thoughts

Basically, bitcoin is a tool.

Like how a VPN can make it easier to send and receive information in hostile computer networks, bitcoin can make it easier to send, receive, or store value in hostile financial networks.

Some people need and understand those tools more than others.

Someday aliens are going to land their saucers in a field somewhere in New Jersey and everything is going to go just fine right up until we try to explain our calendar to them

Imagine a financial system that had:

1. Realtime proof of reserves
2. Unbreakable terms
3. 24/7 operation 
4. 99.999% uptime
5. Open APIs
6. Low transaction costs
7. Public governance
8. Global + internet native

I bet regulators and legislators would support a system like that.

Crony Beliefs | Melting Asphalt

@dhaiwat10 NFTs can create liquid markets for all sorts of historically illiquid assets. Art is a tiny subset of NFTs. Excited to see new use cases

Don’t just exercise, train.
Don’t just practice, study. 
Don’t just save, invest.

People don't want to use your software.

They want to lose weight, laugh, be entertained, get smarter, spend time with loved ones, go home on time, sleep adequately, eat good food, be happy.

Your product is only as good as the experiences it enables people to have.

How to get people to buy your service/product:

- Make them look good
- Make them feel good
- Make them money
- Save them money
- Save them time

I like to think of myself in versions. Like a piece of software. 

For example,  when I was 30, that was Shaan v.30

Each update is a new version of me.

I have:
- bug fixes - dumb things I don't do anymore
- new features - new habits, skills, wisdom

Keeps me from getting stale

Find the medium to extract your maximum value.

Write 
Draw
Code
Talk
Film
Sing
Dance
Joke
Play

The 20th century is ending.

- Offices ⭢ remote work
- NFL, NBA ⭢ esports
- Movie theaters ⭢ streaming
- TV news ⭢ YouTube stars
- College ⭢ ISAs, MOOCs
- K-12 ⭢ internet homeschooling
- Corporate journalism ⭢ citizen journalism
- EU/EEC ⭢ 27 sovereign states

The Silent Pandemics

1. We don't eat real food.

2. We don't exercise.

3. We sit at desks and then come home to sit on couches.

4. We numb our emotions with food, drugs &amp; alcohol, which makes the emotions come back even worse.

5. We decided that the sun is dangerous for our…

Fast, lift, sprint, stretch, and meditate.

Build, sell, write, create, invest, and own.

Read, reflect, love, seek truth, and ignore society.

Make these habits. Say no to everything else.

Avoid debt, jail, addiction, disgrace, shortcuts, and media.

Relax. Victory is assured.

White Space – Carl Barenbrug

1/ Always forward, never backward

Most people are wildly overconfident about how much they can predict their life path, particularly on alternative timelines.

Your alternate fantasy lives are not a Real Thing, you should not waste time on them.

Complexity happens by default.
Simplicity happens by design.

@jeremygiffon “Write something worth reading or do something worth writing about”

Two fields everyone has to learn about even if you're not interested in them because they are interested in you and will impact your life in huge ways: health and money.

Envy is an illusion. 

The part of the person that we envy doesn’t exist without the rest of that person. 

If we aren’t willing to trade places with them completely - their life, their body, their thoughts - then there is nothing to be envious about.

Optimistic Nihilism

The idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough is unfortunately a very dangerous delusion.

Life is more random than it seems, and favorable outcomes are more often attributable to making good bets rather than a good work ethic. Don’t sacrifice more than it’s worth.

Generic ambition will give you anxiety. Specific ambition will give you direction.

1/ There are no other constitutional rights in substance without freedom to transact

Being meaning to write this for 6 months, but the Canadian response to the trucker protests is illustrating this so vividly, that today is the day.

1. People like to own things.
2. Everything is going digital.
3. Crypto is the only way to own digital things.

That's the entire investment thesis for crypto.

web3 thesis in a nutshell:

how can we build interoperable, peer-to-peer systems of digital ownership and digital assets that are not inextricably linked with user accounts owned by monopolistic mega-corporations?

Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own.

In 1994, Jeff Bezos famously spotted a stat that made him leave his high-paying PE job to start Amazon:

💡 The Internet was growing 2300% per year.

What are the generation-defining stats of today?

I'll post a few to kick things off...

Over the years, I realized that sharing simple graphic design rules with non-designers often help them feel more comfortable making presentations, simple mockups, or even the occasional card.

I decided to compile these rules in a thread.
I will keep updating it over time 🧵

i've always felt that effective people realize life is a video game—whereas everyone else sits back and acts like life is a movie

Longevity FAQ — Laura Deming

Work → Game
Employee → Player
Compensation → Points

Figma acquisition shows how hard it is to turn money into software. You'd think for $20B you could build something as good as Figma yourself, but you can't. Software is art.

If you’re ever sitting waiting for a response from someone anxiously, just remember - people don’t delay delivering good news.

Nothing will make you more productive than owning your time. 

Nothing will make you less productive than selling it.

Many people will somehow dislike you if you didn't struggle as much as they did in order to reach an equivalent level of success. Smart work breeds resentment from people who only knew how to work hard.