hola_mundo

Ah, got it. Can’t argue with that!

There’s little question that having the freedom to pursue a hobby is a privilege reserved for a few, broadly speaking.

I think what’s interesting is that the study was comparing Nobel laureates to other scientists, which I’d imagine would somewhat correct for this bias.

Books from major publishers typically undergo a merciless editing process that can take something pretty good and make it exceptionally clear, memorable, and entertaining.

This rarely happens for online content, which I suspect is one reason I retain so little of what I've read online: it just wasn't that great.

Echoing a couple of others: pick up whatever book looks fun or entertaining to you. No judgement.

Developing a habit of reading books should be the real goal.

The "best" book is whichever one you'll actually read.

In the beginning of 2019, I felt overwhelmed with information overload across Twitter, HN, and the dozen or so newsletters I subscribed to.

I ended up unsubscribing from just about everything and now follow a handful of great curators instead. It's probably the best thing I did last year to find more signal online.

My favorite is Stew's Letter: https://stewfortier.com/subscribe

It's a short email that comes out every week or so and includes a funny/entertaining collection of ideas across a broad range of topics (AI, communication skills, evolutionary biology, etc.).

David Perell sends out a similar email that I also enjoy: https://www.perell.com/newsletter

I've done similar things in the past. My two cents:

1) Sign up for a free Crunchbase trial.

2) Search for companies that fit your criteria (Crunchbase can do precise / granular searches)

3) Add names of promising companies to a spreadsheet

4) After the list has a few dozen names, cancel Crunchbase account

5) Google the CEO or CTO of each company

6) Find their email address (try https://hunter.io/ or just Google the person in depth and you'll often find a public email)

7) Write cold email explaining: your specific skills and 1-2 sentences on why you're passionate about their industry.

8) End email with a specific ask: if you're hiring, would you have 15 minutes to chat next week?

My biggest failure in 2019 was getting utterly trapped in analysis paralysis.

Throughout the year, I explored many different side project ideas but I rarely took any action on most of them.

I didn't ask people for feedback on the ideas. I didn't cold email potential customers to see what they thought. I didn't build much.

Instead, I got stuck in a "research" mindset and consumed endless information on new industries or business models, often eventually talking myself out of most of my ideas -- without having any direct data on whether or not something would have worked out.

I think a more productive approach to 2020 will be defining specific actions or experiments I can run on new ideas, rather than remaining purely in the theoretical realm.

It's moderately depressing to look back at how little I really learned. Few of my theories ever made contact with reality.

In 2012, somebody stole half of my life savings.

I was halfway through college (I was an econ major) and had hired somebody to build a website for me. Immediately upon paying them half of the invoice, they fell off the face of the earth and never shipped a line of code.

I was left cash-less and code-less.

I decided to teach myself how to program so that I'd never need to be that dependent on somebody.

I watched hours upon hours of YouTube, audited a handful of CS courses at my university (UVA), and, after about a year, I had become a decent iOS developer.

As school neared an end, a mutual friend pitched me on a startup idea he was working on. I agreed to build the MVP, joined him as CTO, and our startup went on to have a $50M+ exit a few years after I graduated.

Hugely impactful decision.

I'd probably working some finance job I hate if I hadn't made that decision.

I'm writing about engineering compensation, management, and leadership here: https://blindchief.com/how-much-do-engineering-managers-make...

Much of the content is going to be geared towards folks who may be moving from an IC position into management.

It's a difficult transition that's taken me years to navigate -- hoping I can save others some time (and pain!)