Tim Ferris, Charlie Munger & Dave Mathews. Let's we all have dinner together.

#11.2023

Mar 24, 2023

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

How have you been? I hope you are all doing well, healthy and producing great work! Thanks for coming back for another week.

Dave and I were born on the same day, January 9th, and he has been my favorite musician for as long as I can remember and I was privileged to see him live several times and it's a memory I keep close to my heart.

Before we dive into complex topics like how AI will change your life, or how to become a better CEO, or how to define the best way to price your product, let's appreciate some great music and relax for a bit.

Check out this insane jam session starting at the 7 minute mark. Enjoy the show and let's get it rolling!

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Bonus! [ Great For Founders and Executives]

Tim is back with Matt Mochary, who coaches the heads of Silicon Valley's top tech investment firms and companies on how to be the best leaders and build the best organizations. He is also the author of one of the best books I recommend to founders, The Great CEO Within.

“I have not invented anything, everything that I do I have learned from somebody else”-

Matt Mochary

Straight up, if you give me just one click this week, this is the one you need to watch. It's surreal how Matt simplifies very complex issues like how to have a better love life, how to fire people, and how to simplify - and act on - a decision making process.

Do want to know to make better decisions? Jump to 37:30. It's so simple but yet so powerful.

By the way, Matt has openly shared his framework and supplement material - Read it here.

Best from Linkedin

What is the best way to streamline your marketing team? Use mental models and frameworks. - Read it here.

FINDINGS: Read it here.
• Biotech companies raise the most money at the highest valuation caps - but not a lot of them actually get funded.
• SaaS is middle of the pack in val cap and total raised, but by far the biggest category.
• Investors seem less enthused about food startups lately.
“The year was 1957, and Pepsi — like many of the youth at that time — was dealing with an identity crisis. Despite efforts from marketers, Pepsi was being outsold by its biggest competitor and perpetual market leader — Coke — by a factor just shy of six to one, even as it was selling at half of Coke’s price. It wasn’t the product that was lacking, it was that Pepsi’s brand ethos — indecisive and directionless — was a fragmented shell of what it would need to become to take on Coke.” - Read it here.

Best to Listen

I had dinner with Charlie Munger.

I saw this post on Twitter and I ran to listen to the podcast and it's a treat worth listening to!

“I had dinner with Charlie Munger. I spent over 3 hours with him. I got to see his library. I could ask him any question I wanted. At 99 he is still *ferociously* intelligent.

The most important lesson I learned from him that night was: GO FOR GREAT. In typical Charlie fashion it is a combination of 4 simple ideas:

1. Charlie looks at everything through the lens of history. Human nature does not change. The same behaviors repeat forever.

2. Problems from time to time should be expected. This is an inescapable part of life.

3. Wise people do not whine about problems. They prevent them: "Wisdom is prevention." —Charlie Munger

4. Great businesses are rare. Great people are rare too. Great people and great businesses produce fewer problems.”

Instacart CEO Fidji Simo shares the company's vision for building a tech-enabled food system for all. Simo, who previously spent 10 years at Meta, is accustomed to taking bold bets on transformative tech.

Two critical frameworks for mental mastery with Tim Ferris!! - Watch it here

What's Happening in Harvard?

Through my work in the classroom, I came across a very interesting Google project codenamed Project Aristotle - a tribute to Aristotle's quote, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". The goal was to answer the question:

"What makes a team at Google effective?"

Guess what? Number one is psychological safety. (it's not far from the work of Simon Sinek which was featured in a previous newsletter - quick refresh here!)

But how do you build psychological safety in an organization? I suggest you start with three actions:

1. Watch the video below;

2. Read this document here;

3. Dig deeper - obsessively!

Great to Read

As artificial intelligence gets better at predicting human behavior, a business psychologist encourages people to strengthen the uniquely human skills that machine learning has yet to tap. - by McKinsey - Read it here
10 Types of Innovation: The Art of Discovering a Breakthrough Product - Read it here

Gen Zers are now ‘polyworking’ because holding down just one job doesn’t pay enough or give them the flexibility they want! - By Fortune - Read it Here

Special Reforge

Reforge helps you and your company scale through leading programs in product and growth.

Reforge is a well known player within the entrepreneurial community and I know many people who give tons of credit to their program and some people quote: "It changed my career".

They just published two very timely articles that I highly recommend to founders and their leadership teams.

3 Key Parts Of An Effective Product Vision - Read it here
How To Price A Product: 5-Step Pricing Strategy + Examples - Read it here

Special AI with Bill Gates

“In my lifetime, I’ve seen two demonstrations of technology that struck me as revolutionary.

The first time was in 1980, when I was introduced to a graphical user interface—the forerunner of every modern operating system, including Windows. I sat with the person who had shown me the demo, a brilliant programmer named Charles Simonyi, and we immediately started brainstorming about all the things we could do with such a user-friendly approach to computing. Charles eventually joined Microsoft, Windows became the backbone of Microsoft, and the thinking we did after that demo helped set the company’s agenda for the next 15 years.

The second big surprise came just last year. I’d been meeting with the team from OpenAI since 2016 and was impressed by their steady progress.”

Bill Gates shares with the world what he believes will be AI's greatest contributions to fields like health and education, and what he sees as the greatest threats we face with such a revolutionary technology. Read it here.

Startup of the Week

I'm obsessed with the secondhand market - the U.S. apparel market will reach $95 billion by 2026 - and I recently came across Beni.

I think Beni is solving a real consumer experience problem when it comes to thrift shopping, which is the sourcing of products. I also like the fact that they're a plug in - yes, they rely on third party distribution and they can be taken out of the store at any time, but it's also a great distribution strategy.

Your shortcut to the best resale deals on the web. Our FREE browser extension helps you discover the best deals from Poshmark, The RealReal, eBay and more with just one click. Enjoy the benefits of resale without the hassle of thrifting when you shop with Beni. Check it out today and let us know what you find!