The book in three sentences

1. Written as a private journal by the Emperor of Rome, the most powerful man of his era, who never intended it to be read, Meditations is an honest leadership manual, a daily practice of self-correction, perspective, and discipline that has survived nearly two thousand years.

2. Three ideas keep showing up, page after page: the people around you shape who you become, you can find stillness anywhere if you train your mind, and death isn't a threat, but a reminder to pay attention.

3. Not a book of advice, but a man arguing with himself to stay good, present, useful, and his honesty and vulnerability make it timeless.

Why I Picked It Up

I first came across Marcus Aurelius while visiting museums around the world, where tour guides often referenced his power and his meditations. Once stoicism picked up steam in Silicon Valley, I returned to his character through quotes from Ryan Holiday’s Daily Stoic until the name became unavoidable.

At work, every time I bring up stoicism with senior leaders, Meditations is the first title they reference, and even though most haven’t read it fully, they all respect what it represents.

Think about that for a moment. We have the personal thought journal of the most important man of his time. The Emperor of Rome, writing to himself, never expecting anyone to read it. And nearly two thousand years later, executives in boardrooms are still citing it. Together with the Gospel of John, Meditations feels like one of those evergreen pocket books I can always come back to.

I read most of it on my long flight from Warsaw to Japan for my 30th birthday, with a physical copy in hand and a pen for underlining. These were the three things that stayed with me:

1. The Leadership Manual Hidden in Book One

2. Discipline Equals Freedom

3. The Stoic Growth Engine

The Leadership Manual Hidden in Book One

The entire first book of Meditations is unlike anything else in philosophy. It’s a gratitude list. Marcus Aurelius, the most important man of his time, opens not with grand ideas, but by naming every person who shaped him — and what specifically he learned from each one.

From his grandfather: composure. From his mother: generosity and simplicity. From his tutor: to mind his own business and never listen to gossip. From Rusticus: to read accurately, not settling for the general idea. From Apollonius: to make decisions independently instead of depending on chance. From Maximus: self-control, dignity, and cheerfulness under adversity. What struck me most was how specific the attributions are.

His exercise motivates us to take note of and praise those who shaped our lives and careers.

Craig Sullivan, who taught me that no design survives first contact with users.

Bart Bobrowski for being mindful of what we test when building product.

David Sanchez for his lessons on prioritization when the juice is worth the squeeze.

Mike Funderberk, who cross-pollinated hospitality into how business is done.

David Gouray, who contextualized leadership as the one who provides clarity of vision, foresees the steps ahead and considers how the next generation should look.

Nick Kisberg, the CEO I most admire, who I learned to be an advocate for the aggregation of marginal gains.

My father, who guided my youth through example, looked back each day, being sure the very best was done.

And for all the mentors I never met, but got their guidance through their written thoughts, the giants I don't get tired to stand in the shoulders.

We rarely pause to map those debts. Marcus Aurelius did it as his first act of philosophical reflection, which tells you something about his priorities: before you can lead others, acknowledge who led you.

One line I underlined twice — the Alexander the Platonist lesson about not overusing the words “I am too busy.” No one should shirk the obligations due to society on the excuse of urgent affairs. I think about this one often.

Discipline Equals Freedom

The middle books of Meditations are where it shifts from gratitude to daily combat, Marcus arguing with himself about how to think, how to act, and how to stay grounded.

The passage I keep coming back to is from Book Four: you don’t need a beach house or a mountain retreat to find peace. You can retire within yourself at any moment. Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.

I love this one because it creates an internal contradiction with my own life, the Think Week ritual, where I force myself outside my routine to get exposed to different cultures, different people, different horizons. Here, the Roman Emperor tells me this is futile, that I must be strong to find that inner space for reflection within me, anywhere, any time. Maybe it’s all a learning curve. Maybe the external retreat is training wheels for the internal one. I’m still working that out.

Discipline is the root of all good things, at the gym, discipline is visible; you either show up or you don’t. In the mind, discipline is invisible. It’s choosing not to spiral. It’s choosing not to speculate about what someone else is doing or thinking. Marcus calls this out directly: wondering about others is a loss of opportunity for our own work.

