Peter Thiel’s venture fund is looking for the next big winner. It’s the early 2000s. His team comes across a little-known startup called Facebook. Instead of spreading their money around, they make a highly concentrated bet. That single investment returns thousands of times its original cost. The Facebook investment ultimately generated more profit than every
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No. 336 | June 12, 2026 Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas for your weekend. This week’s theme: big problems, great careers, and meaningful change all start the same way: one small step at a time. If this resonates, forward it to a friend. Most readers discover Friday Five through a recommendation
Friday Five — Thinking Differently, Taking Small Steps, and Finding Opportunity Read More »
Kevin Kelly wrote down the advice he wished he’d known when he was younger. Danny Meyer built a restaurant empire by putting employees first. Bill Gurley discovered that great careers come from pursuing genuine interests. Sam Zell found opportunity wherever supply and demand were out of balance. Stephen Schwarzman built Blackstone by repeatedly asking, “Why
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No. 335 | June 5, 2026 Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas for the weekend. Mumford & Sons found success by making music that was uniquely their own. Setbacks on the road to success are inevitable, so it’s worth preparing for them before they arrive. Dietrich Mateschitz believed in loving the climb
Friday Five — Preparing for Setbacks, Loving the Climb, and Building an Audience Read More »
Dietrich Mateschitz decided to take Red Bull global in the 1980s. Market researchers and consultants told him it would fail. Testers said the drink tasted terrible, and advisors warned he couldn’t compete with Coca-Cola. Early losses seemed to prove them right. What they missed was the Dietrich Mateschitz philosophy: keep moving. For a goal-obsessed entrepreneur,
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No. 334 | May 29, 2026 Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas for the weekend. Sonny Rollins became one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time by focusing on the work in front of him each day. Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz operated with a similarly simple principle: never make financial
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No. 333 | May 22, 2026 Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas for the weekend. The daily work is what sets you apart. Part of that work means embracing challenges and seeing them as opportunities. Obstacles are inevitable, so build the tools to recover gracefully. But never lose sight of the core
Friday Five — Daily Work, Problems as Assets, and Enlightened Hospitality Read More »
Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya each put up $500,000 to launch Red Bull. Instead of going to banks, they refused debt. The Red Bull playbook started with a simple rule: spend only what you earn. Mateschitz rejected the corporate formula of two-thirds debt and one-third equity. He believed one bad December or a currency swing
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No. 332 | May 15, 2026 Welcome to Friday Five, a short dose of ideas for your weekend. How you do anything is how you do everything. Regret often comes from ignoring what genuinely interests you. Curiosity rarely follows a straight path, but it often leads to meaningful work. If this resonates, forward it to
Friday Five — Curiosity, Rejection, and Doing Great Work Read More »
Brad Jacobs keeps buying companies in boring industries like garbage and equipment rentals, then turning them into billion-dollar machines. Elon Musk put his last cash into SpaceX after a third failed launch while Tesla burned cash fast enough to kill both companies. Sergey Brin and Larry Page tried to sell Google to Excite, got rejected,
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