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GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg 4 years, 4 months ago 866 views

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I interviewed 5 billionaires this week

I asked them to share their lessons learned on startups, life and entrepreneurship:

Here's what they told me:

A startup idea isn't "one" idea

It's a 10000 ideas, 100,000 decisions and 1,000,000 headaches

You will lose some friends. Kiss most of your high school friends goodbye

Certainties of life:

- Death
- Taxes
- Losing friends

A sign of wealth:

No longer needing an alarm clock to wake up

When in doubt, please don't send that angry email response

Wait 24h. Go for a walk

Angriness makes you drunk. Send emails sobers

Career advice:

Quit your job if it makes you exhausted (if you can)

Be grateful for your job if it fills you up with energy

Likable people win

People sense those good vibes. It does wonders for your startup, career or life

You will doubt yourself a million times

It's only natural

Constantly cut your losses

Harmful in the short term, lucrative in the long run

A sign of wealth: no envy, no fear

You can't build great products without being "at one" with the niche you're building it for

It's almost impossible

Deeply understand your niche or expect disappointments

Enjoy the process

Building a startup should never feel like a grind

Building a startup is a privilege

A satisfying life doesn't require much

Wonderful health, enjoyable work & a caring family & friends.

Success is inevitable.

Follow me on Twitter @gregisenberg to learn more about startups, internet communities or niches

It's free to follow 😝

More from GREG ISENBERG

GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg

THREAD: Most advice is garbage

Here's some advice you shouldn’t listen to on startups, careers and life:

“90% of startups fail”

If you’re building a startup for the money, please quit

You’re probably better off working for FB or AMZN and rising the ranks

A successful startup isn't just about the valuation. It's about impact on your team, the world and yourself

The journey is 🔥

“You'll sleep when you’re dead”

If you don't sleep, you'll BE dead

Sleep is crucial to a happy mind and body

Without sleep, you become "foggy drunk", unable to take control of your life, startup or career

Beware of hustle culture and sleepless nights

“Become a doctor, lawyer etc”

This is probably some of the most undercover toxic advice parents can give to their children

The internet has opened the doors for anyone to become anything

Discover WHO you want to become before you decide on WHAT you want to become

“Don’t talk to strangers”

- You can't make lifelong friends if you don't talk to strangers
- You can't really discover who you are if you don't talk to strangers
- You can't get the benefits of the internet without talking to strangers

BE CAREFUL, but please talk to strangers

GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg

I built communities that created 83m new customers in 2020 with this marketing framework

I'm curious your thoughts

A startup marketing manifesto:

Connect the disconnected

1. Find people who want to pursue a goal (ex: new immigrants in the US, learn tennis etc)
2. Accelerate them

This will do more for your business than you can imagine

Customers need to feel lucky. Like the chosen ones

Lucky to be a part of the community. Lucky to buy the product. Lucky to be a part of your story

If you nail the “luckiness” feeling, you can drive your marketing costs to zero

How to jumpstart & structure community:

- Masterclass for X
- Clubhouse for X
- Q&A platforms
- Small virtual events
- Gaming events
- Text your community’s leader
- etc.

Have a design aesthetic. Own it

Make sure your niche is in love with it

Daring design aesthetics pay dividends

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GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg

When I was 17, I was in a school shooting. It was traumatic

I'm convinced that overcoming fear is the secret to winning at startups, business and life:

Here's some tips and lessons on overcoming FEAR:

The greatest productivity tip of all time:

It isn't to drink coffee or get 8 hours of sleep or use Notion

It is conquering your fears. Period.

Life is too short for fears

"Adjusted for the subjective increase in how fast time passes, life is half over by 23 or 24. Don't waste time."
h/t @samaltman

Time is ticking

Beat your "amygdala"

Amygdala = the part of your brain that registers all your fear

When you have an experience that creates fear, it gets "coded" into your brain

For the rest of your life, your amygdala, is tainted with your past experience

Arm wrestle your amygdala and win

Rejection sucks. But it's one of the most useful ways to refine your craft

Mindset shift: use fear to learn & motivate, not run away & demotivate

GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg

Here’s the story of how I (almost) lost everything building and selling my last company Islands to WeWork

I’ve never told this story publicly. Sharing it on Twitter because sharing is caring

Here we go…...

In June 2016, I was having tea in SF and realized “group chat is the new social network”

My thinking: everything would be verticalized

You’d have group chats around finance, around gaming, around work etc.