Three mental discipline moves he returns to across multiple books:

Your mind becomes what it habitually thinks about. He writes about the soul being dyed by its thoughts. Fill your mind with what serves you. I’ve seen this play out in investing — the portfolio you build reflects the mental models you feed yourself, not the hot takes you scroll past.

You don’t have to have an opinion. Marcus says everything becomes what your opinion makes it. Renounce the opinion, and you find calm. Where I'm not knowledgeable or simply don't have any particular interest, I reserve my right to have an opinion, passing without forming a judgment. Many people today feel they must have a sharp take on every topic, every headline, every debate in a world full of controversial topics where omission can be an offense. Marcus would call that voluntary suffering.

Do only what is necessary. Most of what we say and do is unnecessary. The wise person asks of every action: Is this essential? I think about this every time I look at a product roadmap. The best products aren’t the ones with the most features. Simple is kind.

The Stoic Growth Engine

A quote from Chris Bailey’s Productivity Project I carry when pondering the future: happiness is nothing more than coming to terms with how things change. A recurring idea across Meditations — everything is changing, everything is temporary.

The stoics had a name for this: memento mori. Remember that you will die. It sounds heavy, but Marcus doesn’t use it to depress you. He uses it to wake you up, to remind us that time is all we have. He puts it plainly: live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow. Make yourself good while life and power are still yours.

The beautiful tension in Meditations is that Marcus fully acknowledges how brief and small our lives are — he writes about mortal life being a little thing, lived in a little corner of the earth — and yet he never uses that as a reason to stop trying. He uses it as a reason to be more present, more deliberate, more alive. Memento mori isn’t about fear, but gratitude for the time you have and the urgency to use it fully, without being too hard on yourself for the imperfections along the way. It's only one life, we gotta make it count, and it has to be fun because it's already too serious to take it seriously.

The better every day foundation lies right here, in a book written two millennia ago. Compounding only works if you believe that today actually matters. Marcus gives you that belief: today is all you have. The present instant is the only moment you actually occupy. Everything else is either memory or speculation.

A Note from Me

Meditations meet you exactly where you are. It met Marcus Aurelius in the middle of running an empire. It met me at 30,000 feet, building something meaningful, striving to be 1% better than yesterday.

The Stoics don’t promise you won’t feel pain. They promise that if you do the work, the daily reps of perspective, discipline, and presence, you can carry it well.

And that might be enough.

What to Read Next

Check the summary for Supercommunicators, a book about mastering the art of connection through deep questions and active listening.

1. Product people shape, sync, and ship

2. Valuable and feasible are Product responsibilities

3. Know the customers, the data, the business model, and the market trends

1. Shape the product: Harness insights from customers, stakeholders, and data to prioritize and build a product that will impact the business most. Product people must be able to develop their future projection for the product, the vision, and how to get there, the strategy. Setting goals, creating specs, discovery, roadmapping, and product/design feedback cycles must be executed excellently to reach the vision.

2. Ship the product: Ship high-quality product on time and without surprises. This is about quality assurance, fighting for budget/resources, unblocking blockers, going to market, and adjusting resources/priorities when things come up. Ultimately, if it’s not live, it doesn’t count. When in doubt, ship it.

3. Synchronise the people: Tell a story and align stakeholders around one vision, strategy, goal, roadmap, and timeline to avoid wasted time and effort. Running effective meetings and communicating important information up and down the ladder are vital.

Defining Product

My first contact with Product design came during technical high school, where technical drawing led to mechanical projects. A few years later, during my engineering studies, I was tasked with the most time-consuming and challenging assignment: to deliver the entire project of a reductor from scratch.

Of course, I didn’t have to think about a business model for the device, because it wasn’t the point. I had to think about every little part, consider every tolerance for each assembly step. The emphasis was on precision, reliability, and functionality, ensuring each product met rigorous standards and served a specific purpose.

Nowadays, I find myself on a different side of the product management discipline, in a digital world that is much more dynamic and customer-centric. Product is not just a physical object but often a digital experience, a service, or a platform. There’s a lot more discussion on understanding user needs, iterating quickly, and continuously delivering value. The focus shifts from purely technical specifications to creating seamless and intuitive user experiences, ensuring the product evolves in line with market demands.

Usable, feasible, valuable, viable

Marty Cagan says that while the engineer owns feasible and the designer owns usable, valuable, and viable, it’s the product manager who owns the two of the hardest things to do. And those are pretty big shoes to fill.

