Andrew Chen

this is one of the most important graphs that I saw in 2023 that has led to behavior change. This is in Peter Attia's book Outlive

tldr: if you want to be able to climb stairs when you are 75, you need to be in the top 95th percentile of cardiovascular fitness. With this, you won't be able to run nor briskly climb stairs

But if you are average/low, you may not even be able to do any of that. And it seems unlikely you'll be avg/low now (I'm in my early 40s) and then somehow go from 50th percentile to 95th. So basically it's better to get started

Thus, after reading his book, I reluctantly started running again even though I hate it. And am also doing some peloton / cycling outdoors when time/weather allows

cc
@KatieBaynes

Highly recommend. I was familiar with a lot of the events covered in the book but it put it together cohesively - for a very complex industry - and covers a lot ground on modern geopolitics between the US, China, and Taiwan Summary:
- history of the semiconductor industry in pre-silicon valley
- classic stories on Fairchild, the traitorous 8, Texas Instruments, etc
- bridges into the creation of the semiconductor industry in Asia, with Japan’s dominance in memory followed by the US cos building fans in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong to compete
- the emergence of TSMC in Taiwan, why it’s become so central
- lots of interesting discussion on modern geopolitics with China

Almost done w the new Elon Musk biography and here’s my review:

- first half of the book was great, the second part not so much (more on that shortly)
- lots about his childhood, his pre-silicon valley life, his family situation etc, which are interesting
- dispels a lot of dumb rumors: no, he wasn’t already rich, the govt didn’t fund Tesla, etc
- the inside look at early spaceX and tesla we’re both interesting, before many of us were tracking the two companies
- interesting to hear about personal habits (particularly gaming), why he chooses to go hardcore and sleep in the office etc
- the way elon picks his goals are interesting - obv very obsessed with very big missions, which we could all aspire to
- you get a good look at what makes him effective, particularly working around the natural bureaucracy that seeps into companies. And connecting w young engineers and being meritocratic in promoting them

My main complaint is that the early parts of the book have, say, one chapter about PayPal. But now I’m like 5 or 6 chapters into the twitter/X saga and seems kind of undifferentiated

The author is so skeptical about how twitter/X will turn out when just a few chapters ago, he discusses how everyone was so skeptical on tesla/spaceX - and of course they were all wrong. Easy to believe when things are already working

Worth a read but maybe just the first half 😂

Great book

Such a great book!

👇🏼I read Wild Swans as a teenager - which covers the cultural revolution in China and a lot more - and it was incredibly important and formative. Must read.

wow. this book. 👌 Incredible story interleaving the histories of chemotherapy, mastectomies, radiation, tobacco, and so much more. The pulitzer prize is well deserved. Highly recommended.

7. Ben Horowitz’s book The Hard Things About Hard Things is the best book about being a CEO and managing your own psychology as you set out to do this crazy hard thing. It’s fantastic. Read and re-read it.

Now starting the section now these information empires eventually got dismantled, by the internet, cable, and the government antitrust efforts on the 1950s! Awesome book so far

Finished “bad blood” on the Theranos scandal. Wow. Just wow. It’s a must read for everyone in tech and startups. Just 1-click buy it :) Amazing how far charisma and social proof got them. Here’s the NYT review of the book

Re-reading “Brave New World.” Forgot how wonderful it is - and how relevant, for a book first published in 1932. The themes, on happiness, solitude, freedom, danger, nature.. they’re still so resonant today. Highly recommend if you haven’t already read.

.. it’s very timely that my colleague Scott Kupor has written a new book, Secrets of Sand Hill Road, with the fun subtitle “Venture capital and how to get it.” I’ve had the pleasure of reading ahead of its release, and as expected, it’s excellent, and provides a detailed guide and fantastic in depth info on everything you’d want to know about venture capital. As an author, Scott could not have more street cred — he joined and built a16z from the very early years, and is our go-to on all the nitty gritty of the industry for the whole team.

...

There’s a bunch of great topics, including:

Why the skill you need most when raising venture capital is the ability to tell a compelling story.
What to do when VCs get too entangled in the day-to-day operations of the business.
Why you need to build relationships with potential acquirers long before you decide to sell.
Why most VCs typically invest in only one startup in a given business category.
The math of startups and venture capital
Of all the topics of the book, one of my favorites has to be the math of startups and venture capital, because it gives us a perspective on the life and death of startups as a whole. Because venture capital is an index of the broader startup ecosystem, it can tell us a lot — everything from how often the Ubers, Dropboxes, Facebooks, and Googles emerge as startups, to how quickly doomed startups typically fail.