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Being interesting is cool…
But being interested is 10x cooler
Someone who focuses on being interesting only thinks about what they’re going to say next.
Someone who focuses on being interested tries to understand the other person.
Who would you rather have a discussion with?
Be that person.
Miles retweeted
Where Does High Conviction Start?
2 min read
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Every great founder appears to have insanely high conviction in public.
If you are just starting out, sometimes you don’t feel that and that leads you to question yourself. Do I have what it takes?
Classic imposter syndrome.
What you need to know.
Conviction grows over time.
Few people start out with insanely high conviction on a new thing. In fact if they do, it’s probably a bad sign.
The best ones start out experimenting. Wandering into new problems. New discovery. And it’s in that process, they start to build conviction. They start to see what maybe others haven’t yet.
This can take months. Sometimes even years.
The most famous college dropout of all time is Zuckerberg, started Facebook in Jan 2004 at Harvard.
1 year later, in an interview with Harvard Crimson - he was still talking about going back to school. Facebook was still an experiment to him and the early team. Eventually, the results spoke for themselves and they realized there was no going back.
The point.
Don’t let imposter syndrome stop you from exploring new ideas. You don’t need to be high conviction to START an idea. You only need to be curious, to work hard, & to truth seek to first principles.
It may go nowhere. That’s fine. You learn.
And it may go somewhere. And along that journey, is when your curiosity will evolve into high conviction.
And you will be like all the great founders you admire.
…Altho to be honest, you probably will still never think that to yourself. To yourself, you hopefully will always stay the curious truth seeker you started the journey as.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
- Pablo Picasso
Miles retweeted
“We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science…
We are not to raise up among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters…
We shall not search for great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen—of whom we have ample supply.”
Miles retweeted
Today is my last day working for @AliAbdaal
For the last 2.5 years, I’ve been his Head of YouTube (I made up that job title).
That meant doing everything from coming up with video ideas, working with editors and writers, to pretending I know how to use a camera.
I ran the channel while it doubled from 3m to 6m subscribers, and generated millions in revenue.
They’ve been the best and most transformative years of my life.
And it’s been nothing short of a dream job.
When I quit my consulting job at 25, I had no idea where I was going. But I started a YouTube channel because of Ali and somehow ended up working for him 9 months later.
It blew my mind.
For a long time it felt extremely hard to look beyond the job. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.
But over the course of the job and this year, some things have changed.
My learning in the role had started to plateau. Ali got married and moved to Hong Kong. And I started to want a new challenge.
For the past 4 years that I’ve had full-time jobs, I’ve also always had side hustles.
I’ve used the mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays to pursue exciting projects and learn as much as possible.
I didn’t really know what I was working towards, but over time the new dream became clearer. The dream of running my own business became more concrete.
I’m 28 now, and I feel ready for it.
I learned an important lesson when I quit my consulting job 3 years ago.
100% certainty doesn’t exist.
You only need more than 50%, then you're good to go.
I’ll remain great friends with Ali and the team. And if my business implodes then I’m sure I can find a way to add value to the team again too.
For a long time, the dream was being part of this team and business. And it’s been incredible.
So it’s taken me a while to accept the idea of giving up my dream job. But I’ve realised that dreaming is a continuous process, and the new dream is to grow my own business.
Ali himself has been nothing short of a life-changing employer, mentor and friend. I couldn’t be more grateful for his presence in my life.
I'm sure I'll write a '10 lessons I've learned from Ali Abdaal' thread imminently.
I'll share more about my plans in future, but in short I’ll be continuing to help educational YouTubers grow their channels and businesses (send me a DM if you want to connect!).
The underlying mission has always been to help educate the world, it’s why I left consulting for YouTube in the first place.
I can’t wait.
If you want to follow along the journey, check out the newsletter in my bio :)
(This picture was taken just after I spoke to Ali about leaving the business, while we were on a team trip in Porto a couple months ago.)
Miles retweeted
In 2012, Adidas secured the title sponsorship of the Olympics for $150 million and thought they would overshadow Nike.
