Erik Torenberg Profile picture
Dec 6, 2018 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/ Responding to some DM questions publicly so others can see / contribute thoughts as we collectively think aloud…

“What should you do after college?”

Start building your moat*

* = Moats are somewhat exclusionary so I'd like to pick a better metaphor...
2/ As a reminder: Best way to build a moat is to start a company, which you can likely do sooner than you think:



But there are other ways--building specific knowledge, skills, and assets:
3/ Let’s say you just graduated college (with no network or legibility or specific skills) and, through sheer hustle (+ luck), you’ve been given an entry job at a high-brand opportunity.

It’s high brand, but not directly increasing specific knowledge/skills

Should you take it?
4/ I think the Q to ask is it will expose you to enough direct knowledge / skills opportunities over a short enough time span (i.e 2 years).

If this is your “get in the game” ticket.

Your price of entry to build your skillset, knowledge base, or asset

5/ IMO, most people stay far too long at these positions, even when marginal rate of learning is significantly decreasing.



Some people confuse brands & bridges:
6/ Zooming out : A quicker & more defensible way to “get in the game” is via acquiring specific skills/knowledge.

e.g of two archetypes:

Jared Seehafer has very specific knowledge about the FDA

Ron Conway is known as an elite generalist VC/angel + relationship-based investor.
7/ Using both of these two as archetypes (forgive the simplicity…)

In the past, to get to Jared (or even know who Jared is) you would have to know Ron.

Not anymore.

As information asymmetry decreases overtime, the expert’s leverage increases, the router’s leverage decreases.
8/ If you pursue skills, you’ll sacrifice network, brand, and short-term $

You may even look dumb:

You’ll toil in ascetic obscurity until, suddenly, you won’t.

And all these opportunities will come your way, and then more as your skill/asset compounds.
9/ Another DMed question: "But shouldn't I focus on building a network or brand?"

Only to the extent that it strengthens your specific knowledge / skill / asset.

Someone asked Peter Thiel about networking after college: “at 22, I didn't think it was important to meet people”

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More from @eriktorenberg

Jun 8, 2023
I’m excited to (finally) announce the launch of my newest incubated venture: @TurpentineMedia, a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more covering tech, business, and culture, from the perspective of industry insiders and experts.

Think The Ringer or Barstool, for tech.

We… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
There exist practitioners in every vertical who’d make more money & have more fun being a business creator for their niche, & Turpentine is here to help them do it

Think @lennysan @HarryStebbings @packyM, 7-figure biz creators just off podcasts & newsletters

Just the beginning.
Read 17 tweets
Mar 24, 2023
Hey Everybody. I’m excited to finally release my main interview show that I'll host for the rest of my life.

First episode with @pmarca is out now. Next guests include @DavidSacks, @balajis, @ezraklein, @KTmBoyle, @JTLonsdale, & more

Preview of the episodes below:
Check out the podcast episode with Marc Andreessen below. I'm biased, but I think this interview gives the best insight into his intellectual journey over the past decade.

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0bYfnu…

YouTube:
In the first episode with @pmarca, we discuss:

- Marc's intellectual evolution
- Why billionaires think the same
- @elonmusk as the return to entrepreneurial capitalism
- Larry Page on why giving money to Elon is the best philanthropy
- Effective Altruism's blind spots

clips:
Read 8 tweets
Mar 18, 2023
E13 of MOZ w/ @dwr @antoniogm & @ByrneHobart is up. We discuss:

- Byrne's early warnings on SVB
- How banking works
- Whether crypto will reinvent or merely recreate the existing financial system.
Thanks to sponsor @riversidefm. Riverside captures exceptional audio and video quality and makes it incredibly easy for us to record shows with multiple guests.

Riverside offers a 20% discount with code ZEN
bit.ly/Riverside_MoZ
Read 4 tweets
Jan 2, 2023
What's the best podcast *episode* you listened to in 2022? Here are some of my favorites:
Read 17 tweets
Dec 31, 2022
Here are some of the most interesting books and blog posts that changed my mind in 2022:
Ancient City

TLDR: For 99.9% of our existence, Western society has been a fascist-communist cult that joined ethnicity, religion, and culture.

We can see some similarities today: ancestor worship = identity politics; nature worship = environmentalism

amazon.com/Ancient-City-R…
Zeihan's The End of The World is Just The Beginning

Deglobalization combined w/ depopulation changes everything

The idea of global supply chains goes away; the idea of a single price for oil goes away; the idea that we can feed 8 billion people goes away
amazon.com/End-World-Just…
Read 21 tweets
Oct 31, 2022
What makes group chats uniquely good is partly the privacy but mostly the chemistry of the group

There should be a feature where, if everyone opts in, you can seamlessly publish the part of the chat that's appropriate for public consumption
Talkshow founded by the excellent @sippey tried this in 2016, but perhaps now's a better time for it since group chats are more prominent today given how stilted social networks have gotten

theverge.com/2016/4/26/1151…
This blogpost gives an example of what it's like to read a thoughtful text conversation: aaronzlewis.com/blog/2020/08/0…
Read 4 tweets

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