Some thoughts on a famous “tweetstorm” by Naval Ravikant#

The following is a “tweetstorm” by Naval Ravikant in 2018 with my own notes.

Really, it’s nothing more than a series of extrapolations on his ideas to help me internalize these concepts.

THE BASICS#

Seek wealth, not money or status#

1/Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.

This is an easy one to figure out, much harder to put into practice. You want the first thing. The first thing will (probably) give you the other two, so you don’t need to chase those. At the very least, wealth creation will give you money. And as Naval says, money can’t solve everything but it can solve all your money problems.

Ethical wealth creation is possible#

2/Understand ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.

My own interpretation: people (including myself) tend to see worrying about money as some kind of negative trait or a character flaw.

This isn’t inherently true. It can be true. But it isn’t true by default.

It’s possible to worry in a way that is consistent with living a good life. Don’t be afraid of admiting that wealth is what you ultimately seek. It’s ok.

Ignore status games#

3/Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.

See above. This is true and probably one of the main reasons people fear seeking wealth and worrying about money. They don’t want to be attacked.

But if you heed Naval’s advice here and you ignore status games and the people who play them, then you have nothing to fear.

Renting out your time won’t make you rich#

4/You're not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity - a piece of a business - to gain your financial freedom.

Basically, this means a job - even a really high paying one - isn’t a path to wealth in and of itself. It can be a tool or a means to travel down that path, but it alone can’t make you rich.

In short: investing will make you rich if you do it right. You don’t have to start your own business, you just have to own a piece of one (or multiple pieces of multiple businesses): think stocks, real estate, etc.

Give society what it needs - at scale#

5/You will get rich by giving society what it wants but doesn't yet know how to get. At scale.

This is a tougher one - seems like it’s more or less exclusive to creating a business. Or at least providing an elite service that is either unmatched or only matched by a very select few.

Play long-term games#

6/Pick an industry where you can play long-term games with long-term people.

I think I’ve heard Naval expound on this before using the concept of compound interest. Relationships compound. This isn’t get rich quick. Low and slow. Warren Buffett’s famous quote about “time in the market” and not “timing the market” also comes to mind here.

It’s still early for the internet#

7/The internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven't figured this out yet.

The internet may no longer be in its infancy, but the world of possibilities (both great and terrible) it has opened up for humanity is still quite young.

This tweet was also written before AI really took over the tech scene, but it’s a great example of exactly what Naval was talking about.

Concepts like crypto and Balaji’s Network State are other examples

All returns in life come from compound interest#

8/Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.

And once you get going, don’t stop. Or as Charlie Munger (I think) says, “never interrupt it unnecessarily.”

A lesson I’ve had to learn too many times to count.

Integrity, energy, and intelligence#

9/Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy, and above all, integrity.

Expand this, or amend this to say: work with people who have these traits.

You can’t always choose your teammates, but do your best to cultivate this kind of atmosphere where ever you might find yourself.

Avoid cynics and pessimists#

10/Don't partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling.

This one is pretty self-explanatory but to add to it: don’t let yourself be one of these people either.

It’s far too easy to be a pessimist.

Cynicism is for the weak and the foolish. It’s a favorite cop-out of cowards.

It’s quite pernicious too because it can give you a false sense of superiority over other people who are too “stupid” to realize what you see so clearly. Don’t give in to these impulses.

Being an optimist takes a lot of wowrk, but the future belongs to optimists so it’s a worthwhile investment.

Foundational skills#

11/Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.

One could probably write a whole blog post about this. I couldn’t. But someone could.

I’ll keep this simple:

  • Learn to sell = storytelling
  • Learn to build = execute and deliver

After you execute and deliver on a vision, the work isn’t done.

You need to tell compelling stories about the work you did such that it acts as a force multiplier, helping others understand the value proposition of what you’ve built.

Arm yourself#

12/Arm yourself with specific knowledge, accountability, and leverage.