It reminds me of desirable, feasible, and viable — the core of Strategyzer’s approach to business model testing.

Product people must understand their market drivers and desires so they can create a value proposition that is desirable. They must also model customers’ willingness to pay to keep the product viable with a sustainable profit.

Product principles and essential skills

Simple is kind

Perfect is not when there are no more things to add, but no more things to eliminate. Always choose concise and simple communication over complex. Don’t use more words when less will do. Drop the unnecessary, find the bits of work and effort that will yield the least value, and tactfully eliminate them. Simple is kind is my favourite mantra.

Better every day

We encourage continuous improvement through testing. We believe in Kaizen, the compounding force, the aggregation of marginal gains from being 1% better every day in each corner of the business.

Think big, ship small

Product people must be able to project the future of their product and tell that growth story to stakeholders while navigating the realities of time, capacity, and scope. In 90% of cases, the first two are set in stone, leaving the Product to negotiate the scope to the best of our abilities. Descope and deliver because if it’s not live, it doesn’t count.

Build for hospitality

Anticipate user needs, pay attention to details, and celebrate the guest. Ancient Japanese hospitality gives us a way to look at what we build and how we build it.
Product people must be guests of the whole product experience. Eat the dog food.

Make it visual

We encourage going beyond the comfort of spoken and written language and tapping into our immense power as spatial thinkers. A prototype is worth a thousand specs, a short video is worth a thousand screenshots — augment with AI, show and tell.

There are four essential skills

Great product thinkers aren’t born, they’re built. While trends and tools come and go, what endures are core capabilities: the muscle groups that compound over time.

Good product managers know the market, the product, the product line, and the competition extremely well, operating from a strong basis of knowledge and confidence.

These skills are the quiet force behind confident decisions, crisp communication, and compounding outcomes:

1. Know the customers, who are using this?

2. Be an expert in the data and core behaviours, what and how is it used?

3. Understand the three areas of the business model, how is the product desirable, feasible, and viable?

4. Monitor industry trends and competitive landscape, who’s up against us, and how do they play?

Prioritization, is the juice worth the squeeze?

More on this soon…

Leveling up and tuning the Product Organization

I use Ravi Mehta’s competency framework to score my strengths and gaps across execution, insight, and strategy. It keeps me honest about where I need to grow — and where I can add the most leverage.

Once a quarter, I step back, take a snapshot, and assess where the product organization is underperforming. When momentum stalls or impact feels shallow, this helps pinpoint whether we lack vision, delivery, or customer understanding.

It’s a tool for reflection — and a prompt for action.

People I follow:

1. Naomi Gleit

2. Lenny Rachitsky

3. Marty Cagan

4. Teresa Torres

5. Shreyas Doshi

6. Ravi Mehta

7. Itamar Gilad

Good reads

1. The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You by Rob Fitzpatrick

2. Continuous discovery habits by Teresa Torres

3. Atomic habits applied to business by James Clear

4. Influence by Robert Cialdini

5. Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager by Ben Horowitz

Core Principles

1. Diversification: We spread risk across multiple asset classes, sectors, and geographies to protect against concentrated losses.

2. Income Generation: Dividend collection is a core feature of our portfolio, providing steady cash flow and compounding opportunities.

3. Long-Term Perspective: Our investment decisions are made with a multi-year horizon, allowing us to benefit from compounding and ride out short-term market volatility.

4. Quality First: Emphasis on companies with strong balance sheets, competitive advantages, and predictable cash flows

5. Rational Decision Making: Evidence-based investing decisions, not emotional reactions to market movements

Essential Learning Resources

Foundational Books

1. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

2. 100 Baggers by Christopher Mayer

3. Quality Investing by Lawrence A. Cunningham

4. The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks

5. One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch

After you cover the basics

1. Poor Charlie Almanack

2. Compounding Quality e-book

Great to audiobook

1. All “The Little Books,” Common Sense Investing, That Still Beats the Market, Valuation

2. The Richest Man in Babylon

Online Courses

1. Aswath Damodaran’s Valuation @ NYU Stern

2. Brian Feroldi’s Long-Term Mindset course

YouTube Channels & Podcasts

On Youtube

Joseph Carlson was the first YouTube analyst we paid attention to. His investing style is influenced by the same masters we inspire. You will get value from his main channel and secondary after-hours thoughts.

