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?

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:

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:

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?

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.

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...



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...

John Mayer and Billie Eilish use the same technique to avoid writer's block. John explains it so beautifully below:

After, watch Billie explain it from another angle 🧵 In short, they're constraining creative scope.

Billie calls it "perimeters."

They do this because the brain freezes when facing too large of a canvas. It doesn’t know which path to choose, and it worries each is wrong.

In other words: Instead of writing a movie...

I want to explain why venture capitalists give 21 year olds $30,000,000 to pursue startup ideas.

What's going through their heads?

What specifically are investors looking for today?

Here's how I've seen VCs' minds work after 4 years: For context, most of my day is spent intro'ing founders to investors:

• I run a seed fund: Julian.capital
• I built VCSheet.com (free) to help founders find VCs
• I run SeedChecks.com for founders to meet well-known angels

I went to a "hifi audio" store and listened to a $160,000 pair of speakers 😂 I need to explain what happened. 🧵 It started with me seeing a famous YouTuber crying his eyes out in a thumbnail

I clicked

He's notorious for calling out fake sales claims

Here, he tests $4K headphones said to play music so intensely they make you involuntarily cry. He roasts 'em.

Then 11min later.. he cries.

I saw a famous YouTuber crying his eyes out in a thumbnail

I clicked

He's notorious for calling out fake sales claims

Here, he tests $4K headphones said to play music so intensely they make you involuntarily cry. He roasts 'em.

Then 11min later, he cries. Why do they work? 🧵 First, are you telling me that, with the aid of clever engineering, speakers can tickle your brain into a state of catharsis—on command?

How did I not know this was a thing?

This is my 5 year story about becoming a far better storyteller.

Goal: Hold the audience's attention as well as Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I started with podcasting. But, every time I spoke, I sounded like a buffoon.

Why? While interviewing the best storytellers, something strange became clear:

They could only articulate *some* of the ingredients that make them great.

There was more beneath their explanations that they couldn’t identify when pressed.

This was a puzzle.

Most people still don't know how to hire. I've messed up enough times to feel strongly about one thing now:

The best employees I've worked with are all very, very curious.

1/ Now I know how to find curious people and hire them: First, why is curiosity so important?

It doesn't apply to every job, but it applies to many:

Curious people take advantage of their role to "selfishly" further their own mastery of skills.

This is a GOOD THING. In the pursuit of self-growth, everyone hugely wins:

How can some people write so beautifully?

1/ Two of my favorite writing techniques: Writing technique 1: Don't always be direct

Instead of saying "the day was hot," you could write "even the bugs were looking for air conditioning."

That's what I call a second-order description: describe the *impact* caused by the hot day—instead of saying it's a hot day.

This thread helps explain how Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean, and Christopher Nolan consistently generate great work: They intuit a few principles for creating better writing, music, and art.

These principles also *eliminate the fear and procrastination preventing you from starting.*

The principles arise from first seeing yourself as a "craftsperson:"

1/ An intro to startup growth.

Most fast-growing startups have something in common:

Product-led growth (PLG)

I define it as when existing users drive your growth.*

PLG only works for these startups: Example of PLG: When you join Slack, you invite teammates and partner organizations.

Why is PLG critical? It scales, it often has little to no marginal cost, it's defensible, it has network effects, and it can build moats.

It's the holy grail of growth.

A funny lie of adult life is pretending we'll act on advice we collect:

I don't revisit bookmarks.

I rarely re-open Google docs.

I don’t re-read Kindle highlights.

Until today, my friends. I finally realized how to turn notes into action: This thread shares my framework for acting on advice.

And it shares the best advice I've come across:

A major cause of advice laziness is misclassifying what advice is.

We treat advice the same way we learn someone’s name: Briefly acknowledge it then assume we'll remember it.

After years of thinking about it, I finally launched a podcast! Sat down with:

• James Clear
• Alexandra Botez
• Wait But Why
• Everyday Astronaut
• Shaan Puri
• Mark Manson
• Liv Boeree
• Sam Parr

BrainsPodcast.com

Podcasting AMA for 30min! I'm not an expert 😂 Podcast Episode: The Life of Internet Creators

We talk to Alexandra Botez (@alexandravbotez) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP).

We discuss being charismatic, dealing with crazy fans, and the allure of Tony Robbins.

brainspodcast.com/episode/intern…

This is my 5 year story about becoming a far better storyteller.

Goal: Tell a story as well as Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It started with me podcasting to share stories with friends. Every time I spoke, however, I sounded lifeless like a stressed-out amateur.

Why? I tracked down great storytellers to learn from them.

Unexpectedly, even the best could only articulate *some* of the ingredients that make them great.

There was something intangible underneath their explanations that they couldn’t address when pressed.

What’s the most beautiful piece of writing you’ve ever come across?

Bonus points if you can screenshot a paragraph and share it below. I’ll consider including it in my writing guide.

Props to anyone who takes the time ❤️ I'll start with some great ones from last time:

From @amamyyang

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Drake generate non-stop hits for years.

What are they doing differently?

Thread: How to generate way more ideas I was watching a documentary on songwriter Ed Sheeran. In it, he described his songwriting process.

It struck me as identical to the process that author Neil Gaiman detailed in his Masterclass.

My day job is growing startups.

I've worked with a few hundred by now.

Here's how to grow your podcast, newsletter, blog, YouTube, and Twitter.

Hope this helps! A thread: Growth marketing, a timeline:

2015: "We need to go viral."

2017: "Well, we raised $25m of VC. Let's dump it on Facebook ads."

2021: "Wow. We should have been focusing on content and building a great product."