People want fluid, spontaneous communities/groups, not newsfeeds

I had previously sold a company. I created a short slide pitch deck

I raised $2m from some of the world’s best investors on an idea. From first pitch to money in the bank in 45 days

We had no product. No prototype. No users. Just a crazy idea

SF is sometimes magical like that. It was a privilege

We were off to the races

We built the product. We decided to focus on colleges

The idea: open up Islands on your campus, see group chats around you, form communities and create relationships

It was like Slack for communities. Focused on college

GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg

Startups taught me more about life and business than I ever could imagine

Thread: 20 tips I wish I could give to my 20 year old self

Startups are simple:

There are good times and bad times

Good times: enjoy the ride
Bad times: enjoy the ride

Beware of pessimistic people

Pessimism is the worst disease

Professional lies we tell ourselves:

1. Your email inbox is getting stuff done
2. A full calendar is positive
3. Big meetings are the answer

You know better

FAANG give you credentials
Startups give you education

More from Startup

Bruce
@ngwata_

Excerpts from the Africa Tech Startups Funding Report 2020. 🧵

In 2020, a total of 397 African tech startups raised a record $701million in funding, with bulk (89%) of these funds going to startups in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa & Egypt.

The tech startups that stood out in 2020 by funding received were:
°Egypt's Vezeeta - $40,000,000
°Nigeria's Flutterwave - $35,000,000
°South Africa's Skynamo - $30,000,000
°Kenya's Twiga Foods - $29,400,000
°Kenya's Komaza - $28,000,000

The top investors in African tech startups in 2020.

Kenya 🇰🇪

59 Kenyan startups raised a record total of $191,381,000 in funding in 2020.

Twenty two (37%) of Kenya’s funded startups raised a $1 million or more.

Nathan Barry
@nathanbarry

Becoming a creator in 2023 will change your life.

Here are 13 tips to make the switch from a consumer to a creator:

Set a Daily “Make Something” Goal

Grab a sticky note and write “make something today"--stick it to your computer monitor.

Your goal is simply to make something--anything--every single day.

Set the bar low and make it achievable.

Creation will start to become a habit.

Document What You Make

Start documenting your daily creation.

Post it online with a few sentences about what it means to you.

Was it an idea floating around in your head for months? A mini essay you've been meaning to write? Code that you finally figured out?

Document it.

Decide Before You Start

Too often I sit down at my computer and wonder what I should work on. That’s dangerous.

The Trick: Decide what you are going to do beforehand.

Write a to do list beforehand, then immediately jump into that first task.

Remove the guesswork.

Separate Creation & Consumption

Computers are for creating, not consuming.

Go to all your social sites and sign out. Set up your computer as your creation hub.

Use your phone or tablet for consumption.

One device is used for creating, the other for consuming.

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$Florian K\xf6ssler$

Florian Kössler
@studentofcycles

1/ "Inflation is dead!"

"We can print as much money as we want!"

"Don’t worry about it, there will never be any inflation!"

Time to take a closer look. 👇

2/ First, a few definitions:

Inflation measures how much more expensive a basket of goods and services has become over a certain period, usually a year.

Looking at the US and Europe the numbers don’t look too bad.

But wait there is more ;)

3/ As Winston Churchill once said:

The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself.”

Over the past decades the government changed the way how to measure inflation several times to give you the expression there is nothing to worry about.

4/ If we calculate inflation the same way as in the 80ies or 90ies, it is at least double the amount!

5/ But there is more....

The Chapwood Index reflects the true cost-of-living increase in America. It reports the unadjusted actual cost and price fluctuation of the top 500 items on which Americans spend their after-tax dollars in the 50 largest cities in the nation.

JK MOLINA
@OneJKMolina

How I created a six figure business by only writing tweets in a third world country.

A thread on how a razor and $50 changed my life:

I'm by no means special, I'm actually stubborn as fuck.

English isn't my first language.

For months I just lurked Twitter not doing anything.

It was not until an opportunity literally fell in my lap that I decided to take it.

But here's how I did it (and how you can too):

The funniest part of the story is how I did literally nothing for months on Twitter.

Just write, write, write.

Meanwhile, I saw everyone winning.

"I made $100k last year!"

"I made $50k last month!"

"This tweet made me $1,000!"

I started asking questions:

"How the fuck do you make $50k in a month?"

"Clients? How do you get your first client?"

"What would my clients even pay for?"

Then I kinda put it aside and kept writing tweets.

100 followers, then 1k, then 2k then 10k and it all went pretty well

One problem tho:

I loved it.

I really did. Writing is so fucking dope to me.

But I haven't make a single cent from it.

Zero.

"Follow your passion" seemed like bullshit, until it hit me:

TY FRANKEL
@THETYFRANKEL

How to go from $0 to $10K/mo and quit your 9-5.

A thread.

Let's say you have a 9-5

You make anywhere from $40-100K

Not bad

but you hate your Boss

You hate the job

and you KNOW your dream life doesn't include a 9-5 Job

Your goal is to QUIT

I will show you Exactly how

Keep reading

First thing - STAY at your 9-5

for now, at least

You'll quit once you hit $5K/month

If possible, systemize your 9-5 role

Create systems, hire a Phillipino VA

Buy back your time

If you have 3-4 hrs/day at your 9-5

to build your own Business

it's VERY powerful

OK, Step 1 - REFLECT

Assess yourself

Ask

"what am I good at?"

"what am I passionate about?"

