Had a fun discussion with my friend @thedanielmazur; @pritika_mehta recorded it at YC Reboot (a @ycombinator alumni retreat) We talked about - How to get into YC and lessons learnt - why Jews are so successful - how Indians can become more creative Also discussed about high agency, Taliban+ girls’ education, importance of communication skills and other random stuff. Mix of Hindi and English. Lmk if you like it :)

Get beautiful things. eg - if you’re buying a lamp, an ugly one and beautiful one cost almost similar. Don’t save those $5. Buy the beautiful one! Beautiful things are designed by beautiful people. If you choose beautiful stuff, your thinking becomes beautiful. That helps in having a beautiful life.

If you can get access to right people, you get direction in life. If you’ve direction in life, you get access to right people.

Anonymous people want fame. Famous people want anonymity.

Some founders launch on X and LinkedIn with so much strategy. Others just shitpost. The strategy ones succeed in winning attention. The shitposters just succeed.

Belly wants food. Mind wants peace. Body wants movement. Heart wants excitement. Soul wants enlightenment. Who do you listen to?

People aren’t really contrarian. They pick ideas floating around them. In 2020, they were selling crypto and meme coins. Then AI. Then data to labs. Now robots, physical AI and selling wet lab data. Most people are sheep

Human transportation hasn’t changed from a long time. Cars have been around for decades. Same with planes, ships and trains. The only good stuff i see : 1. Self driven cars : Waymo and FSD Teslas 2. Supersonic planes by @boomsupersonic and others That’s all. Why!?

How to make a career lucrative? Throw money, sell a dream, promise fame, sell greatness, sell hope, put the young on a pedestal. Thats how people decide to sell their youth to being professional sportspeople, rockstars and VC backed founders.

People knows how to cook but still restaurants exist. DoorDash, chefs, tiffin services and so on. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you will. Same is going to be true for software.

If you can, get a house with direct sunlight coming through windows. The morning sun should wake you up.

I went to someone’s house today and they had ‘fake books’ in bookshelves. The owner said - i just read blogs, twitter and long form articles. She’s an author of 5 bestselling books and has stopped reading books herself. Interesting times.

Words have power. Tell yourself you’re lazy and your mind + body starts acting lazy. Tell yourself you’re the smartest person on earth and you could become the next President.

I went to this new coffee shop in Mission Bay, Waters Edge. loved the vibe. Went with two more friends. The coffee was amazing, the guy at counter was so happy. However, the lady making the coffee was condescending and rude to us. Make 3 snide remarks in less than a minute. We all observed it. Left a bad taste in our mouths. Then we went to arsicault to get croissants and again discussed. On coming home, one of us mentioned we should have countered her and told her straight on face. I was thinking that coffee and place is so so amazing, so maybe she had a bad day. Should we’ve countered her? Sure. But then should I go again because I loved the place? Should we let one employee destroy a business? Should a business suffer because of one person? It’s a 2 month old shop, beautifully designed. Someone had put their heart into it. Maybe they missed out on hiring people with great attitude? Cafes are supposed to do that. Or maybe this was a one-off incident? Maybe they should get another chance to get my business? As an entrepreneur, I want to support businesses. As a human, I’m willing to let go. However, as someone bringing their friends along, I’m like - wtf, this place is risky. Lesson - go to cafes you know well. Bring friends to cafes you know. Try new stuff alone. If you’re hiring customer service people, gauge their vibes. If your vibes are off, don’t throw it on other people. End of lesson 😄

If you’ve things to do, you prioritize stuff and become productive. If you’ve v less to do, you delay stuff and become lazy, unproductive, super introspective and invent new diseases.

If you can overcome FOMO, you can lead a peaceful life. If you can sell FOMO, you can lead a rich and peaceful life. If you get FOMO, you’re not living your life.

Drivers in India, Middle East and New York yap too much. They’ll tell you their entire life story, financial history and family background. Dare you tell them to shut up as you’ve important work or if you just want to relax. Try this card, and face the consequences. And yeah, all of them know important people, have 10 conspiracy theories, have driven around famous people and have life advice everyone needs to listen to Maybe they’re just lonely and it’s a thankless job. Maybe robotaxis will free them from this mundane work of moving a metal machine everyday to earn basic living.

It’s a bloodbath in Bay Area. Thousands of layoffs, more to come. Met a founder this morning who mentioned his AI tech is laying off 2000 call center workers. Not sure if society is ready for such upheaval. Gut wrenching

My uber driver had a box of candies and a cheerful attitude. No wonder, he has over 10k 5-star trips. If you’re an uber driver, be like him.

This is gonna hit harder than Covid