Ben Felix provides evidence-based investing principles that will hurt the beginner’s investor brain. Take it as a personal challenge and growth path to comprehend his thinking.

Brian Feroldi was a Motley Fool contributor who took his own path and delivered great content to the community. Start with the Cash flow statement, Income statement, Balance sheet, and How the 3 financial statements link together

On Podcasts

The Best One Yet, previously Robinhood Snacks, is our daily podcast, which provides 15 minutes of market news entertainment.

The Memo by Howard Marks, incredible thinking worth sitting back and taking notes.

Financial Publications & Research

1. Seeking Alpha, deep-dive analysis from diverse contributors

2. Financial Times, global market coverage, and premium market insights

3. Motley Fool Stock Advisor, long-term focused stock recommendations, and educational content

4. Compounding Quality, Pieter and I started writing Compounding Quality in July 2022

Research & Analysis Tools

1. Qualtrim, portfolio tracking and analysis, dividend monitoring, performance metrics, and KPIs

2. Finviz, market visualization

3. Finchat, AI features for conversational analysis

4. TipRanks, analyst consensus & price target

What to read next

Q3-2024 Portfolio Quarterly Report.

Access eToro portfolio.

After a few years of collecting my thoughts, here is my take on effective meetings.

The bottom line is, do the homework.

Meetings won’t change

Dialogue is the basic unit of work in an organization. The quality of dialogue determines how people feel about one another, how teams gather and process information, how stakeholder management is considered, how decisions are made, and the quality of those decisions.

I appreciate how AI is changing the way we work across disciplines, however, I believe meetings are one of those things that will stay same as ever.

Leading conversations, aligning people, getting buy-in for critical decisions, and solving problems as a group — these will always be foundational skills of leadership.

Specific to the discipline of Product, going by Lenny’s playbook, if the role of a Product Manager is about shaping the Product, shipping the Product, and aligning the People, how do you do those things exceptionally well without effective meetings?

Positivity score from 600 meetings

I returned to writing about effective meetings after receiving the The Meeting Marathoner award from Money.ca, their version of “The Dundies,” and preparing for a speech I gave in Warsaw on becoming a supercommunicator.

The fun part is that I happened to be capturing metadata to gain a deeper understanding of the quality of my sessions using Circleback Insights, and the Positivity Score set the direction for what I have to contribute.

Six factors that make my meetings positive

I was puzzled, what makes my meetings so positive?

I started the soul-searching process and turned into what I do best as a Product person, I asked my customers, people I meet with often, and key stakeholders from my initiatives. Nic, our COO, took the time to distill the essence that I struggled to pinpoint alone. Once again, the best copy comes from your most engaged customers.

While writing this evergreen, I had the opportunity to spend a week between Santiago and Val Paraíso, and the Pacific waves helped me reflect on his feedback with additional notes for each quality he listed. However, I will keep this section for last and focus on the practical part first.

Meetings are high-value and high-cost

Naomi Gleit is one of the mentors I never spoke to, and the PJisms I bring to my teams are 100% inspired by her school of thought.

The effective meetings framework I use

I structured my meetings framework after her initial foundation, and it all starts with the question: Why exactly do I want to bring people together?

Before I get to the three types of meetings, if we look from above, this is how the meeting lifecycle generally looks like:

1. You feel you need to meet people for a particular reason.

2. You reach out, invite people, and provide them context with a pre-read.

3. You meet, cover the planned agenda, and take notes.

4. You follow up with notes and action points.

The following sections will get into more tactical details of each stage in the meeting lifecycle.

When to call a meeting?

Every communication has an objective, and in my experience, these are the three most common reasons that justify bringing people together:

1. Alignment: Too important to be sent via email, or when Q&A and collecting inputs from others might be a substantial portion of value added, for example, all-hands meetings and product reviews.

2. Decision making: Beyond what the product team can do on their own, usually because of larger dependencies or stakeholders from different areas. Here, I’m a fan of the Amazon 6-pager written narrative and the good old Product requirements document (PRD), for example, an experiment results review call for a critical rollout decision or a prioritization session.

