elon Musk irrational?

#194How to start a new country

#193How to waste your career

#192Quentin Tarantino, Ted Lasso, and why we should go to mars

#191The meaning of life

#190How to be an infinite player

#189All good things.

#188Why Warren Buffett didn't invest in Microsoft

#187How does Putin think?

#186The best in thinking bigger

#185I'm in SF next week

#1841 Chinese billionaire dies every 40 days

#183How to make things happen

#182A new science

#181Short & sweet

#180Agency over determinism

#179Shorter is better

#178Taylor Swift is a BAMF

#177Embrace the grind

#176Trevor goals update 4/9/2021

#175My last day at Lambda School

#174The first private city in Honduras

#173How to get out of a funk

#172Trevor thoughts - March 21

#171The Quest, moonshots, and zippers

#170Trevor weekly update - March 15

#169It's (almost) time to live

#168I'm leaving Lambda School

#167Back from LA

#166Trevor personal update

#165Victimhood vs Victimization

#164Desperation is underrated

#163Building new cities

#162Trevor's goals - Sprint #5

#160Trevor's goals - Sprint #4

#159You gotta watch this show

#158Trevor's goals - Sprint #3

#157Action produces information

#156Weekly Sprint - #2

#155How to write consistently

#154Weekly Sprint - #1First TM_FRIENDS email

#153The right time to be alive

#15280 hour work weeks are wrongSending from new domain to engagement score of at least 4

#15180 hour work weeks are wrongSending from new domain to engagement score between 1-3

#150How to go viral

#149How to be more interesting

#148Builders Gonna Build

#147Think for yourself

#146Be specific

#145Destroy perfectionism

#144See the future, read better, and believe in yourself

#143The best in books

#142The path to greatness is simple but not easy

#141Believe you can

#140Make a decision

#139The best in predictions, new Steve Jobs stories, book lists, and presentations

#138How to use Slack without going insane, the best in big mistakes, what makes us human, and finding your own path to success

#137I made a personal flag for 2020, the Almanack of Naval Navikant, high performance cultures, the West vs the Old, and more

#136How to make things happen, the best in university talks, personal user manuals, and creating a world class about us page

#135Secret gyms, NYC isn't dead, progress studies, and a campaign for better government writing

#134The best origin stories, questions, and why building things is no longer celebrated

#133Permanent vs expiring skills, the value of money, and how to ask questions

#132How to survive a startup, the value of speed, Hiroshima in 1946, and what to do once you know life is short

#131How It Actually Works 125: Subpoened documents, the Cubs, sales, knowing things that are good

#130How It Actually Works 124: Mars, SaaS, delegation, fake productivity, books

#129How It Actually Works 123: Self doubt, 8 figure businesses, Costco, Optimism, Heroes...

#128My new favorite podcast, advice on advice, and how life is short...

#127My favorite Slate Star Codex essays

#126LINKS FIXED – My favorite Slate Star Codex essays

#125The history of oil, a new carless town, and how not to be said

#124The Best Textbooks on Every Subject

#123How to generate more ideas

#122Why you should be more optimistic

#121The best commencemence speech of all time

#120Happiness is a flow, not a state

#119Remote work is evil and will make you unhappy

#118Two of the best essays on building things

#117Optimism2020: A Manifesto

#116How to feel like a badass

#115I hope you're staying sane

#114Should we keep talking about Corona?

