A Reader Writes

There’s much to be said for a minimalist lifestyle.

It keeps your mind and house empty of useless clutter, it allows you to travel light, and it permits you an indulgent smirk whenever you see friends clinging to an attic full of junk they’ll die before they ever get to sifting through.

On those matters, I’m with the minimalist brigade. If you want an easier life, use and spend less.

But there’s also an obsessive side to minimalism. There is the hardcore crowd, who live by the religious maxim of “whatever can be gotten rid of ought to be gotten of”.

Read More

I pre-ordered Peter Thiel’s Zero To One very early on, having heard a few of his interviews during early promotion for the book.

Thiel has a wealth of experience to draw from, and as billionaire founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, he’s the kind of entrepreneur you want to listen to when he offers advice.

What peaked my interest more than Thiel’s credentials in those interviews were his ideas. Mostly drawn from class notes of Thiel’s lectures at Stanford, the material felt fresh and controversial, bracing even, in its originality. Thiel’s advice for the would-be CEO bravely counters much of the standard dogma passed down to aspiring entrepreneurs.

After that, I wanted in.

So I bought the book. I read it in a day. And cards on the table, I loved it.

Read More