The Startup of You

Hey friends,

In case you were wondering why I didn’t send an email out last week, I’ve been swamped with college application essays.

And to be honest, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. Writing about storytelling techniques is one thing — writing about your own story is a whole different ball game.

Also, if you have any ins with Stanford, Michigan, UIUC, or UPenn, I would appreciate a referral. I believe I have a bunch of cool stuff to share that I couldn’t quite fit into the applications.

Alright, let’s get into this week’s deep dive…

Since working at beehiiv this past summer, I’ve been obsessed with startups. I’m now working at my second startup, Perch, and growing the Startup Archive.

Along the way, I’ve noticed that building a startup has a lot in common with building your career. Let’s explore the similarities…

5) Nail Product First

In the fall of 2014, Sam Altman the President of Y Combinator, taught a class at Stanford titled How to Start A Startup. “Step one is to build something users love.” Sam said, “At YC, we tell founders to work on their product, talk to users, exercise, eat and sleep, and very little else. All the other stuff I mentioned—PR, conferences, recruiting advisors, doing partnerships—you should ignore all of that and just build the product.”

I’d add: If you don’t have a product to work on, view yourself as the product.

Why? Because if you don’t have a good product, marketing won’t be as effective. Oftentimes, we feel constrained by the lack of a brand or a big network. We think that we need to grow a network on Twitter or have coffee with a big name. But we’re actually constrained by the value we can provide our network.

Growth without retention is like pouring water into a leaky bucket. If you can’t add any value to the person sitting across from you, then your opportunities are severely limited.

Instead, focus first on developing skills, expertise, or assets so that when you meet with someone you admire, you have something to offer them.

4) Develop A Competitive Advantage

In Medival times, the most fortified castles had a moat (body of water) around them to protect against attack. Similarly, your goal is to develop a “Personal Moat” around your career.

A personal moat should be:

• Rare and valuable

• Compounded over time

• Hard to reverse-engineer

• Easy for you but hard for others

Some examples include:

There are 3 levels to your personal moat:

Level 1: Do what others aren’t doing

What are you seeing that most people aren’t?

Level 2: Do what others won’t do

What are you willing to do that most people aren’t?

Level 3: Do what others can’t do

What can you do that most people can’t?

Once you nail product and develop a competitive advantage, then focus on growth.

3) Pursue Asymmetric Opportunities

Asymmetric opportunities are things with limited downside but huge upside. In other words, it’s “heads I win, tails I don’t lose much.”

Here are 7 low-risk, high-upside opportunities:

1/ Publish a piece of content

Downside: No one sees it.
Upside: Someone you admire sees it

2/ Start your own business

Downside: you fail & learn
Upside: you succeed

3/ Reach out to a stranger

Downside: you get a cold response
Upside: you meet your best friend

4/ Move to a big city

Downside: you get lost a few times
Upside: you bump into your future mentor

5/ Join a community

Downside: you don’t vibe with them
Upside: you meet your future co-founder

6/ Work at a startup

Downside: the startup fails & you learn a lot
Upside: the startup succeeds & you win

7/ Build in public

Downside: someone might steal your idea
Upside: you attract future customers, investors, and partners

What often seems risky in the short term brings optionality in the long term. And what brings optionality in the short term is often risky in the long term.

2) Study History

The best founders know why historical attempts at their startup idea failed, what the learnings were, and where the landscape might go.

Similarly, instead of stumbling through the same predictable mistakes, learn from those who have come before you. Learning from the past helps you gain context of what difficult experiences feel like before you step into them.

As Charlie Munger once said, “Learning from history is a form of leverage.”

1) A+ Players Only

Thiel’s Law: A startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed. Reminds me of what Keith Rabois said on hiring: The team you build is the company you build.

Similarly, the people you surround yourself with shape the person you become. Through osmosis, you pick up their habits, beliefs, and biases. As cliche as it may sound, being around A+ players is crucial to your success.

As Sam Altman said, “The best people always seem to be building stuff and hanging around smart people.”

In your career, prioritize these five principles: Skills first, create a personal moat, seize asymmetric opportunities, learn from history, and surround yourself with top talent. Your career, like a startup, is shaped by your choices and the company you keep.

Jay “Treat Yourself Like A Startup” Yang