How To Be Successful

Compound Yourself

Focus on exponential growth rather than linear progress. Seek careers and businesses with compounding effects, scalability, and leverage through capital, technology, brand, or network effects. Think long-term and aim for step changes rather than small increments.

Have Almost Too Much Self-Belief

Cultivate strong conviction in your judgment while balancing it with self-awareness and truth-seeking. Self-belief enables contrarian thinking and helps maintain morale when facing criticism and setbacks.

Learn to Think Independently

Develop first-principles thinking and test ideas quickly in the real world. Embrace failure as part of the process and build grit by solving seemingly unsolvable problems.

Get Good at Sales

Master communication, especially written communication, to evangelize your vision to customers, employees, investors, and the press. Genuine belief in what you're selling makes sales feel natural rather than distasteful.

Make It Easy to Take Risks

Take small asymmetric bets early in your career where downside is limited but upside is significant. Keep your life cheap and flexible to avoid the trap of golden handcuffs and predictable comfort.

Focus

Spend significant time deciding what to work on, as working on the right thing matters more than working many hours. Once decided, be unstoppable in executing your top priorities.

Work Hard

Reaching the top percentile requires both smart work and hard work. Hard work compounds early in your career, and finding work you enjoy with people you like helps prevent burnout.

Be Bold

Work on important, ambitious problems that attract talent and support. Follow your curiosity and don't second-guess unconventional paths just because others are taking easier routes.

Be Willful

Persist through challenges and maintain optimism. People who keep going until something works give themselves enough time for luck to go their way.

Be Hard to Compete With

Build leverage through personal relationships, a strong personal brand, or expertise at the intersection of multiple fields. Avoid mimetic behavior and differentiate yourself from others.

Build a Network

Help others generously over time, take care of people who work with you, and share upside. Spot undiscovered talent early and spend time with positive, supportive people.

You Get Rich by Owning Things

Wealth comes from owning equity in things that increase rapidly in value—businesses, real estate, intellectual property—not from selling your time linearly through salaries.

Be Internally Driven

Avoid being externally driven by social consensus. The most successful people are internally motivated to impress themselves and make something happen in the world, which sustains performance beyond money and status.