Deep work & focus

Podcast

The good life algorithm: iterative improvement over grand leaps

Deep Questions with Cal Newport March 3, 2025

---

Deep work & focus 10

Productivity & habits 9

Resilience & grit 6

• Grand goals improve one life dimension while quietly wrecking others.
• Jim Collins rates every day -2 to +2 and lets data steer life changes.
• Context switching is productivity poison — protect deep work above all.

Read more →

Business models

YouTube

Michelin Stars: How a Tire Company Shaped Fine Dining Excellence

StoryBrand With Donald Miller March 3, 2025

---

Business models 7

Communication 6

Identity & self-belief 5

• Michelin Guide started as a tire-sales ploy, built trust through rigorous process.
• Culinary art uniquely battles entropy — food degrades during its own presentation.
• Excellence earns authority; genuine equality with guests makes it magnetic.

Read more →

Origin stories

Podcast

How Max Levchin built PayPal from a Palm Pilot crypto idea

How I Built This with Guy Raz March 3, 2025

---

Origin stories 10

Pivoting 8

Fundraising & VC 7

• A Palm Pilot encryption startup nobody wanted became PayPal by accident.
• eBay sellers, not product strategy, drove PayPal from 17 to 1M users.
• Having nothing to lose is a founder's most underrated competitive advantage.

Read more →

AI tools & automation

Podcast

Getting better AI results by asking AI to interview you

How I Work March 3, 2025

---

AI tools & automation 9

Processes & SOPs 5

• AI assumes when context is missing — most prompts guarantee mediocre output.
• Telling AI to ask questions until 95% confident transforms result quality.
• One round of Q&A is usually enough; prompt for more if needed.

Read more →

Identity & self-belief

Podcast

Amor Fati and the stoic case for personal integration

The Daily Stoic March 3, 2025

---

Identity & self-belief 9

Resilience & grit 6

• Adversity doesn't just cost you — it unlocks hidden capacity
• Living as two unaligned selves quietly tears you apart
• Busyness is how we avoid the painful work of integration

Read more →