#238 Jay Z: Decoded

What I learned from reading Decoded by Jay Z.  ---- Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes.com ---- [1:39] I would practice from the time I woke in the morning until I went to sleep [2:10] Even back then I though I was the best. [2:57] Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography  (Founders #219) [4:32] Belief becomes before ability. [5:06] Michael Jordan: The Life (Founders #212) [5:46] The public praises people for what they practice in private. [7:28]  Lock yourself in a room doing five beats a day for three summers. [7:50] Sam Walton: Made In America  (Founders #234) [9:50] He was disappointed in the world, so he built one of his own — from Steven Spielberg: A Biography (Founders #209) [12:47] The Pmarca Blog Archive Ebook by Marc Andreessen (Founders #50) [13:35] I'm not gonna say that I thought I could get rich from rap, but I could clearly see that it was gonna get bigger before it went away. Way bigger. [21:10] Over 20 years into his career and dude ain’t changed. He’s got his own vibe. You gotta love him for that. (Rick Rubin) [21:41] Against The Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson (Founders #200) [25:27] I believe you can speak things into existence. [27:20] Picking the right market is essential. [29:29] All companies that go out of business do so for the same reason – they run out of money. —Don Valentine  [29:42] There are two things in business that matter, and you can learn this in two minutes- you don’t have to go to business school for two years: high gross margins and cash flow. The other financial metrics you can forget. —Don Valentine  [31:54] I went on the road with Big Daddy Kane for a while. I got an invaluable education watching him perform. [33:12] Everything I do I learned from the guys who came before me. —Kobe [34:15] I truly hate having discussions about who would win one on one or fans saying you’d beat Michael. I feel like Yo (puts his hands up like stop. Chill.) What you get from me is from him. I