Messi and Apple, Guest of The Week, Ray Dalio, Music is Powerful, and more.
All of my best content for you.
Thank you all for the amazing support over the past week. (most ❤️ ever)
I got so much love from my last newsletter that I was pumped to get back to it and do my best work for you.
I put in a lot of time this week - you'll notice a new section as part of this experiment - and I also got in front of the camera to produce over 7 hours of content with amazing founders building insane businesses in the second-hand and circular economy space. All the founders are based in Brazil, but it's very impressive what they've achieved so far and the future is bright for them and for us, the end consumers.
I will be sending the content as part of my experiment/project Before Day1, where I connect with founders and we explore their process from idea to business launch. I'm looking forward to telling the stories of many founders and I hope it will inspire and influence many people to get out there and build their own vision.
I have amazing friends and they are so bloody smart and I learn so much from them. I want to share their knowledge with you guys, so starting today, I will be bringing you a "Guest of the Week" friend.
Every week I will send a question to a friend of mine and I will post their answer here for everyone to see. Plain and simple.
Enjoy.
Hello Piers,
Mate, you have inspired me to explore and discover the world of military purpose, commitment, and leadership. I wanted to pick your brain and ask you: How has your military experience shaped you into a high-performance entrepreneur? In addition, how does it help you to be more effective in tackling the challenges that you face?
I think a military career provides great learnings for entrepreneurship and life in general. For me, the biggest lesson was probably learned after I left the Army. Like many veterans, I realised I had lost a key part of my identity and purpose and it took a while to find it again. The key learning here is that if we can identify activity that provides meaning and purpose, then there is a much greater chance of living a fulfilled life. Entrepreneurship provides an excellent opportunity to achieve this, by enabling us to select and solve key challenges in areas that we really care about. And in terms of performance, it’s pretty clear that finding purpose in an activity has significant potential to enhance our ability to deliver.
The second lesson I learned is that everything starts and ends with the team. Team selection and the development of a healthy mission driven culture are therefore critical and need to be prioritised and continually worked upon - probably above all else. This is super relevant for startups - ultimately we sink or swim as a team.
Finally, I think the military’s approach to planning and delivering operations has huge learnings for any organisation. The need to enable ‘mission command’ and to operate with an understanding that ‘no plan survives contact’ provides an excellent operational framework. Ie teams should be given clear missions which directly contribute to delivering the company’s vision. They should then be given the space and support to plan and execute that mission. Critically we must all operate with an understanding that if we are truly driving innovation and meaningful change then it is highly unlikely plan A is going to work. We therefore have to operate with agility, resolve and empathy in order to continually learn and adjust so that we can deliver mission success. Easier said than done, but a really valuable lesson in my view.
In terms of dealing with challenges, I think an active military career brings a helpful perspective - your definition of a bad day is fundamentally changed by the experience of war. I think this helps put the wild ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey into perspective, and hopefully brings a calming yet resolute and practical approach when things aren’t going as planned.
Piers played a key role in sparking my curiosity about leadership and people management in a military context. He has recommended several books and online content.
Best from Linkedin
[from CARTA] How much equity do the First 5 Hires receive in a startup?
Data from 4,922 "First 5" hires in H1 2023.🇧🇷 Melhores ferramentas de AI para Empreendedores:
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) tested the impacts of AI on its employees. Consultants using GPT-4 finished 12.2% more tasks……
» if you want to explore the full study: [I did download and it’s very complete]
Angel investing was the stepping stone into my current role at First Round Capital. If you’re looking to get started with writing your own checks, here are some of the learnings I wish I knew from Day One:
[Venture Ca$h] A FLOOD of startups are raising before the end of the year.
The top 10% will get it done fast, but HOW you run a process is key for the rest.Straight Truth: What Sets Successful Executives Apart?
Curious about what it takes at this high level?
Great content from this past week.
If you want to know how venture capital works, I think this is a great article for you because it breaks down who's who in a VC firm and who are the people involved in the deal, and what's in it for them.
Inside Apple’s Plan to Change the Way We Watch Sports
I think 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs in my inner circle use Miro to get their work done. It's actually a very powerful tool and once you start playing with it and becoming productive on the platform, it's hard to use anything else.
If you are an entrepreneur and looking for a way to better organise your ideas and thoughts, I think this piece is for you!
About this artifact
Every company faces a dilemma: should they focus on meeting quarterly targets, or should they lay the groundwork for future growth? This is an internal proposal for the 'Miro for Startups' program that I developed to benefit Miro’s growth trajectory.
👆🏾 Endeavor has done a great job in producing this piece for clarity. It examines the career paths of the top $1 billion+ founders.
The organization of the future: Enabled by gen AI, driven by people - McKinsey
Generative AI can empower people—but only if leaders take a broad view of its capabilities and deeply consider its implications for the organization.
If you care about your happiness and are looking for ways to improve your current state, I suggest you watch this short video.
Dr. Brooks has something clever to share with you.
Ray Dalio For President (for real!! Watch it)
Ray Dalio is one of my favorites and last week he was on stage with the smart people from the All In podcast and he showed us all his greatness. I share most of Dalio's beliefs about the future and, like him, believe that the next 24 months will be challenging for humanity with the rise of AI and the upcoming US presidential election.
If you have an interest in our future as part of a global order, this is a great show for you.
We ❤️ 🧠 Music
I love music. I have so many memories that revolve around a song, a musical event, or a band. I think music is a big part of who we are and our society. It's art.
Dr. Humberman explores the power of music in our lives, what music to listen to if you want to maximize your productivity, how music affects our well-being, and more.
If you like music, check out Moises.ai
hecho con mucho amor en Madrid.