To the obsessed,

Here are your weekly Ten Bullets. A list of ideas I can't stop thinking about- to help you build companies, make art, and follow your obsession.

1. On solitude:

If you're a creative, you likely need alone time. Much more than most. If you're with someone who doesn't 'get' this, it will eat you alive from the inside out. Make it clear at all costs. Solitude is oxygen for the obsessed.

[Read on Twitter]

2. On what problem to solve:

"Your primary edge as a founder will be the number of hours you spent thinking about a specific problem. Over time, you should accumulate more hours than almost anyone on earth. This will only work if it doesn’t feel like a chore. If you genuinely are fascinated by the problem."

- Daniel Gross, How to Decide What To Build​

Great blog post.

3. On obsession:

Patrick O'Shaughnessy: :What is the through-line that unites all these people and these stories [featured on Founders Podcast]? We use the term life's work. I think there's lots of ways you can talk about it. How do you think about who that universal story is?"

David Senra: "The throughline is, I always say, I wake up with a burning desire to achieve mission success. You have to pick some kind of mission, something to dedicate your life to, and that is always in the service of others, because that's what a product does. A product makes somebody else's life better."

"I can go to a museum and look at a piece of art. I can watch a film. I can listen to a piece of music, I can read a book, I can have a conversation. All of that is ingredients for my work, and it doesn't work unless you have a foundation which you put it on. So the foundation he has [Christopher Nolan] is he knows he's going to make films. So now with every single thing, me and you know we're going to make podcasts.

So everything I experienced in life- the conversation at the crazy event we went to last night, the conversations we had yesterday, the phone calls we'll have. All the stuff that is happening is just fuel for my work, and that's internal. No one told you to do what you started, no one had to tell me what to do, right? And so the way I think about it is like, okay, you know you want to do something. You probably don't know what it is. In all cases, you're probably going to have to start multiple businesses, right?

I sincerely believe that the reason that people tend to do their greatest work later in life is, yes, the obvious one, is you have a lot more experience, you're a lot smarter.

Now I actually think the important ingredient is- they took more time to know themselves. And I think the people that get to the top of their professions, their work is a reflection of that person."

- David Senra on Patrick O'Shaughnessy's Invest like the Best Podcast​

This is, possibly, the most important point about obsession. You need an output. A vehicle. Something to filter down your experience of reality- into a product that serves others. When you have this one thing- life becomes very simple. You just have to make the best __, and you'll get everything you want. All the obsessed had this in common. All of them. But, it will take truly knowing yourself to find it.

4. On details:

"Steve Jobs was infamous for demanding that every detail proposed to him be thought through to an almost excruciating level. Whenever we brought interface ideas or flows for his feedback, he would dig into the rationale asking 'Why is it designed this way?' and 'What else did you consider?'. If our reasoning was anything less than airtight, he would send us back to the drawing board. We learned quickly not to bring work to Steve unless every pixel had been obsessively deliberated. "

- Michael Darius, Apple Designer

He had another tweet where he described a ritual (common among many of the obsessed, including Jobs) of going for walks. Letting the mind wander, and inviting in new ideas. Someone asked whether he brought his phone with him on these walks, and his response was great:

Michael Darius @darius @royalicing Nothing in the pockets so you're only bringing back with you what you didn't come with. Patrick Smith @royalicing @darius Sounds fantastic. Would you bring your phone or leave it on the desk? 5:53 PM • Sep 15, 2023 0 Retweets 12 Likes Read 1 replies

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5. On confidence:

Keith Rabois: "Famous athletes, famous DJs, famous politicians- none of them who are successful are humble. You may not know if it from their public persona. But definitely- these people have significant confidence from in they're doing. And it's backed by reality."

Danny Miranda: "Do you think the bravado came before the actual action?"

KR: "That's a great question. I think sometimes yes- people know when they're really good at something. I said to him [Derek Jeter] when you see a rookie in spring training, can you tell from the first at-bat whether they're going to be successful? And he said yes. I thought it'd be something about swing, or technique. But he said 'it's their confidence.'"

- Keith Rabois on The Danny Miranda Podcast ep. 403​

6. On luck:

“When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved. They discover what to work on as a result of a chance meeting, or by reading a book they happen to pick up. So you need to make yourself a big target for luck, and the way to do that is to be curious. Try lots of things, meet lots of people, read lots of books, ask lots of questions.”

- Paul Graham, How to do Great Work​

I keep coming back to this quote. My life has changed more from picking up a random book, meeting a new person for lunch, or experimenting on something, than every guide or tutorial I've ever read.

7. On art:

"Trust your taste. Not everyone is gonna appreciate it but that’s ok. Make what YOU like. There’s an audience for every taste. The size of the audience varies but it’s an audience nevertheless"

- Russ

And on the internet, the more unique the taste, the bigger the audience will be.

8. On what goes on in your head:

"If I'm the guy who ends up in a wheelchair in the nursing home, staring at the ceiling, I've told my family you can be I'm making some movie in my head."

- George Miller, Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road​

A good question to find your obsession: When you close your eyes, where do you go, and what do you do?

PS- this is one of my favorite movies. The history behind it's development is absolutely insane. I admire directors like Miller so much- people who can pursue a film in their mind for decades, until it's real.

9. On simplicity:

"Start with the theme. What is this project about? What is the Eiffel Tower about? What is the space shuttle about? What is Nude Descending a Staircase about? Your movie, your album, your new startup ... what is it about? When you know that, you'll know the end state. And when you know the end state, you'll know the steps to take to get there."

- Steven Pressfield, Do the Work​

How does someone describe what you do in one sentence? That one sentence means everything.

10. On why you need your own company:

"We all need a place to play.

Kids need playgrounds and sandboxes. Musicians need an instrument. Mad scientists need a laboratory. Those of us with business ideas? We need a company.

Not for the money, but because it's our place to experiment, create, and turn thoughts into reality. We need to pursue our intrinsic motivation. We have so many interesting ideas and theories. We need to try them!

The happiest people are not lounging on beaches. They're engaged in interesting work!

Following curiosity is much more fun than being idle. Even if you never have to work a day in your life. Get the ideas out of your head and into the world."

- Derek Sivers, Anything You Want​

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to an obsessed friend and tell them which bullet they'd love. 🏴

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Stay obsessed,

Zach 🏴

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