Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
Undiscovered #077: How to Spread a Message, Creating for Yourself, Naval on Chris Williamson
#077: How to Spread a Message, Creating for Yourself, Naval on Chris WilliamsonHi 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 take a look at how to effectively spread a message, two interviews from some of the best thinkers alive, and a question that will haunt you as you work this week... Let's dive in: How to Spread a MessageDavid Perell recently interviewed Lulu Cheng Meservey, one of the best corporate communicators in the world. Her newsletter Flack is a guide for modern public relations practices, and she serves as CEO for Rostra Technologies and as a Director on Shopify's board. During the interview, she said that the best way to spread a message is to concentrate on force. Here is an anecdote that David published, referencing the interview: Say you want to puncture a table. You can either slap down on it with both hands or drive a nail through it. Assuming the pressure is the same, using the nail is a much better strategy. The same is true for attention. Jeff Bezos has said "it's always Day 1" 10,000 times, and probably wishes he'd said it even more. Don't become robotic about it, but repetition and simplicity are the only way to spread a message at scale. Lulu says: "Remember Steve Jobs' famous commencement speech where he says Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish? How many people remember anything else from that speech? Like, most people remember one thing. And if Steve Jobs can give the best speech of his life and have us remember one thing, what makes us mortals think that we can give an average speech or blog post or video, and have people remember ten things from it? It just doesn't happen." In whatever medium you intend to spread a message, what is that "one thing" you want the audience to take away? What is the 'nail' that will hammer home the point? A New Interview with Naval RavikantWake up babe... New Naval just dropped. 'Angel philosopher' Naval Ravikant is one of the most widely followed and respected individuals within tech and the startup world. He's been featured on many podcasts over the years, from Shane Parrish, to Tim Ferriss, and even Joe Rogan, but his latest installment is an interview with Chris Williamson. Naval rarely does podcast appearances nowadays, so when he decides to jump on one, it's a big deal. Outside of his interview on BeerBiceps, this is one of the few he has decided to do the last few years. Naval discusses loads of topics including: the true price of success, whether sacrificing your happiness is worth it, what advice Naval would give his younger self, how to overcome low self-esteem, what he would add to his famous "How to Get Rich" thread, and what Naval sees as the next big trends in science and technology. If you'd like to get a sample of the interview, here is Naval talking about wanting the right things along with discussing three ideas that will shape the next 10 years. One question I always had, however, was if Naval is such a great teacher and source of truth, who taught Naval? . . . Direct Truth from Kapil GuptaDr. Kapil Gupta is one of the few individuals who has served as a personal advisor to Naval Ravikant. Him and Naval actually recorded a 40-minute podcast back in 2020, where they discussed sincerity, how-to's, freedom, self-improvement, and the search for truth. Kapil was also recently featured on a podcast with interviewer Shreyas Doshi, where he continues to discuss the relentless pursuit of truth. Fair warning: Kapil is not for everyone. His style is uncompromising, but honest and direct. Unless you have prior exposure to his philosophy, it may come off as brash and excessive. If you are new to him, I highly suggest reading (or listening) to two pieces. 1) So What? (I printed this out and have personally kept this in my office the last five years) 2) That (Can also listen on YouTube here) Rick Rubin on Creating Something for YourselfRick Rubin routinely drops some of my favorite soundbites of any creator. His famous, "I have no technical ability" interview with Anderson Cooper lives rent free in my head. After listening to the heavy podcasts above, this is the perfect palette cleanser. @StartupArchive_ on recently shared the following video on twitter:
In true Rick Rubin fashion, he states a few mottos he lives by: “My only goal is to make something that I like, and I know that I can keep working on it until I like it. So in some ways there’s no pressure.” “The audience comes last… I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. And it turns out that when you make something truly for yourself, you’re doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience.” “So many big movies are just not good. It’s because they’re are not being made by a person who cares about it. They’re being made by people who are trying to make something they think someone else will like. And that’s not how art works.” Rubin touches upon something that Kapil Gupta mentions in his interview: groups do not find truth collectively. It's hard enough for one person to find it, let alone multiple people coming to find truth together. What will the future look like when small teams or individuals can create art that speaks and resonates to fundamental human truths? If Someone Watched You for a Week...A quick question to consider while you work the following week... Thanks @Jayyangisnpires
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Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
#076: Make Your Own Robotic Hand, Karpathy Vibe Codes, What High Agency Looks Like 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 take a look at how to create your own low-cost robotic hand, how Andrej Karpathy has started to vibe code, the future of companionship content, and more. Let's dive in: Make Your Own Robotic Hand I...
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#074: Growing from 2k to 105k Users in 15 Days, Vibe Coding Video Games, Becoming Eloquent 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 take a look at how one app recently grew their user base from 2k to 105k in 15 days, the ultimate guides for learning independent video game development, how to become more eloquent, and more....