#083: $10,000 Worth of Startup Advice, Learn the FYP Over Python, Sims Recommended Reading

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 startup advice worth over $10,000, the most relevant strategies and frameworks for posting on social media, the recommended reading from the first Sims game manual, and more.

Let's dive in:

$10,000 Worth of Startup Advice

​Hector Lopez recently called out viral app builder Nikita Bier on his $10,000 fee for a 60 minute call on Intro. He stated, "Wait...@nikitabier did 10M downloads and now charges $10k for a 60 min app strategy call? I've done 200M downloads and still answer DMs for free."
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A post that was perhaps made in jest garnered over 800k views on Twitter, which spurred Hector to quote tweet his original post with startup advice. Apparently his DMs were being melted by those looking for his 'free advice', so he decided to share a 'stupid simple' framework for how to think about your startup:

What I appreciate about this candor, is Hector doesn't require you to read a 200-page book, watch an hour long video, or buy some unnecessarily long course. Most of the best advice can be distilled in a simple format like this, and I believe he's right for nearly 90% of use cases.

Post Online Everyday Forever

I love Zach Pogrob. He's crazy. He's obsessed. And I believe he will be in Austin, TX. shortly to run a "Last Man Standing" competition. He's been spreading the gospel of Obsession for some time on Twitter and IG, but one of his latest posts stood out to me especially.

If you are ever considering putting yourself out there on social media, or perhaps you are falling behind on your existing posting schedule, remember Uncle Zach's words here:

Zach 🏴 @zachpogrob I believed this (posting online every day forever) when I started making content in 2019 I was graduating school And it just hit me Then I started, and never stopped Here's how my current Instagram looked like 6 years ago If you feel this in your gut Just start! https://twitter.com/zachpogrob/status/1922285957534941326 Zach 🏴 @zachpogrob I believe all humans should write online every day, forever. If not writing, then some creative medium- video, audio, photo, etc. For free- you build compounding awareness on yourself, your ideas, your mission. It's crazy to me the vast majority never do this. Crazy. 8:52 AM • May 13, 2025 5 Retweets 112 Likes Read 13 replies

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Learn the FYP Over Python

​Greg Isenberg makes a great point that you should be studying the For You Page on social media instead of learning a coding language like Python. Although there are benefits to being technical with all the modern coding tools available, the most important thing skill always come back to knowing how to capture user attention.

For better or worse, short form is the way to market products and services for the foreseeable future. If you aren't able to stop the scroll and keep someone engaged for 20-60 seconds, it becomes extremely expensive in upfront and opportunity cost to keep working on a product there might not even be a demand for.

Greg made a 10 point tweet expanding on this idea with some other gems. Here are a few of my other favorites:

Actually Good Social Media Advice

In the spirit of the above two posts, here is some tangible advice from creator economy experts Colin and Samir on how to crush short form content. They recently sat down with YouTube Shorts expert Ernesto Perez (1.6B views in 2025 alone) who boiled it down to 3 main points:

Sims Recommended Reading

Did you know the first Sims game came with a list of recommended reading?

It was meant to provide players a with deeper insight into the design philosophy and intellectual foundations behind the game. The list featured books on topics such as social theory, economics, time management, architecture, urban planning, human consciousness, and relationships. These subjects reflect the broad range of ideas that influenced the game's development, as creator Will Wright wanted to simulate real-life social and psychological dynamics in a virtual environment.

The reading list spanned subjects from household economics and time use to interpersonal relationships and consciousness. For example, books like Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time and Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life informed how Sims manage their daily activities and resources, while Finding Your Perfect Love influenced the game's approach to relationships. The inclusion of The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size highlights the game's philosophical exploration of consciousness and reality simulation.

It's a fascinating meta analysis that will make you think twice about things like simulation theory, especially if you're a fan of the game yourself. You can access the full list here.

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