I'm 30 and have raised $100m+ for startups I've founded. Here's how:
- raised $250k angel round to get started
- pivoted to AI 4 weeks later and raised a $100m seed round
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Other people also buying that item is validating that you made the right choice. So instead of asking "What are your best purchases?" I want to know...
What purchases do you most regret?
People always talk about things they've purchased like man I bought these headphones they are the best ever, you should totally buy them too. I think this is somewhat because we like to justify our decisions and feel like we've made the best decision ever.
I have a friend who makes like high six figures as an engineer. I once asked him his secret and he was like, “honestly man, I just read one engineering textbook every year, which is one more book than everyone else I know reads.”
If you read 1 serious book on any topic, and you take good notes—really digesting—you are smarter than 90% of people on that topic.
If you genuinely read 3 serious books on a topic, you are smarter on that topic than virtually *everyone* except a few professional experts.
5/ So I tried to solve this by generating human quality audiobooks based on the text. Here’s a sample of an audiobook I created for “The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman” - http://publishing.florencehinder.com
Can you tell that it’s AI generated?
4/ Regular Text to speech doesn’t solve this problem, it’s too robotic and doesn’t work if you want to speed it up to >3x speed. It also just doesn’t sound nice, which means your learning experience is less pleasant. Something I try to encourage/make more pleasant!
3/ The more I’ve been listening to audiobooks, the more I’ve been delving into more niche, lesser known books and I’ve been struggling to always find audiobooks. For example, Founding Sales by Peter Kazanjy doesn’t have an audio version.
2/ I can listen while doing mundane tasks. Walking, running, doing chores, it’s great. I start to look forward to this idle time because it also means LEARNING time!
1/ I love audio books. I consume so many more books through audio, and it’s not just me - the audiobook market is booming. In the US 53% of the US population reads an audiobook each year.
Some of the most memorable gifts I've received or that I have fondest memories of have been books.
It's one thing to recommend a book to people, it's another to be like "this book reminded me of you and I thought you'd like to read it so I went out of my way to get it for you!"
4/ That’s the power of having a thriving, positive sum startup community. That’s the power of SF.
It's not everywhere in the world that successes are multiplied. Are there other places comparable to SF like this?
3/ Being around people also trying to start their own thing gives me the most energy. I get to hear about their trials and tribulations, and rejoice in their successes. If they succeed, I succeed. If I succeed they succeed. The forward momentum of others can propel you forward.
2/ But recently in a conversation with a friend I realised that actually it goes further, being around positive people, those with a “yes and” mindset gives me even more energy!
A few recent thoughts I've had on motivation, momentum and energy. ⚡💪🏃♀️
1/ I’ve always known that being around people generally gives me energy, I’m an extrovert.
asked my roommate Kyle what he did over the weekend and this man tells me he's been to the Kyle Convention
as in
1,000 people named Kyle showed up to a town named Kyle and hung out
Direction is always more important than speed. Figure out who you want to be and how you want to live before figuring out what you have to do. In retrospect, I feel like most of college was me rushing to get somewhere without ever stopping to think what that is or why I want it:
Sun exposure was also associated with perceived age. Those with outdoor hobbies such as golf and tennis had a perceived older appearance (p<0.05). Using sunscreen was associated with a younger appearance (p<0.02). See the example facial images attached.