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Hey friends,
For the holidays I’m putting together a collection of discounted products for my readers.
So far I have companies like Readwise & the Wearable Challenge (hint: how to fast track the Levels waitlist) giving discounts just for my readers. A few others are already done with more in the works!
If you have a product you think would be a good fit hit reply on this email and let’s chat! I’m not taking a cut, I just want to show my readers great products at great discounts just for them.
Have a great week.
Trevor
Wiz Lightbulbs (product)
This is for anyone who’s thought about buying the “change the light color on your phone” products but thought paying $50 for a light bulb was insane.
AFAICT the Wiz lightbulbs are made by Philips Hue (name is on the packaging) and just happen to cost literally $40 less?
The app is different but otherwise it works great. I have two of them in my office. Maybe I’m missing something but so far I feel like this was a steal compared to every other wifi light product I’ve seen. I got them at Home Depot.
Billionaires Build (article)
“I know the politicians are mistaken because it was my job to predict which people will become billionaires. I think I can truthfully say that I know as much about how to do this as anyone. If the key to becoming a billionaire — the defining feature of billionaires — was to exploit people, then I, as a professional billionaire scout, would surely realize this and look for people who would be good at it, just as an NFL scout looks for speed in wide receivers.”
Please see my essay from 2018 on why we should glorify those who build. Who society chooses to deify matters, and this is one of the top reasons why I approve of the cultural worship of an Elon Musk or a Steve Jobs - you want the population to aspire to become builders.
Founder/CEO of Buffer looks back on 10 years at Buffer (article)
There’s things that you just don’t learn any other way than living them, and I’d put the experiences of a founder/CEO at the top of that list. Joel has earned everything he knows through his own blood, sweat, and tears.
One interesting tidbit I learned was that Buffer turned down a 9 figure acquisition offer from a public company in 2014.
Lessons for early stage founders (article)
Great list from the cofounder of Segment (just sold to Twilio for $3.2B). My personal favorite was #1 - Set Goals. It can be surprisingly scary to set goals, even as an individual. “What if they’re the wrong goals?!”
How to co-live with friends for the summer (article)
Justin Mares lived as a community of friends for the summer in 3 different configurations. His girlfriend Janine organized most of it and did a write up on how it went.
I always think back to college as one of the best times in life and ask myself - why isn’t the rest of life just like college?
“College” means a lot of things depending on your experience, but specifically what I miss is the random serendipity of running into people. It’s easier to make friends & build relationships when you don’t need an excuse to see someone.
As you get older, the bar for “hanging out” just gets higher and higher - but it doesn’t need to. I think these types of living situations will only become more popular. Right now it’s a way to have a fun experience, but eventually you could select for people that you trust to help babysit, work on projects together, etc.
Teach debugging (article)
I like this not because of the point the author was trying to make (that CS programs should teach debugging) but because of the broader application of debugging. If we could all systematically debug various types of problems (engineering, social, relationship, work, etc.) we could all be better off.
It seems like the trick to debugging is breaking down a thing into it’s smallest and most concrete parts. My friend Sam Bhagwat from Gatsby calls this “line checking” - check out a Twitter conversation on the topic between us here.