Insights from Marcus Aurelius, Elon Musk's algorithm for managing companies, and Naval's best tweets on startups

1: Insights from Marcus Aurelius

• “You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
• “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
• “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
• “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
• “Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one.”

Source: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

2: Elon Musk’s algorithm for managing companies

1. Question every requirement — “Each should come with the name of the person who made it. Requirements from smart people are the most dangerous, because people are less likely to question them. Always do so, even if the requirement came from me. Then make the requirements less dumb.“
2. Delete any part or process you can — “You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn’t delete enough.“
3. Simplify and optimize — “A common mistake is to simplify and optimize a part or a process that should not exist.”
4. Accelerate cycle time — “Every process can be speeded up. But only do this after you have followed the first three steps.”
5. Automate — “That comes last.”

Source: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

3: Naval’s best tweets on startups

"The job of a startup is to find undiscovered talent and distill it into a product."

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"Every startup has acquisition as a backup plan, except for the ones that win."

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"To build product, “make something people want.” To create art, make something *you* want. (The best do both)."