Julian Shapiro Profile picture
Jan 9, 2021 13 tweets 3 min read Read on X
THREAD: 10 significant lies you're told about the world.

On startups, writing, and your career:
People don't have short attention spans:

• They finish 3 hour Joe Rogan episodes.
• They binge 14 hour shows.

They have short *consideration spans:* they must be hooked quickly.

Point: Don't fear making great, in-depth content. But, ensure your first minute is incredible.
In observing friends who’ve sold startups and made millions:

After a year, they’re back to toying with their old side projects.

They used their money to buy a nice home and eat well.

That’s it. They’re otherwise back to who they were.

Point: Aim to be fulfilled, not rich.
Reading many books is the most socially accepted vanity metric for adults.

You get zero kudos for reading 100 books a year.

You get massive kudos for learning efficiently and making interesting things.
Bloggers who post frequently (2x/wk) are rarely worth reading consistently.

I read for insights. And no writer can generate profound insights on a fixed schedule.

I aggregate writers who publish sporadically. When they post, they truly have something to say.
The world is not run by exceptional people.

This is the hidden reason for imposter syndrome.

We mistakenly think imposter syndrome is due to low confidence/anxiety.

No, it’s caused by not accepting that your new, world-class peers aren’t that special. It’s mostly discipline.
Success isn't an end state. Success is having the freedom to focus on the grind you actually enjoy.

Most people should spend way less energy trying to get rich and way more energy building a tight-knit friend group that will be with them until old age.
"You should work your butt off in your 20s."

This misses the point.

Your primary goal isn't to work hard. Your goal is to build leverage.

How? Start with delegation:

"Find someone who can do what you do at 70% the success. Teach them the extra 10% and be okay with 80%."
Beware signing up for tools that can read your email. This includes inbox apps and Chrome extensions.

You're giving a team of 20-year-olds access to the equivalent of your ID, bank vault, and diary combined.

Online privacy is an illusion.
If you construct your identity on what you’re a fan of (sports, media, brands), you’re a vessel. You’re lending out ownership over your identity.

Instead, if you construct your identity on the things you create, you’re a craftsperson—someone who keeps refining who they are.
Most friends aren't friends. They're acquaintances.

Friends phone you out-of-the-blue because they want to hear your voice. Friends would drive you to the emergency room at 3 AM.

Friends are the family you choose, and they're key to happiness in old age.

Invest in good people.
And the biggest lie there is. Image
😂 Image

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More from @Julian

Nov 6
One startup figured out how to make the sun shine AT NIGHT.

They're putting mirrors in space to direct sunlight toward the Earth at nighttime 😂

Here's a video of it, plus a thread on why the science is so interesting:
For context, sunlight hitting Earth in 1 hour can power human civilization for a year.

Meanwhile, solar panels are only useful for ~30% of the day.

In steps a startup putting mirrors into orbit to redirect sunlight onto solar farms at night.

This wasn't doable before now. Why?
What makes this newly feasible is that Falcon 9 lowered the cost of getting to orbit by 10x. Then with Starship, there's a further 5x cost reduction.

That's 50x less to put stuff into space in just 5 years.

And the kicker: SpaceX has a rideshare program for small satellites. Image
Read 21 tweets
Nov 4
It's done! I read 3,000 startup pitch decks.

I wanted to find what the incredible pitches had in common.

Was there a "secret ingredient" unifying them?

YES. The 4 best (that VCs wanted intros to) had the same talking point:
First, here's why most decks were *not* interesting:

Founders believed that explaining how they're better than the competition is what makes them compelling to VCs.

Maybe, but in many markets, it's not hard to suggest a solution better than status quo.

What's more interesting:
...is what approach you use to *acquire customers at scale.*

Meaning, what's your *distribution* insight?

Not just your product insight.

Because if you build something good, often they will not simply come.
Read 35 tweets
Oct 8
You can't imagine how effective China's weather modification program is.

They now control their weather.

My little investigation into how they do it across 50% of their land:
See the graphic below.

In short, by interacting with clouds, China has increased rainfall by 27% in their Northeast.

The extra rain grows *11.6 million* more tons of grain.

That feeds 40 million people. That's the entire population of California.

Here's how they're doing it: Image
They do two things at once:

1. Inject liquids into clouds while...
2. Burning fuel on mountain peaks

How does this work?

And, if we did it ourselves, could we end wildfires, control floods, and eliminate droughts?

The answer might be yes. Image
Read 19 tweets
Feb 14
Ever notice this about crazy good writing?

There's actually an equation to it:

Great writing = Novelty x Resonance^2

• Novelty is what no one has seen before
• Resonance is *how much it grabs you*

Watch how Deadpool + The Boys exploit this. Here's how to tell great stories:
First, let's consider classics like Gladiator and Shawshank Redemption.

They tell clichéd stories as old as time. Gladiator fights and revenge arcs.

NOT a lot of novelty there.

However, they've resonated far more than other films for decades.

Why?
Because they resonate so deeply—by being *harrowing* and *cathartic.*

These resonant qualities overcome their (relative) lack of novelty.

Because, fundamentally, we really want to feel.

What is resonance exactly?
Read 13 tweets
Nov 8, 2023
I'm finally done. I automated my home with 30+ smart home gadgets.

Sensors are everywhere—all across the farm. I feel like a crazy person.

My most clever home automations so far:
First, another breakthrough on preventing bugs: In addition to solving mosquitos (see the last tweet on my profile), I've solved flies too.

Buy this product, trust me:

"RESCUE! Outdoor Disposable Hanging Fly Trap"

The most effective fly trap on Amazon. Image
It's a mix of natural smells that flies can't resist. They choose it over you even when you're cooking meat.

Once they're inside that bag, they're trapped.

Use 2 bags, each 30 feet away from you. Replace monthly. Hallelujah.
Read 22 tweets
Jun 20, 2023
i finally did it! i eliminated all mosquitos. haven't seen one in ages

the technique:

- fill buckets with water, dirt, grass
- place buckets in shade, spread 50ft apart
- put a "mosquito dunk" ($0.50 each) in each
- wait 6 weeks

that's it!

it works because...

Image
Image
Image
mosquitos like to lay eggs in stale water. that's why you put dirt and grass in the buckets—to produce "old water" chemical reactions for them to sense. they like stale water because it's likely to remain, which means their eggs can hatch

now, you see that donut thing? well...
that mosquito "dunk" contains a harmless-to-humans bacteria that kills eggs once laid

as long as you have no other sources of stagnant water on your property (first address that), they have nowhere else to bread but in your buckets

mosquitos only live for a few weeks, SO...
Read 7 tweets

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