  • Sepcific knowledge: domain expertise, i.e. technical writing.
  • Accountability: take risks for where you are fully (or mostly) responsible for the outcome, or “take risks under your own name.”
  • Leverage: something to amplify the results of your expertise and willingness to take risk, i.e. code, products, labor, capital.

DEVELOP SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE#

What is specific knowledge?#

13/Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else, and replace you.

Unfortunately, a lot of what counts as technical writing already falls into this category and it’s getting even worse with AI. Society can just train robots to replace you.

I think the time is coming for people with real ideas and an ability to make decisions. No one wants to take on the risk of decision making - myself included.

How to find specific knowledge#

14/Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now.

This is a killer of a next tweet because you might think, well I’ll just go into AI or blockchain or whatever but those are exactly what are hot right now. Do you possess a genuine curiosity? Because you won’t get to that deep level of knowledge without it. So be careful hopping onto the next big thing.

Sometimes I think a better play would be to learn something old. Like for example, REST APIs are the hot thing and have been for some time. But if history is any indicator, there will be more than a few businesses who have not and will not get with the times for a while. They move like aircraft carriers. They might still be using SOAP APIs ten years from now, who knows? But everyone will have moved on and there will still be a need to maintain these things for these legacy services because businesses depend on them.

There’s an opportunity there. Maybe.

You see it with trades and blue collar businesses now too. Not saying you have to do this, but if you’re having trouble developing or finding what Naval is talking about, maybe look backward instead of looking forward.

It’s work that feels like play#

15/Building specific knowledge will feel like play to you but will look like work to others.

This is an easy one and you see this advice in some for or another all over the place. Follow your passion. Love what you do and you won’t work a day in your life.

File this one under the trite-but-true category. There’s a reason things become cliches. Find the things that you can get lost doing, the things where you start working and suddenly you look up and hours have passed, the things that don’t fill you with dread when they pop up on your to-do list.

School can’t give it to you#

16/When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.

It can’t be outsourced#

17/Specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative. It cannot be outsourced or automated.

TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY#

Embrace it#

18/Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage.

Examples#

19/The most accountable people have singular, public, and risky brands: Oprah, Trump, Kanye, Elon.

APPLY LEVERAGE#

A quick quote#

20/"Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth." - Archimedes

You can’t build wealth without it#

21/Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media).

Capital leverage#

22/Capital means money. To raise money, apply your specific knowledge, with accountability, and show resulting good judgment.

Labor leverage#

23/Labor means people working for you. It's the oldest and most fought-over form of leverage. Labor leverage will impress your parents, but don’t waste your life chasing it.

Permission required#

24/Capital and labor are permissioned leverage. Everyone is chasing capital, but someone has to give it to you. Everyone is trying to lead, but someone has to follow you.

Permissionless leverage is where it’s at#

25/Code and media are permissionless leverage. They're the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep.

Robot armies ar at your disposal#

26/An army of robots is freely available - it's just packed in data centers for heat and space efficiency. Use it.

Alternatives#

27/If you can't code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.

The great force multiplier, be careful#

28/Leverage is a force multiplier for your judgement.

LEARN#

Learn foundational skills#

29/Judgement requires experience, but can be built faster by learning foundational skills.

Business is not a skill#

30/There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes.

What to study#

31/Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, and computers.

Do > Read > Listening#

32/Reading is faster than listening. Doing is faster than watching.

MANAGE YOUR TIME#

Declutter your calendar#

33/You should be too busy to “do coffee," while still keeping an uncluttered calendar.

What’s your time worth?#

34/Set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate. If fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate, ignore it. If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it.

Work hard#

35/Work as hard as you can. Even though who you work with and what you work on are more important than how hard you work.

Be elite#

36/Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.

There are no shortcuts#

**37/**There are no get rich quick schemes. That’s just someone else getting rich off you.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER#

Get what you deserve#

38/Apply specific knowledge, with leverage, and eventually you will get what you deserve.

The real work begins#

39/When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. But that's for another day.