#047: Founder Mode, VPN Recommended by Jack Dorsey, How Did 'One Million Checkboxes' End?

Hi All!

We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com.

This week, we will explore the newest viral essay from legendary startup figure Paul Graham, a laptop that you personally assemble with ease, four foundational physics books written by one of the fathers of string theory, and more. Let's dive in:

Founder Mode

Another classic Paul Graham essay just dropped, and this time it covers a theme he describes as Founder Mode. While not as concretely defined as some of his other theses, we found this to be intriguing in how it makes us want to explore the topic more.

In essence, it describes how we can learn valuable lessons from successful founders like Steve Jobs by examining the most effective and actionable strategies they employed during their scaling phases. By understanding these insights, modern companies can apply similar principles to enhance their growth and success.

It also describes the mindset difference between 'Founder Mode' and 'Manager Mode'. It's an excellent read for anyone who is already a founder, or interested in building a company further down the road.

The IKEA of Computers

One of the more interesting computers we have come across recently is the Framework Laptop 13. Its a personal computer that has a range of OS configurations you're able to set up, including Windows and Linux. The most interesting aspect of it to us, though, is that you must set up and build the computer when you receive it (if you choose the DIY option).

Here is a video that was shared on Twitter, with the accompanying comment, "Great video of how easy it is to put the DIY Framework 13 together. It's just enough effort for that IKEA effect to cast its loving glow, but not enough to feel like a total hassle".

If you've ever been interested in building your own laptop, this seems like one of the most approachable ways to start. The Framework allows you to fully customize each part of the computer (inside and out) and it's wonderfully designed.

Jack Dorsey Recommended VPN

Recent news has shown the conflict between Twitter and the Brazilian government. Essentially, there is the possibility that Twitter will be banned in the country, and that individuals there will no longer be able to access what the platform has to offer. This has caused a decent amount of pushback and made people look for ways around a potential block.

One person offering solutions is original Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey. He recently tweeted out the resources Mullvad VPN and Silent Link. Mullvad is a standard VPN service with fair pricing and straightforward mechanics, and Silent Link is an anonymous eSIM that provides global mobile 4G/5G internet access and burner phone numbers on modern smartphones.

If banning internet platforms becomes more prevalent in the future, we can expect to see tools such as these used more commonly.

The Four Foundational Books for Advanced Physics

​Leonard Susskind is one of the fathers of string theory and is widely regarded as one of the most well-respected physicists in the world. We recently found a video where he breaks down 'quantum mechanics in a nutshell' in the span of 24 minutes.

​@thePiggsBoson kindly made a quote reply where they shared four of Susskind's other books on physics, published by Penguin Random House. Those books include Classical Mechanics, General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Special Relativity & Classical Field Theory.

The collection of these books provides a robust foundation for learning advanced physics. If you found the video above intriguing, you will likely appreciate the remainder of Susskind's work.

The Story Behind One Million Checkboxes

​One Million Checkboxes was one of the most viral internet experiments over the course of the last year. If you aren't familiar with it, the concept is this: @itseieio made a website with a million checkboxes on it. Checking one box checks it for everyone. Over 29.4 million people saw the original post of him announcing it.

What started off as a small, playful project became a sensation with over 500,000 concurrent users at its peak. As you can imagine, there were good takeaways from it along with not-so-great ones. But after a couple months, Nolen (@itseieio) shared a final reflection along with his favorite story from running OMCB.

It involves a group of brilliant teens, a secret Discord server, and resulted in Nolen being brought to tears of joy. Definitely worth a read!

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