This Week I Learned #74
“Go to bed smarter than when you woke up”
2019-10-28
Re-watched "this is water" with David Foster Wallace. The famed american writer's commencement speech. Second time listening to the speech I came struck with how DFW says there are no atheists because we all worship something. That may not be a god but it could money, power or something else that drives us and that which we worship will be that we will never have enough of. worshiping money will result in not having enough.. worshiping body will result in never loving yourself... worshiping power will result in always feeling weak. It makes me believe that many such forms of worship may actually be unconscious as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI&t=1s
2019-10-29
The possibility for reversing aging with David Sinclair on Joe Rogan's podcast. David Sinclair, Ph.D., A.O. is a Professor in the Department of Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School. It was a dense conversation covering aspects of nutrition, sleep, and exercise routines that David's gone through and also implemented in his own life to solve the problem of aging and also how he may have found a way to reverse it. Though the supplements he takes may be a little too much for me, it's been fascinating to hear him dispel common beliefs on what leads to a life of 'anti-aging'. Turns out, people who smoke a lot can live till 100+, antioxidants don't lead to longer lives, red wine being good for you is closer to myth than truth, fasting is still inconclusive but the benefits are still staggering, sleep is important (duh) and then a bunch of hard stuff I forgot and will have to either listen to again or read his new book. https://www.jrepodcast.com/episode/joe-rogan-experience-1349-david-sinclair/
2019-10-30
Edward Norton of The Fight Club fame on Tim Ferriss' podcast. I had read somewhere in the past that Edward Norton was the kind of actor who liked to push the boundaries of acting and try to do pieces he believed were 'good movies'. I personally believe many/most actors will do bad movies if the money is right. Like the Avengers series, the 20th Terminator etc... Among the many things I took away from this interview were the following i) Norton took a few years off from acting to get his pilot license. Apparently it was in the period when everyone thought he was crazy for doing this. But he was in his 30s and he made the decision not to feel strapped to his need to always be working. ii) His new film, Motherless Brooklyn, was an idea he had and started a script for more than 15 years ago. He kept on pushing it off but upon finally doing it, he believes that he was able to create a completely different movie that now has depth that he lacked back in 2003. A point-of-view to how everything will take the time required. No need to lament the time it takes to develop something. iii) He used the equity/investment opportunity in a startup that was part of a separate side project in his life to help fund his new movie so that he could do it the way he wanted to. An example of how just because you're an actor, you need not feel the need to be one-dimensional. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpc1smhi4Q
2019-10-31
Learning from catching up with a friend working in San Fran on his route back for a new TN Visa. For individuals in product roles like PMs and designers or marketing roles like growth, they are all labeled as consultants in their employee letter. This is because the TN categories for defining jobs is limited. Accountants, or engineers have a much easier time because it's very specific. But the tough one is for people labeled as consultants because it's not a easy 1 to 1 match for the security folks at the airport gates so it's possible to get turned back. Apparently, the Montreal airport is known to be more lenient than Toronto or Vancouver so tech legal counsels will recommend Canadians to fly into SF from Montreal.
2019-11-01
On the eve of my father's 10-year anniversary of entrepreneurship, I learned that he could not take income out of the business for the first 4 years. Not because he wanted to 'reinvest to make it into some unicorn' as he still operates a 1-person business, bootstrapped with no investors. But because that's how hard it was to build a profitable business. But after 4 years was when he started seeing the exponential hockey stick growth people are so familiar with and expect within 1 year... even 4 months of starting anything. Easy to say, he now runs a thriving business. As my parents pointed out from their experience, it's not the smartest but the one most consistent that wins out. Consistency being synonymous with persistence as well.