I’ve lived in different worlds and met people who have polar opposite lifestyles, beliefs, and thoughts than me. It is interesting and there is so much I learn from everyone.
But when working with someone, you need to have a common foundation to build on.
Here are some things that are non-negotiable for me. You may have a similar list. This helps us find if there is some kind of overlap. These things seem trivial to discuss when there is a good working opportunity to be grabbed. But this also decides the culture and strength of the company/project that we’re building:
- Open to change. If you can’t change your mind about something, we cannot work together
- Humility is essential. If you are always competing with
- Integrity is non-negotiable. Lie once and we are done
- Ideas are nothing, execution is everything
- Courage: Should have the courage to own mistakes and also tell it how it is
- Corollary: Contradictions in words, thoughts and actions need to be pointed out. Goes back to courage + openness to change
- Materialism has a floor and a ceiling, after which marginal change in happiness is insignificant
- Skin in the game is necessary
- Priorities change, never leave anyone hanging
- Value our words. Without this, we cannot have any trust in the relationship
- Accept mistakes. If you never accept mistakes, you are either Buddha or too egoistic to accept them
- Anything that is not explicit is not on the table. Things can be made explicit during the journey
- Think in terms of 20 years, not 1-2 years
- Respect each other’s experience but also know its limitations
- Freedom to fight. There should be freedom to disagree and change course accordingly
- Numbers rule
- I do not trust anyone who says “I am not doing this for money” and still wants to work on a for-profit project
- Most important: We are all here to learn. Changing the world does not happen if you do not embody that change
- Priority pyramid
Content you should read
Everyone’s work ethic and philosophies are shaped by the content we consume. Here are some landmark content that has shaped my thinking:
- Naval’s tweets on money, lifestyle, and broader thinking (of course)
- Hard things about Hard things
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
- 4 hour workweek
- My experiments with truth
- The Bitcoin Standard
- Sapiens
People I religiously follow:
- Conor White-Sullivan
- Visakanv
- Nick Cammarata
- Freya
- Richard Bartlett
- Austen Alfred