"what kind of life do I want?"

"where do I have leverage?"

"where do I have connections?"

answer these Q's

Step 2 - PICK NICHE

Marketing is the industry I rec getting into

Pick one of these 👇

NICHES
- Paid Ads
- Content Marketing
- Outbound Marketing
- Retention Marketing
- SMS Marketing
- Web Design
- Meme Marketing
- Personal Branding
- Twitter Marketing
- Influencer Marketing

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We should stop confusing what someone was doing when we became aware of them with all they are capable of, interested in, or ever hope to be

Let folks have their many talents, interests and gifts. Life is far more fun with variety, loves.

A lot of folks have come to know me as an activist & I’m grateful that folks care to know me at all.

But I wasn’t born in 2014. I was a whole teacher, executive, policy person, speaker, arts and culture lover, reader, writer, woman of faith, fashion and more before 4 yrs ago 🤷🏾‍♀️

We rightfully complain that marginalized people are not allowed to be fully human.

But we internalize and transfer our oppression daily. It’s a smog. We all breathe it in & act it out.

And then tell WoC “girl ain’t you supposed to be a _______? Why you doing ____?”

Can I live?

And don’t go reading anything personal into this-this isn’t about me necessarily and it’s no subtweet (I try hard not to do that.)

I’ve just been observing that behavior more and more lately. Especially when it comes to marginalized folks.

Evolution should be our aspiration.

“Can’t knock the hustle” should be our anthem.

As long as someone isn’t bringing active and continual harm, why can’t they explore their many sides?

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According to @RadioZET_NEWS PKN Orlen (major Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer) is considering entering F1 as a fuel sponsor (supplier) and personal sponsor of Robert Kubica. #F1

Yesterday Kubica was at Orlen's headquarters and met with Polish Prime Minister. #F1

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Meet Shah
@ms89_meet

Strong Monopolies:

IRCTC 100% Market share in Rail Network.

IEX >90% market share in power trading.

Zydus wellness >90% market share in sugar free product.

Eicher motors >85% market share in 250cc bikes category.

MCX >85% market share in commodity trading.

Coal India >80% market share in coal production in India.

ITC >75% market share in cigarettes.

Honda Siel >75% in portable power generators.

Hindustan Zinc >75% market share in primary zinc industry.

Asahi India Glass >70% market share in automotive glass.

NRB Bearings >70% market share in needle roller bearings.

Pidilite >65% market share in adhesives.

CAMS >65% market share in RTA within mutual fund industry.

Time Technoplast >65% market share in polymer based industrial packaging.

Concor >65% market share in domestic container cargo transport.

Exide >60% market share in lead batteries.

Naukri >60% market share in the Indian job market space.

Praj >60% market share in ethanol plant installing.

Indiamart Intermesh >55% market share in the online B2B Classified space.

Borosil Renewables >55% market share in Lab glass.

Vst Tillers >50% market share in
Power tillers.

Delta corp >50% in online poker games.

Vinati Organics >50% market share in IBB.

SK
@sk_diary1

Margatha Natarajar murthi - Uthirakosamangai temple near Ramanathapuram,TN
#ArudraDarisanam
Unique Natarajar made of emerlad is abt 6 feet tall.
It is always covered with sandal paste.Only on Thriuvadhirai Star in month Margazhi-Nataraja can be worshipped without sandal paste.

After removing the sandal paste,day long rituals & various abhishekam will be https://t.co/e1Ye8DrNWb day Maragatha Nataraja sannandhi will be closed after anointing the murthi with fresh sandal paste.Maragatha Natarajar is covered with sandal paste throughout the year

as Emerald has scientific property of its molecules getting disturbed when exposed to light/water/sound.This is an ancient Shiva temple considered to be 3000 years old -believed to be where Bhagwan Shiva gave Veda gyaana to Parvati Devi.This temple has some stunning sculptures.

Bharadwaj
@BharadwajSpeaks

Hinduism is a minority religion in Punjab.

During the Khalistan movement, the minority Hindus and Jains were subjected to several attacks. Hindu and Jain temples were frequently vandalized and desecrated. This thread documents a few instances.

Thread

Durgiana Mandir is one of the oldest temples of Amritsar. According to the regional Hindu tradition, the temple was built on the spot where Lava and Kusha bound Hanuman. The temple annually attracts millions of Hindus from all over the country.

Amristsar has a very ancient Hindu history.

According to the regional Hindu tradition recorded in the "Survey of Amritsar", Amritsar got its name from Amrit immersed by Lava and Kusha in a pond.

Durgiana Mandir was rebuilt in 1921.

It was used to house the Murtis of Vishnu and Durga which were thrown out from the Parikrama of Harmandir Sahib in 1905.

Because of its presence in Amritsar, it became a frequent target of radicals during the Khalistan movement.

In 1982, in what was a completely unprovoked attack, the Dal Khalsa "activists" threw a severed cow head inside Durgiana temple.