#275 Paul Graham

What I learned from reading Paul Graham’s essays. ---- Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes.com ---- [4:52] My father told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, so long as I enjoyed it. [5:49] Do what you love doesn't mean, do what you would like to do most this second. [7:41] To be happy I think you have to be doing something you not only enjoy, but admire. You have to be able to say, at the end, wow, that's pretty cool. [8:00] You should not worry about prestige. This is easy advice to give. It’s hard to follow. [10:22] You have to make a conscious effort to keep your ideas about what you want from being contaminated by what seems possible. [12:18] Whichever route you take, expect a struggle. Finding work you love is very difficult. Most people fail. [16:46] How To Do What You Love by Paul Graham  [16:34] What Doesn’t Seem Like Work by Paul Graham  [17:16] If something that seems like work to other people doesn't seem like work to you, that's something you're well suited for. [17:42] Michael Jordan said what looked like hard work to others was play to him. Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby. (Founders #212) and Driven From Within by Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil. (Founders #213) [20:53] How Not to Die by Paul Graham  [23:00] All that matters is to survive. The rest is just words. — Charles de Gaulle by Julian Jackson (Founders #224) [24:49] You have to assume that running a startup can be demoralizing. That is certainly true. I've been there, and that's why I've never done another startup. [27:31] If a startup succeeds, you get millions of dollars, and you don't get that kind of money just by asking for it. You have to assume it takes some amount of pain. [28:17] So I'll tell you now: bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don't get demoralized. When the disaster strikes, just say to yo