I’m 28.

When I was young, I wasted years as a horrible writer.

But then I found a timeless guide to writing by two legendary advertising executives.

Here are 12 of their tips you should staple to your desk:🧵 The goal of your writing is effective communication—writing that *works.*

Busy people read what you write.

So you are more useful to them when your writing takes up less of their time.

Invest the time to write well now to save others time in the future.

It took me 25,000 posts, 5,000 hours, and nearly 4 years to grow to 400,000 followers on 𝕏.

I could've done it 90% faster if I'd used more viral topics.

Here's how anyone can generate 100 viral content ideas in 30 minutes (in any niche):🧵 This thread will give you a dead-simple system to:

1. Discover the topics you want to write about.

2. Get specific with those topics so readers will trust you (even if you're not an expert).

3. Come up with engaging ideas about those topics that go viral.

Let's dive in:

This is Jean-Claude Van Damme.

In 2013, he drove the world crazy—but not because of his movies.

His genius viral marketing stunt put Volvo on the map and is arguably the greatest ad of all time:🧵 In 2012, Volvo Trucks were facing a massive challenge:

• They had almost no marketing budget.
• They were stuck in a "boring" B2B industry.
• They needed to launch 5 new trucks globally.

But they had this one insight: ↓

Look at this guy.

In the 60s, he created legendary ad campaigns for Rolls Royce, Schweppes, & Dove.

And in 1982, he sent a memo to his staff called "How to write."

In 10 bullets he put together a masterclass in effective writing:🧵 David Ogilvy was a British advertiser known as "The Father of Advertising."

He wrote successful ad campaigns using his "Big Idea" framework.

But it's this memo that all writers should study.

Let's dive in:

This man built a $150B empire by predicting the future.

He predicted the Dot-Com bubble, the '08 recession, and the greatest bull run in 2012.

His memos are full of mental models for sharp decision-making and risk management.

Here's his philosophy:🧵 Growing up in Queens, Howard Marks was a self-proclaimed underachiever.

He wanted to go to Wharton Business School, but his teachers laughed him off.

Then, his tennis coach wrote him a recommendation letter and got him in.

Most people spend 10,000 hours mastering a skill.

But top performers do it in 1,000.

The difference isn't talent—it's *how* they learn.

Here's the 3-part framework I use to rapidly learn anything:🧵 The key to learning anything:

Seeing it as a game. And this framework helped me become a:

• Top 100 Call of Duty 4 player
• Hedge fund trader at BlackRock
• And now a full-time digital builder

Here's how:

Everyone should have a digital business that makes at least $10k/month.

Sadly, most overthink, never act, and waste years.

Here's the playbook that got me from $0 to $40k/month while working full-time at BlackRock: 1. Start a Side Hustle While Working Full-Time

Don't quit your job right away. Instead, trade time for money until you can trade knowledge for money.

Here's my thought process for choosing high-leverage jobs (so you don’t waste time in your 9 to 5):

Journaling is the single most powerful habit for my personal growth:

• Tried over 1,000 questions
• Tested every app, pen, & notebook
• Journaled every day for the last 5 years

These 5 prompts helped me lose 100 pounds, build a 7-figure writing business, & quit my 9 to 5: For notebook & pen, I use:

• Muji 0.5 pens
• Leuchtturm1917 soft-covers

For my prompts, I use:

• The 80/20 Audit
• The Morning Kickstart
• The Evening Shutdown
• The Bottleneck Analysis
• The Compounding Projection

Let's dive into each:

This guy cracked the code on how to find viral stories.

But most people never learn how to spot them.

So here are 3 simple ways to find viral-worthy stories in small, everyday moments:
Before you can craft and tell great stories, you need to learn to spot them.

And in his hit book Storyworthy, Matthew Dicks explains three frameworks to build your story-spotting muscle:

• Homework for Life
• Crash and Burn
• First, Last, Best, Worst

Here's how to use them:

This man was Steve Jobs's secret source of branding inspiration.

In a legendary internal meeting, Jobs revealed how this guy had cracked the code to build an iconic brand.

Here's his philosophy (that saved Apple from bankruptcy in 1997):🧵 When Steve Jobs returned as Apple CEO in 1997, the company was a mess.

Over 10 years of mismanagement, Apple lacked focus, direction, and was around 90 days from bankruptcy.

Jobs knew drastic changes were needed and he had 3 pivotal insights:

In the 1970s, this man sold a used $190,000 airplane for $240,000 with a single ad.

And in 2007, he distilled his 40 years of advertising wisdom into 293 pages.

