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No. 314 | January 2, 2026
Welcome to this week’s Friday Five—a short dose of insights, inspiration, and favorites to start the weekend with clarity and focus.
Music of the Week
Rebirth Brass Band, a New Orleans group, was founded in the early 1980s by Phillip Frazier, his brother Keith, and Kermit Ruffins.
The group has won a Grammy, appeared in the TV series Treme, and launched the non-profit organization The Roots of Music.
For more on Rebirth and its music, start with Feel Like Funkin’ It Up, Do Watcha Wanna, and I Like It Like That.
Quotes of the Week
Focus on what’s in your control—an idea from Epictetus I’ve been reflecting on lately. For me, it means staying present, not worrying about others, and executing on what’s in front of you. These quotes illustrate the idea:
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion—our own actions.” – Epictetus
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
“You can’t control what the market does, but you can control how you respond to it.” – Warren Buffett
“Focus on what you can control. Ignore what you cannot.” – Jocko Willink
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James
Article of the Week
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass
I reached my 2025 goal of reading at least 50 pages per day. That translated into 52 books read this year.
My 2025 reading list encompasses a diverse range of topics, including history, business, philosophy, sports, and culture. For my previous yearly reading lists, check out 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.
I learned three lessons this year when it came to the books I read: read daily, don’t read books that don’t resonate, and follow my curiosity.
Check out my 2025 reading list, the books that made it, and the lessons I learned:
📝 2025 Reading List: My 52 Best Books of 2025
Book of the Week
Play Nice But Win: A CEO’s Journey from Founder to Leader by Michael Dell tells the Dell story in three chapters: building Dell, keeping it, and transforming it.
He shares the highs and lows of starting the company from his dorm room at the University of Texas to the battles of taking the company public, back to private, and then back to public. Dell also covers how he matured as a founder and CEO.
Key lessons I learned: be curious, look at things differently, compartmentalize effectively, optimism wins, experiment your way to success, be scrappy, hire the best people, prioritize family, failure isn’t an option, understand what customers want, play nice but win, tackle what you think you can’t do, sell directly to customers, dream big, be fanatical to win, practice continuous improvement (kaizen), remember your failures, strive to be the best at everything you do, pursue your passions, love your work, do well by doing good, grow stronger through setbacks and failures, find purpose in life and your passions, always keep learning, change your mind if facts change, never be the smartest person in the room, change or die, ideas are a commodity so execute to win, focus on what you can control, avoid a victim mindset, recognize that anger is counter-productive, and be pleased but never satisfied.
📚 Play Nice But Win: A CEO’s Journey from Founder to Leader
Podcast of the Week
Chris Sacca is an investor and founder of Lowercase Capital and Lowercarbon Capital.
Sacca is from Buffalo, attended Georgetown Law, went broke in the 2000 tech bubble, landed at Google, and then started angel investing—leading to Lowercase Capital and its massive returns on companies like Twitter, Uber, and Instagram.
He’s also been a Guest Shark on Shark Tank and been involved in presidential campaigns.
Sacca joined the Dialectic podcast to discuss writing, storytelling, surrounding yourself with people who keep you honest, cultivating a taste in unusual things, playing games, risk-taking, and his imposter syndrome.
For more on Sacca, his companies, and authenticity, listen to the podcast below:
🎧 Chris Sacca – Drifting Back to Real
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