Charlie Munger, Elon F*%$ off everyone, Dan in Asia, We Heart Impact, and more...
It feels like a Century since I've written anything.
Hi brothers and sisters,
And in the blink of an eye, December has arrived for the 42nd time in my life. It's that time of year when you have one eye on all the celebrations going on and the other eye on all your unfulfilled goals for the year.
The hardest thing about missing my cadence here is that by the time I sit down to write things down, I've accumulated a huge amount of information and it's just so hard to know where to start.
Let's dive in.
1. It's been said that we've all lost the wisdom of Charlie Munger. I've never met the guy, but his wisdom has transcended the financial atmosphere and he's become this very old smart dude. Books, articles, and interviews will continue to perpetuate his knowledge and good heart.
A special treat for people who like me, trusted Charlie for inspiration and motivation.
2. I was in Asia to celebrate a good mate's birthday and it was a great trip. I explored Singapore, Bali, and Bangkok, each city for the first time, and came back with a strong desire to go back and finish what I started. I caught up with old mates, ate like a king, and opened my mind in so many ways.
I also had the chance to meet Alex Anton, now a good friend and host of the Um Impossível por Vez podcast, on which I was featured a few weeks ago.
3. This one is very fresh but no less crazy kkk - Elon Musk the maverick has told Bob Iger (and other very powerful people in the media industry) to f*&% off. Have you seen this one? I mean, he may be right and all that, but as a leader and a powerful individual, I personally think he crossed the line. If you haven’t watched it, here it is!
4. We Heart Impact has a launch date and I'm all over the place trying to get everything ready to tell the world what my next venture is. I'm at peace with myself and very excited about the next 20 years of my life.
We continue to work and tweak the model and test as much as we can with our early clients and the early data shows great signs for our main hypothesis and key assumptions, but we are also dealing with setbacks and malfunctions.
A big win has been the clarity of why we are doing this at all: We want amazing people to do the best work of their lives. That's why we're in business, and we're going to experiment with lots of different ways of doing that - it's my life's work.
My main hypothesis is that for you to do your best work, the challenge has to match your curiosity, your skills, and your motivation to be the best you can be. It's James Bond in flow state meets Navy Seals operational mode.
As for the end game, if we are on the right track, we will change the way people work and unlock everyone's full potential. Oh Jesus, I'm willing to go all in for that!
We will launch on 9.12.2023
Want to hear a funny story? I'm the one writing and coding our website - once a bootstrapper, always a bootstrapper.
5. December is Spotify's Retrospective of the year, and I want to publicly tell the geniuses at Spotify how insane it is to look at your relationship with music over the years.
If you're a Spotify listener, I assume you've seen it and, like me, received a message from your favourite band/musician personally thanking you for an amazing year "together". Who was yours? I got The Lumineers and I got very emotional.
Music has the power to change your mood - don't you think? It's so powerful.
I can't miss the chance to introduce you to Moises :-)
Moises is changing the way musicians interact with music and they could end the year with 50 million users worldwide - that's insane!
I invested in Moises in their very first round and I will be with them all the way.
I think that's a 5 bullet recap of all the things that have happened since my last post, and now let's move on to what's happening and what I think is the best content out there.
Best from Linkedin
50% companies that do JUST THIS ONE THING see a 25% increase in ARR. Can you guess what it is?
It's not conquering a new acquisition channel. It's not building a new feature.This is a game changer!🔥
GPTs can now be embedded on your website for customer support and sales!Recently, I finished reading "Consumer Instinct" by Gad Saad and wanted to share some key takeaways I found very insightful:
First, Saad takes the approach to explaining consumer behavior from an evolutionary psychology perspective.75 Engineering blogs worth reading to improve your system design:
Web3 loyalty’s most promising feature?
Interoperable loyalty, aka. multi-company rewards – at scale. 🤯
(link to deep dive below)
Let’s unpack this.The venture capital industry is about to go through a MASSIVE shakeout (especially at the growth stage).
Why?
Great Content
This podcast was recommended to me by a friend whom I respect and who I often turn to for advice and to challenge my ideas.
I hope you enjoy it too.
A crazy chat between Larry and Bill Carr, author of Working Backwards - the Amazon way.
Running is a HUGE part of my daily routine and who I am, so when I read an article that crosses creative and running, I'm all in.
8 Things Running and the Creative Process Have in Common
Both require self-motivation, incremental and attainable goals, and a whole lot of follow-through
When we think about the long-term impact of We Heart Impact, we recognize that in order to get to where we want to land, we need to address the needs and aspirations of GenZ, because they're going to be the vast majority of our builders, so I've been reading up on everything I can find about the GenZ work environment.
Gen Z wants to retire early. They're off to a good start.
McKinsey research shows that a focus on aspiration, activation, and execution can help companies out-innovate and outgrow peers.
Saving the best for last.
If you know me, you already know that Dr Huberman has been a huge influence on me and has sparked much of my ongoing, most intense curiosity.
As for Dr Adam Grant, I became so obsessed with his work that I decided to do a Masters in Organisational Psychology at Harvard University.
Much to my delight, Dr Huberman had Adam Grant on his podcast for three hours and, boys and girls, it took me 37.6km on the treadmill to watch the entire episode and I did every single step with a smile on my face.
During those three hours I recorded 17 voicemails on my phone from insights and ideas as these two luminaries went back and forth.
I will watch it again before the end of the year, but three things stood out for me.
1. Language - choosing the right combination of words is everything; Adam Grant is a chess master at choosing the right words;
2. On top of #1, it amazed me to see Dr Huberman speechless at some of Adam's ideas and statements; Huberman was very humble and showed no sign of being a know-it-all and he was there to explore, investigate and learn - he is such a class act;
3. Adam knows papers and publishers by name and date - it's crazy but he could cite and provide specific studies throughout the interview to support his point of view, idea or argument.
If you are curious, I highly recommend this show.
Thank you Dr Huberman and Dr Grant for sharing this with us all.
Heacho con amor en Madrid