Here is Joe Sugarman's 7-step process for writing effortless, high-converting copy (that'll make you millions):🧵
If you've never heard of Sugarman—the dude is a legend.

His most famous ad: selling BluBlocker sunglasses. Over 100,000 pairs sold from a single ad!

Now let's dive into his process:

I run a 7-figure business.

But for years I wasted millions making horrible decisions.

So I spent 100+ hours studying Ray Dalio to learn his best mental models for decision-making.

Here's what I found:🧵 In 1982, Ray Dalio invested $1M ($3.26M today) into Mexico.

Dalio expected a debt crisis and believed Mexican banks had over-leveraged by lending more than could be repaid.

Dalio predicted that Mexico would default on its debt.

But things didn't go to plan: ↓

I’m 28.

When I was young, I wasted years as a horrible writer.

Then I heard Naval Ravikant mention a 250-word essay full of the best writing mental models he swears by.

4 mental models you can steal today:🧵 On The Tim Ferriss Show, Naval said this is his go-to resource for writing:

"The Day You Became A Better Writer" by Scott Adams

I read it so you don't have to.

Here are the 4 most important mental models:

Paul Graham once said:

"Like having a child, running a startup is hard to imagine unless you've done it yourself."

This quote hit hard while I read Paul's latest essay, Founder Mode.

I've found 3 valuable lessons every leader needs to hear:🧵 In the essay, Graham says:

"Whatever founder mode consists of, it's pretty clear that it's going to break the principle that the CEO should engage with the company only via his or her direct reports."

Here's why it's important:

In 2014, this man was disrupting the $1 trillion trucking industry.

By 2020, he was in Forbes 30U30, and his hydrogen-powered truck company was valued at $34 billion.

But today, he is in jail.

Here's the story:🧵 Trevor Milton claimed his Nikola One truck was good to go and ready to disrupt the trillion-dollar trucking industry.

Here's a video of the Nikola One "driving" from Milton's demo.

Can you tell what's wrong here?

In 2013, Shark Tank rejected him.

But 5 years later, Jamie Siminoff sold DoorBot (Ring) to Jeff Bezos for $1.1 billion and made $110 million.

Jamie was right. Everyone else was wrong.

Here’s the story (thread):🧵 In 2013, Jamie Siminoff pitched DoorBot (Ring), his Wi-Fi video doorbell, on Shark Tank.

In the previous 9 months, DoorBot had done $1 million in sales, so he was confident in his offer:

$700,000 for 10% ($7M valuation)

How did it go? Take a look:

In 1997, Apple was 90 days away from bankruptcy.

But with one decision, Steve Jobs surprised their rivals Microsoft and IBM and grew Apple's stock by 9,000% over the next 14 years.

Here's the story:🧵 Apple's decline started in 1985.

After a power struggle with CEO John Sculley, co-founder Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple.

Everyone in Silicon Valley applauded this decision.

Jobs tried to warn them, but no one listened.

At Steve Jobs's memorial service, all 500 guests were gifted one book.

It was a book Jobs reread every year for 38 years.

Here are 5 ideas from "Autobiography of a Yogi" he used to build the $1 trillion Apple empire:🧵 In 1972, Steve Jobs discovered the "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda while in high school.

Yogananda's words instantly set his soul on fire.

And this set him on course for a spiritual transformation:

After 9 months writing online:

• I had under 100 followers
• I wrote blogs no one read
• I was ready to give up entirely

But in the 4 years since then, I've added 394k followers & grew a newsletter to 120k readers.

So what changed?

These 6 "perspective hacks": 1. In the beginning, no one is watching—and that's a good thing.

At first, I thought to myself:

"No one is reading this. What's the point?"

And this bummed me out & held me back for a while.

But then, I reframed it into an advantage.

Here's how:

Adidas paid $150 million for exclusive sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics.

Everyone thought they had beaten Nike.

But then, Nike stole everything with one of the greatest marketing stunts in history:🧵 After Nike's ambush marketing campaign in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Nike was under close scrutiny.

For the 2012 games, Nike was banned from using the "London Olympics" or "2012" or even showing the Olympic rings.

But Adidas forgot Nike were world-class marketers:

Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon.

Memos only.

He said, "There is no way to write a six-page narratively structured memo without clear thinking."

This is the Bezos Writing Framework (that you can steal): Amazon's 6-page memos, called "narratives," follow this structure:

• Introduction
• Goals
• Tenets
• Current state
• Lessons learned
• Strategy

Meeting attendees get 20 minutes to read the memo in silence before discussion.

Bezos explains: