Thread by @ShaanVP

In 2021,

I made some 🔥good decisions...and some terrible decisions 😭
I made some 🔥 good investments.. and some awful investments 😭

investments, decisions, purchases, advise, habits, - I wrote em all down. Here's my list of the 🔥BEST & WORST 😭for 2021 ⬇️

🔥BEST DECISION - hiring a personal trainer

Hiring Coach John as my personal trainer to come to my house 5x a week.

I still look "before photo"-ish, but made a lot of progress & flipped habits

smash teh like button if you see my little abbies coming in

😭WORST DECISION

"Secure the bag"

My deal when we got acquired had a 3-year vesting clause

I stayed for 2yrs

I shoulda stayed for... zero

Hard to say no to a 7-fig 💰but I woulda had more fun & made more $$$ if I had quit on day 1.

I undervalued the biggest asset, TIME!

🔥BEST INVESTMENT --

I'll give 1 for each:

*CRYPTO: bought eth at $191 last year. It's up 21x this year
*STARTUPS: Hard to choose, but @replit & @deel are big breakout winners
*PE: invested ~$200k into Enduring Ventures (@xavierhelgesen) it's up ~4x in 1 yr

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen 😭WORST INVESTMENT --

A 3 way tie between:
* Zillow (thanks for the hot tip @austin_rief @nikitabier !) , ZG shit the bed (-52%)
* Fastly (down -56%)
* Agora (-50%) - (should have dumped it knowing what I knew about clubhouse)

brb gonna go puke into my coffee mug

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 🔥BEST PURCHASE -- (under $100)

Jamby's boxers with pockets.

I bought a lot of things this year. But great underwear is hard to beat.

These guys innovated on boxers in 2 key ways:

1*pockets!!
2* no hole, so no peepshow risk. (who uses the hole anyways?)

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 😭WORST PURCHASE -- (over $100)

Clearlight Infrared Sauna. ($6k)

The son of a bitch doesn't get hot enough. Takes like 30-40 mins just to break a sweat. I don't want to wait 30 mins to start sweating!

They are sending me a replacement heater, hopefully it fixes it.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 🔥MY BEST TAKE --

I like to make predictions, or put out opinions that not everyone agrees with me on.

This was an easy one. Two takes went stupid-viral this year.

1) My Clubhouse Prediction

https://twitter.com/ShaanVP/status/1371972261004070913

2) My Metaverse Definition

https://twitter.com/ShaanVP/status/1454151237650112512

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 😭MY WORST TAKE --

I think that memes are the most effective form of communication.

I posted this as a half joke, trying to hire an intern to make memes for me. People turned this into a meme. And they are good at memes. Got bullied 😂

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 🔥BEST IDEA --

I had an idea to create a DAO or Fractional NFT to buy Michael Jordan's house that's been on the market for 10 years.

https://twitter.com/thehustle/status/1367857563765727237

Basically what the ConstitutionDAO did when it raised $40M. Shoulda pulled the trigger on this one

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 😭WORST IDEA --

I really wanted a nanny but my wife doesn't want one. We went back and forth about it, but couldn't come to an agreement.

Since I'm a genius, I decided to hire one anyways and see if my wife would change her mind once she showed up..

narrator: she did not

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 🔥BEST BOOK --

"Think on These Things" by Krishnamurti

I have only read 10 pages of the book. In fact, I read those 10 pages 3x already before moving forward.

There is more wisdom in those 10 pages than in any book I've read

runner up: why you will marry the wrong person

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 😭WORST BOOK --

Hmm. So many bad books to choose from. But I'll go with one that other people seem to love, that i just couldn't get into:

Shoe Dog - memoir of Phil Knight (founder of Nike). I should love a book like this, but I was bored and churned.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier 🔥BEST EXPERIMENT --

we run a lot of business experiments.

* We bought a biz on @microacquire & gave it away to a college kid
* We toyed with crowdfunding $15m to buy michael jordans house

But the best experiment this year was this NFT:

https://twitter.com/shaanvp/status/1437808708998688774?lang=en

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire 😭WORST EXPERIMENT --

We created a $300/month "backstage pass" where I would create a business, and show you a daily step-by-step blog of what I did.

It was fun, people liked it (<1% churn), and it made ~$225k, but it was SO MUCH WORK. Felt like running on a treadmill

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire 🔥BEST ADVICE --

Heard @naval say something like:

It's easy to fall into the trap: If I do X, then Y will happen.

IF I go to college, THEN I can get a good job.

IF I get a good job, THEN I can make money.

IF I make money, THEN I can be happy.

etc.. it's a trap.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval Instead --> Delete the IF statements from your life.

Start doing ____ because doing ____ in and of itself is fulfilling.

I'm reading because I'm curious about this topic

I'm coding because I want this to exist.

Choose to do things that don't require an ulterior motive

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 😭WORST ADVICE --

"be a problem solver"

This is advice I used to give, and live by.

But when you're a problem solver, you train yourself to focus on problems

Forget problems, focus on possibilities.

I'm a possibility finder

I see possibilities in situations & people

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 🔥BEST EPISODE --

Our podcast grew like a weed (6X in a year) and now does over 1M+/month

My favorite episodes were:

*Hassan Minhaj - this was a real conversation, not an interview. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-…

*Rob Dyrdek - he's amazing. Took me by surprise.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 😭WORST EPISODE --

I think we had a few duds.

The one I'm most bummed about was the episode with Michael Saylor. He is brilliant and I'm a big fan.

..but somehow our episode was flat. And as the host, I didn't find a way to turn it around.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 🔥BEST HABIT --

For a while, i treated my parents as people who were just there to help ME.

As they get older, I'm more aware that the really-bad-day will come

Now we talk way more. And when we talk, It's about THEM not me. I ask tons of Qs about their life, childhood, etc.

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 😭WORST HABIT --

Ever since I switched to working from home, my deodorant usage slipped to like 1 outta every 3 days.

It makes no sense, and I apologize to all those affected

@Replit @deel @XavierHelgesen @austin_rief @nikitabier @microacquire @naval 2021 -

grew out my hair, had a son, shed some fat, made some new friends, grew a business, launched a rolling fund, learned new things, and all the people I love didn't die of the plague

a great year!!