What is the best book you read in 2021?

Will compile every response and rank them by number of recommendations!

Going out to everyone subscribed to my

Frameworks provide clarity in complex situations.

Here are 20 useful frameworks (on startups, investing, writing, & life):

The Feynman Technique

To learn anything:

Step 1: Identify a topic.
Step 2: Try to explain it to a 5-year-old.
Step 3: Study to fill in knowledge gaps.
Step 4: Organize, convey, and review.

True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate.

Simple is beautiful.

Directional Arrow of Progress

"Study the undeniable arrows of progress." - @wolfejosh

The future is extremely difficult to predict—but there are clues.

Look at the trend line of progress and where it's pointing—directionally, not precisely.

Invest (or build) accordingly.

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix

Place all of your tasks on a 2x2 matrix of urgency and importance.

(1) Important & Urgent
(2) Important & Not Urgent
(3) Not Important & Urgent
(4) Not Important & Not Urgent

Prioritize, delegate, or delete accordingly.

The Regret Minimization Framework

The goal is to minimize the number of regrets in life.

When faced with a difficult decision:
(1) Project yourself into the future.
(2) Look back on the decision.
(3) Ask "Will I regret not doing this?"
(4) Take action.

If you use it right, your Twitter account is worth more than your degree.

But 98.8% suck at it.

Here are 9 unique ways to turn Twitter into a crazy valuable asset:

Highly Curate Your Following

99% of users follow real-time news on Twitter.

That's okay. But you won't make Twitter an asset then.

To make it an asset, build a high-signal information diet.

You'll see it as a whole new opportunity.

Let me show you...

Use Twitter Lists

I find way too much news, drama and irrelevant ideas on the Twitter timeline.

I use Twitter lists to cut the noise and amplify the signal.

Bonus: Lists aren't affected by the algorithm.

Here's a video to get started on Lists:

Use Advanced Search

Scrape the internet to find what you want:

"(from:aaditsh) min_faves:1000 marketing"

Tweets with "marketing" from @aaditsh with more than 1000 likes.

Another favorite:

"(from:aaditsh) until:2021-09-01 since:2021-05-01"

Between May and September.

Mute Trolls

Trust me. They're not worth your time.

Click on a profile that annoys you.

Click "more" → "mute profile".

You won't "block" them but their content will become hidden on your timeline.

It's so peaceful.

20 books to read in your 20s

A thread...

Tuesday's with Morrie

I chanced upon this book in 1st yr of college and I am so glad I did. It gave me a perspective that I hadn't had until then, about the significance of

The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck

So much of our 20s are spent in caring about what others think of us. This book changed and challenged so many views around that. While I read this book in my last 30s, I wish it was there when I was

The Alchemist

This book introduced to me the power of belief. And I think that has stayed with

Man's search for meaning

This book, from the eyes of a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp, is about my favorite thing in the

I just interviewed the man who invented Amazon Prime.

He started a business worth $40 billion today and served on Amazon's board for 15 yrs.

Here are lessons from Bing Gordon that'll save you years of mistakes:

When you have a business idea, take action now before it dies.

• Write 1 paragraph about the idea

• Write a 4 slide business plan

• Write your 1st line of code

When you start a job, ask your boss 2 questions:

1) Who is the best boss you've ever had and what does that mean for me?

2) What does top 10% performance look like?

Hold yourself accountable for high achievement.

If you're a cab driver, drive the most miles

if you're a fisherman, get on the best boat.

How to succeed

• Be a learning machine.
• Find a way to maintain high energy

My investing style: Buy and hold high-quality businesses

Here are 15 traits that tell me I've found a great business ⬇️

1/ Recurring Revenue

Types:

Business Services $MCO
Contracts $AMT
Consumables $MNST
Exchange $MKTX
Franchise $WINA
Membership $TDOC
Platform $ETSY
Razor/blade $DXCM
Real Estate $STOR
SaaS, PaaS, IaaS $TWLO, $NOW, $FSLY
Subscription $NFLX
Tollbooth $BIP

2/ Recession-Proof Demand

Great companies sell products/services that are in-demand in good times and bad

That allows them to grow regardless of what is happening in the broader economy

3/ Organic Growth

"Organic" growth: Growing by increasing sales of internally developed products/services

"Inorganic" growth: Growing from mergers & acquisitions

Organic Growth > Inorganic Growth

4/ High & Expanding Gross Margin

Indicates that the company’s products/services create a huge amount of value for the customer

Rising gross margin also indicates pricing power

🚨🚨 2021 Stock Picks 🚨🚨

Below are 10 stocks I like heading into 2021.

As a long term investor, I don't aim for 12-month returns.

However, I believe that these stocks are positioned to succeed both in 2021 and beyond.

Not recommendations (do your DD).

// Thread //

🔽

Teladoc Health $TDOC

Trading at less than 15X fwd EV/Sales, far too cheap given TAM and upcoming revenue growth.

Wall St. isn't appreciating Livongo addition - which will change when upcoming quarters reveal numbers.

Ark has been loading the boat... 🤔

🔽

Facebook $FB

Has become a political target, which has kept a leash on the stock.

Political issues a non-worry IMO with investors in a win-win scenario. Spinning off assets would create immense value for investors (Instagram).

Huge presence in VR provides future upside.

🔽

Skillz Inc. $SKLZ

Wall St. currently sees a gaming platform, but hidden underneath is a "pick and shovel" model to monetize mobile games.

Wonderful business economics (95% GM) despite the rawness of the business model.

Little to no competition with a large and growing TAM.

🔽

Roku $ROKU

A winner in 2020 that I think will keep winning.