#113Book recommendations that have nothing to do with Corona

#112The slideshow of your life

#111The slideshow of your life

#110How to write usefully

#109Great Business Writing

#108Finding Problems is Only 10% of the Value

#107Changing your identity

#106Create your own greatness

#105Nobody cares

#103The lessons of first world failures

#102New years resolutions are garbage (but you shouldn't listen to me)

#101Twitter at its best – some excellent tweetstorms

#100Why I Carry Plastic Straws

#99The Wright Brothers, Startup ideas, and beautiful news (links)

#98Mr Rogers, Pollution, and the best stuff from the last decade (links)

#97Letting your brain think for you, surviving the emotions of startups, and a short story (links)

#96Robinhood bugs, tech & liberty, and Joe Stalin

#95How to make a puzzle, New Atheism's death, and Hitler's Teeth

#94Ticket scalpers, Toy Story 4, and the most important lines of code every written

#93Animation is Eating the World

#92Lived Experience

#91Change who you are

#90Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, and Graphing Calculators (links)

#89The Church of Interruption (links)

#88Progress, Full Stack Startups, and the Culture War

#87Say No, Sensitive Questions, and Investors vs Operators (links)

#86Lessons from Stripe, Dating While Dying, and How to Learn (links)

#85Business Models, Humans, and ebooks

#84Participating in the Infinite Game of Life

#83Ode to Silicon Valley

#82Super 30, Netflixed, Progress Studies

#81Visa, Mormonism, and Apollo 11

#80Become a Missile, Again

#79Bob Ross, Daily Practice, and the Refragmentation

#78The world is made by people no smarter than you

#77Ads, Charlie Munger, and Following up (links)

#76Aging gracefully, and other links

#75How could it be any other way?

#74You and your research

#72Ukraine Speeches, fiction, and Psychiatric Conferences (links)

#71Fasting, Food, and Mormonism (links)

#70Danielle Steel, the Gestapo, and YouTube (links)

#69The Religion of Creation

#68Skittles, Politics, and Harry Potter

#67The List of Book Lists

#66Taylor Pearson Recommendations, Book Lists, and More

#65This Page is Busy

#64What makes a great entrepreneur?

#63What do your work values say about you?

#62Swings are Free

#61The search for greatness

#60A collection of unrelated links

#59Bill Murray and Enron

#58Work for your Lunch

#57Writing is Thinking

#56Target Big Markets

#55How to be Successful

#54The inputs of entrepreneurship and how the map isn't the territory

#53What I'd Work On

#52In defense of thinking bigger

#51What do you actually want?

#50What do you actually want?

#49When did you feel the most alive?

#48Willpower is overrated

#47How to find meaning & purpose in life

#46Tech support vs. the Sermon on the Mount

#45The Next Thing

#44Be usefully interesting

#43Adam Sandler, College Reunions, Tolerating the Outgroup

#42Mistakes are good

#41Why is everyone like their parents?

#40Talk is not cheap

#39Commit to yourself over time

#38You aren't special

#37Anticipation is half the fun

#36The Danger of Outrage Narratives

#35Why don't we do the things we say we want to do?

#34The best videos

#33Why I don't shop at thrift stores

#32You're Not Lazy

#31One reason why we're afraid to take action

#30Production vs. Consumption

#29How to critique a startup

#28Personal Promises

#27Play Against Yourself

#26Pain is the Point

#24Hack the Xbox, Go to Jail

#23How to stop procrastinating

#22How to stop procrastinating

#21What You Can't Say + Make Happy

#20How wealthy people talk to each other

#19The anti-nerd, Peruvian bribes, wealth isn't everything

#18Virtual Dating Assistants, Impossible Advice, and Social Class

#17How to win in politics, tech, and life

#16Who owns the Bible?

#15Thai Restaurants in the US, Student Loans, and the best political interview I've ever read

#14If this makes it through your spam filter it'll be a miracle

#13Fake car engines, prioritizing relationships, and reality TV as teacher

#12You're Probably Already Rich

#11How to Know What's True

#10Efficiency is an Excuse to Not Do The Actual Work

#9Stories you tell yourself that aren't true

#8How It Actually Works Example Email

#7How Your Emotions Are Sabotaging Your Business

#6How It Actually Works – The Danger in Big Decisions

#5How It Actually Works: How to beat a Russian oligarch

#4How It Actually Works: Issue #4

#3How It Actually Works: Issue 3

#2How It Actually Works: Issue 2

#1How It Actually Works: Issue 1