However, Nike used a brilliant strategy to outperform Adidas and dominate the Olympics.
Here’s the full story:
Miles retweeted
This was Figma at the start - 2 kids in a dorm.
Now it's doing $600M in ARR per year.
Here's the story:
Miles retweeted
ship.tips Edition 4: Sunday
5 newsletters summarized
- "How Duolingo reignited user growth" by Lennys Newsletter (Jorge Mazal)
= "Marketing for product-obsessed developers" by @marclou
= "What kind of startup are you building?" by @gregisenberg
- "Understand, Identify, and Execute" by @petergyang
- "UX and the Feynman Technique" by @uxdesigncc
How would you craft a product pitch that sells?
First, you should probably begin the pitch by vividly illustrating the customers problem.
Peter Yang wrote about this recently and dove even deeper by saying this approach ensures that the pitch truly resonates with the audience’s needs and experiences.
Going from highlighting features to real-world challenges makes all the difference.
Plus, by identifying gaps in already existing solutions, you can position your product as the necessary answer.
Something like this could help you align directly with what your customer is seeking.
By framing your product as a necessity, rather than just another option, you will surely craft a pitch that sells.
Do you think technical founders need a business co-founder?
Y Combinator thinks so, but it’s for reasons you probably didn’t think of.
For example, they brought up how tasks like sales, customer support, and fundraising don’t just rely on capability but on the founder’s willingness and enthusiasm.
Skill set < Attitude towards embracing diverse business roles
Do you agree with them?
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Miles retweeted
ship.tips Edition 3: Thursday
5 newsletters summarized
- "The deeper meaning behind Japan's unique UX design culture" by @uxdesigncc
- "How to Craft a Great Product Pitch that Sells" by @petergyang
- "Product model Concepts" by Silicon Valley Product Group
- "Chains of Assumptions" by @joulee
- "The 10x Salesperson" by @ttunguz
🔻 Did you know Notion was a failing company at the start?
It’s true.
They went from a no-code startup, to a vision…
A vision of a “post-file, post-MS Office world”, focusing on a variety of workplace software needs.
They found their bread and butter in docs and tasks, appealing especially to non-technical users.
Then, the release of Notion 2.0 came out, offering an all-encompassing workspace with innovative features.
This incredibly strategic evolution, paired with targeted launches, led to a flood of users and even attracted VC interest.
If there’s one thing we can learn from Notion, it’s that one pivot can change everything.
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Miles retweeted
Introducing: the ship.tips quality standard
Twice a week we analyze 23 newsletters from top product leaders & send you only summaries of the best.
Creator & content selections are opinion based, using the below criteria...
🤩 They’re a stand out founder, PM, or product person
🛠 They actually build products
🟧 They value Y Combinator principles
🧑💻 Only what’s most relevant to busy product builders
This standard will be ever-improving, & we’d love to hear some feedback.
Check it out: ship.tips
Founders and passionate product people typically work 12 hours a day on average.
So, are you really going to spend your precious free time reading 23 newsletters?
Most likely not...
But you still don’t want to miss out on what product leaders are discussing or insights that could inspire your next move.
That’s why I'm building a newsletter that selects the best 5 articles from the top 23 leaders in the product space, then sends you short summaries of each in one email. (as shown)
Two editions have already been released. Click the link in @shiptips_ bio to check them out.
Your feedback will help us save you more time, create better summaries, and overall, assist you in shipping better products. So, tell me what you really think!
Miles retweeted
ship.tips Edition 2: Sunday
5 newsletters summarized
- “Pay-per-task is the new business model of the internet" by @gregisenberg
- "How Notion grows" by @aakashgupta
- "Why and how we do work trials at Linear" by @linear
- "Do technical founders need a business co-founder?" by @ycombinator
- "How to tell if work is beautiful" by @joulee
Behind the scenes of a brand new newsletter...
Five days ago we launched @shiptips_
And posted our first edition yesterday.
Here's how it went:
Not a big splash yet, but we're just warming up.
Huge thank you to everyone that read and shared feedback!
We're already working on making Sunday's edition even better.
Stay tuned 👀
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