Powerful industry tailwinds in the streaming space and Roku is a leading beneficiary due to market share.

Additions of HBO Max and Peacock on the platform were late in 2020, so 2021 numbers should see an impact.

🔽

BTC has likely created more millionaires (10,000+?) and deca millionaires (1,000+?) than any company or startup in history. these are individual “retail” investors realizing these returns, not institutions, which may drive the Rise of Retail...

1) retail interest in speculative (high-risk/high-reward) investments will continue to sky rocket. BTC’s meteoric USD-denominated value climb sets a new benchmark. everyone is already chasing the next dragon.

2) more speculative public equity is being purchased by retail investors who are increasingly becoming key driver of public offering events (through SPACs, direct listings, and IPOs syndicated to retail investors. instead of a handful of “strong” institutional investors).

3) banks, exchanges, funds that make it easier for retail to participate in public offerings will benefit. imagine an online-only brokerage as the sole book runner on an IPO, syndicating only to their retail accounts. if it worked, every IPO may soon follow.

4) many of these speculative public companies will likely fail to perform over time, but all it takes is a handful delivering 10-100x returns to keep interest strong. the likely reaction will be diversification, which will further drive demand.

1/ My most popular tweets of 2020 by month (thread)

January:

A reminder of @morganhousel cash strategy.

For every $1,000 in cash:

More: ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

2/ February

If you've truly found the next $AMZN, $AAPL, or $NFLX and can hold for years, it's nearly impossible to overpay.

But finding them is hard.

3/ March

Millennials have seen tech crash, 2008, and now #COVID19

I'm worried that many of them will swear off the stock market -- the greatest wealth-building device ever -- for life.

4/ April

Want to see the checklists used by

Buffet
Dalio
Fischer
Graham
Greenblatt
Klarman
Marks
Munger

and

5/ May

When the P/E ratio is:

Useless (Stage 1, 4) - $MDB, $SHOP, $PINS, $GME, $JCP

Semi-useful (Stage 2) - $TTD, $NFLX

Useful! (Stage 3) - $MSFT, $AAPL, $V

In determining valuation

We found 6 startups that are growing way faster than everyone else.

We figured out their unconventional growth tactics.

This thread walks you through how to repeat them for yourself.

1/6 Experiment with timing.

Here's a clever example:

@brooklinen "leaked" a time-bounded discount and had one of their *best* revenue days of the year.

Great startups experiment not only with copy/creative, but also framing.

2/6 Get people to FEEL the problem your startup solves.

Here’s how Muzzle (notification hiding tool) uses their site to visualize the problem:

• Shows cringey notifications
• Makes them super vulgar
• Points out how Muzzle puts an end to this during Zoom calls

3/6 Poach potential customers from competitors:

• Create landing pages that compare you against them
• Address customers' biggest objections
• Show your product in action

Then, when people search for you versus your competitors, you'll show up on the Google results page.

4/6 Improve your attribution.

It's often unclear what drives a purchase.

So try this:

• Add a post-purchase survey asking customers how they found you
• Remove friction—limit choices. Make it super easy to quickly select the right one

Attribution helps you double down.

How to Use Cialdini's Influence Principles to Grow On Twitter

// A THREAD //

Robert Cialdini took various kinds of sales/marketing/door-to-door sales jobs to figure out what techniques those "magician of persuasion" use.

Then he defined the 6 principles of INFLUENCE.

How to use them to grow on Twitter?

1. Reciprocity

Don't be afraid to give away.

Give away:

- likes
- RTs
- engagement

The bigger accounts will notice... and reciprocate.

It's human nature.

Action step: Write 20 comments a day (don't ask for anything).

2. Scarcity

is an enormously powerful weapon but make sure you use it well so it doesn't look sneaky.

You can use it for:

- Get beta testers
- Running limited sales
- Doing AMA (1hr) [bigger accounts)

Action step: Before a launch write you're looking for max 3 beta testers.

3. Authority

cannot be built by tweeting platitudes.

You'll have to show you know what you do and you understand it.

The reward will be sweet.

Action step: Post a thread from your field of expertise 3x per week.

PS. Even if you don't consider yourself a pro yet.

Want to try #NoCode but don't know where to start?

Here's a thread of ways to begin your no-code journey 🧵👇

1/?

Task: 📃 Create a simple single-page website for creating your online profile

Platform: @carrd

2/?

Task: 🏗️ Create a sophisticated website for your business

Platform: @webflow

3/?

Task: 🚀 Launch a website to publish articles or show off your portfolio

Platform: @readymag or @SubstackInc

4/?

Task: 🧭 Create a web app and/or a mobile app

Platform: @bubble and/or @thunkable

5/?

Last month, 250k people visited https://t.co/nkcmLxbhzC, mostly from Google search.

Here are some things I've learned about SEO:

1. Second-and-third-order consequences

SEO is a "mind game" of second-and-third-order consequences. The work you do today will not yield results immediately.

Write an article, publish it, and then get no results. This makes you think you "did it wrong". Most people quit here.

Just go in with the expectation that you won't see results for six months after publish.

Instead of getting discouraged, just write more and publish more. By the time you published your 20th article, you might start finally seeing the results of your first.

2. SEO industry is mostly BS

Try to avoid SEO experts and industry nonsense, they are mostly distractions.

*Examples of distractions*: Google algorithm updates, schema markup, page speed, meta tags.

Do you think you’re smarter than Google’s algorithm? Maybe today, definitely not tomorrow.

Write and publish compelling content that answers the searcher’s query. That’s it!

@Moz:

How to Get Rich (without getting lucky):

Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.

Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.

Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.

You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity - a piece of a business - to gain your financial freedom.