“Tim Chen reflects on the arc of his journey as founder after more than a decade of company building. He shares the six mindset shifts he needed to make to transition from entrepreneur to executive as his startup scaled, weaving together a collection of lessons that will be invaluable for any founder finding themselves at this very same crossroads.” | learn more
Principles of shaping
The fine folks at Basecamp have released a manual that teaches the world how they work. This page covers a topic they call shaping. It’s supremely interesting and especially relevant if you manage digital products, though I think it’s great even if you don’t. “When we shape the work, we need to do it at the right level of abstraction: not too vague and not too concrete. Product managers often err on one of these two extremes.” | learn more
Learn like an athlete
A post from David Perell about learning (not sports). “When he entered the NBA, LeBron wasn’t a strong shooter. I’d bet the house that early in his career, LeBron built his off-season training regimen around his weak jump shot and disappointing 42% field goal percentage during his rookie season. As his Instagram posts reveal, LeBron worked for his strength, agility, impeccable history of injury avoidance, and an outstanding 54% field goal percentage during his 14th NBA season.” | learn more
The recipe for a happy life
From our friends (and subscribers) George & Mary-Lynn at Bigg Success. “The recipe for a happy life consists of three ingredients. The ingredients are important, but so is how you mix them together.” | learn more
Parallel play: a kid-approved startup strategy
Researchers from Stanford and Harvard Business School studied new ventures in an emerging fintech space for several years. “Want to succeed in a young and unformed market? Try acting like a preschooler.” | learn more
How I practice at what I do
Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University, explains how he applies the principals of deliberate practice to his work and life. | learn more
Carta’s CEO teaches his team how to hire
On the verge of a hiring spree in 2015 that would lead to 79% of employees having been at Carta less than a year, Henry Ward offered his team this excellent advice… | learn more
Knowledge, should you go wide or deep
An interview with author David Epstein about his findings from researching learning. Among other things, he blows up Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule. This is a podcast, though the page I’m linking to includes summary notes so you can get a gist of the content before committing. | learn more
The Yale happiness class, distilled
“The most popular class in the history of Yale University was inspired by a paradox: Even when people, conventionally speaking, succeed—get into a top college, make lots of money, or accumulate prestige and accolades—they are often left feeling unsatisfied.” | learn more
Stop spending so much time in your head
“99% of all thoughts are useless but they’re still controlling your life.” | learn more