Monday Musings
Written by David Perell
On Wednesday, I saw Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal play at the U.S. Open. Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes of all time, and Nadal ranks as the #1 tennis player in the world.
It was my first time attending a tennis match. The magnitude of the moment hit me when the Star Spangled Banner sent chills down my spine; the brilliance of Serena hit me when she served ace after ace; and the artistry of Nadal hit me when he graced the net with the touch of a painter.
Serena and Nadal both started slow. At one point, Serena was down 4-1 in the first set. Nadal struggled even more. He lost the first set 6-0. Slowly but surely, both regained their composure and advanced into the semifinals.
As I watched the Serena and Nadal fight through emotional swings, I couldn’t help but think of this quote:
“It's no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love, the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it's all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It's our choice.” — Andre Agassi, Open
Beautiful.
Fresh Ideas
New Article: Where the Wild Things Are
Click here to Read the Article
It’s a law of the universe: Creativity always starts at the edge.
As information hunters, we are always managing a trade-off between exclusivity and reliability. As I see it there are three groups of people: (1) The Diggers, (2) The Tourists, and (3) The Masses.
In this post, I share my “L Line Theory of New York Culture” and talk about why Hip-Hop began in the Bronx.
Some quotes:
“Informational edge is found in obscure, hard-to-digest sources. As information moves from the boards of 4chan to the forums of Reddit to the front page of the New York Times, the signal to noise ratio increases and informational advantages disappear. As ideas trickle from the fringe to the mainstream, their tone, tenor, and shape transform.”
“If you want creativity, stay at the edge. Opportunity is almost always inversely correlated with popularity and greater risk is almost always correlated with greater potential returns. Find the low rents. Surround yourself with people who dress like people you only see in movies. Get comfortable with weird parts of the internet.”
This post is about ideas, creativity, and originality. In short, I’ll show you “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Click here to Read the Article
Coolest Things I Learned This Week
1. Kessler Syndrome and the Rise of Space Junk
Kessler Syndrome is the risk of one space collision causing more collisions in a growing cascade.
You can think of space debris as a pollution externality, where on the margin nobody wants to pay the extra price to control debris, so it just keeps getting worse. It would create millions of debris pieces in orbit.
Political will is lacking to stop the debris problem. So some sort of future cascade will eventually happen. But there’s a wide range of scenarios, and tracking and avoidance are in an arms race against debris.
2. A Simple Formula for Writing Better Hooks
"Get 3 yes's in 30 seconds."
Readers should nod their head yes to the headline, subheading, and first sentence.
If they've made it to the third sentence, they're ready for an exciting and compelling story.
Simple as that.
3. What do Europeans Drink?
4. The Scott Adams Law of Slow-Moving Disasters
Definition: Whenever humanity can see a slow-moving disaster coming, we find a way to avoid it.
Some examples:
"Thomas Malthus famously predicted that the world would run out of food as the population grew. Instead, humans improved their farming technology."
"When I was a kid, it was generally assumed that the world would be destroyed by a global nuclear war. The world has been close to nuclear disaster a few times, but so far we’ve avoided all-out nuclear war."
"The world was supposed to run out of oil by now, but instead we keep finding new ways to extract it from the ground. The United States has unexpectedly become a net provider of energy."
"Social security was supposed to go broke. It might have some dents and scratches, but it looks as if it will be fine."
"In the seventies it looked as if crime was going to keep increasing forever until the suburbs were overrun by street gangs. Instead, violent crime has steadily decreased."
Question: Are there any exceptions to this?
5. How Do Birds Migrate?
Before we move on, I want to share this screenshot with you. It’s a fable, but damn is it sweet.
Photo of the Week
Serena. Nadal. What a special evening.
Until next week,
David Perell
Let’s Chat
I help founders and CEOs communicate their vision, build audiences, and turn ideas into sales.
My work centers around three core pillars:
Consulting
On social media, people want to connect with people — not companies. People are attracted to personalities who can educate and entertain them. Customers don’t just want to support their favorite brands. They want to establish emotional connections with them.
Consulting begins with an all-day workshop where we clarify your vision and define your goals. Then, we execute with weekly phone calls which are tailored to your goals and challenges. We’ll develop a process for publishing ideas, building an audience, and unifying your brand across channels.
Strategy and Execution
Take the pain out of sharing ideas.
We’ll develop a process for incubating ideas, refining them, and sharing them on the internet. We’ll focus on the ideas you want to be known for, the topics you want to focus on, and the people you want to reach. Over time, you’ll grow your audience, showcase your experience, and increase revenue.
One phone call per week. I’ll take care of the rest.
Speaking and Workshops
I lead Naked Brands workshops for companies and individuals. Workshops are geared towards people who want to share their ideas, build an audience, and stand out from their competition.
Each workshop is personalized. Workshops begin with strategy and end with actionable takeaways. These sessions can be incredibly valuable, not only as a way of moving forward but also as a way of identifying future work projects.
If you’re interested, please contact me directly. You can reach me by replying to this email. Then, I’ll send you more info, and we can see if you’re a good fit.
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