3. Problem-solving: A complex problem we don’t know the best course of action for, otherwise, it would’ve been a decision-making meeting. Here, we believe that having the right minds in a room thinking from different angles will unlock stronger solutions, for example, GrowthMentor calls, ideation workshops, post-mortems, or whiteboarding with engineering.

The worflow below is how my mind goes through the steps deciding if I need a watercooler ten-minutes conversation, if I could help people visualize first with an async loom, or maybe it fits an existing meeting agenda.

1. Always come prepared

An essential lesson from Kris, a VP of Marketing who coached me for half a year, that I will carry for the rest of my career, is The Five Ps:

Being prepared means starting with the end in mind, it means sharing with participants an agenda of what needs to be covered and what needs to happen for us to celebrate a successful session.

“In preparation for a battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Above all, being prepared means respecting everyone’s time.

2. Communicate clearly, at the start and at the end

Humans tend to remember the start and the end of interactions, it’s called primacy bias. Think about this, we usually remember the puzzling start of a movie and the triumphant ending. How we first met a lover and how that relationship broke. The palate-opening entrée and the sweet closing dessert.

The start and the end, when planned with intention, make any experience memorable.

Now translate the concept to our daily communications and consider the tactical aspect:

1. Meetings that start lightheartedly and with smiles often get people feeling better at the end, even if they’re not as productive, and that matters a lot.

2. Follow that with the reason why a meeting was necessary, rather than an email or a short video. Present the outline, including what needs to be covered, and explain how we expect to celebrate a successful session at the end. Show the homework and emphasize that everyone’s time is valued.

3. At the end, remind people of what was covered, help them feel a sense of progress, and celebrate.

3. Manage time exceptionally well

Work will be endless, your time is finite, the only thing you can control is time — and energy. I often call myself the “time warrior” during meetings as I fight for discussion topics to be time-boxed. At a tactical level:

1. Estimate the time per item for each agenda topic. The time sum should align with the booked time slot, always with a three-minute buffer, which is often used at the beginning as participants join the call. As time per topic approaches, I call “the time warrior” and move to the next.

2. If a discussion needs more time, don’t let the meeting run longer; people have plans and busy agendas. Park the topic and book a smaller session with stakeholders if it makes sense.

3. And my favorite tactic of them all, something I learned from the Wisepublishing leadership team, is to call for ELMO — Enough, Let’s Move On — when a topic starts derailing, either by throwing the cute red puppet we have in the boardroom at someone while making fun of the fact, or virtually with a lovely gif.

4. Open-minded and adaptable

I attribute this to:

1. Have Backbone, Disagree and Commit, one of my favorite Amazon leadership principles, and

2. My career in experimentation humbled me countless times, as my best and brightest ideas turned out to be wrong when they reached customers in production.

5. Recognize contribution with your own style

I count in two hands the most successful product experiments in my career so far, the ones that really moved the needle and hit the bottom line, and none of those were my ideas.

Of course, with the many reps I had building and optimizing products, I helped those who were brave to speak up and share their concepts to shape and refine their vision, a process I call “increasing the likelihood for a winner.”

I expect great ideas from those I work with, and I’m the first one to stand up and celebrate their wins.

6. Passion is infectious

I love what I do, I am grateful for the opportunities I have had, I work hard, and I ensure that every meeting I participate in ends with more positive energy than it started. That’s all.

The book in three sentences

1. Supercommunicators are individuals who have mastered skills that enable instant connection, and this is due primarily to how they ask deep questions.

2. Duhigg reveals that every dialogue runs on three tracks: practical problems, emotional experiences, and identity values.

3. Great communicators don’t just speak clearly; they listen for the type of conversation and adjust their response accordingly.

Why I Picked It Up

I first came across this book in Copenhagen's airport, in one of those “top 10 non-fiction” bookshelves they keep on display, to be later retargeted by Duhigg's TED Talk in one of my YouTube sessions.

I’ve always thought I was pretty clear in how I talk. But what I realized is that I often miss what the other person actually wants from the exchange. Here are three reflections that stayed with me:

1. Conversations Happen on Three Levels

2. Matching the Tone and the Energy

3. How to Make Conversations Land

Conversations Happen on Three Levels

Every conversation contains three overlapping questions:

1. What’s this about?

2. How do we feel?

3. What does this say about us?

Duhigg breaks down conversations into three tracks: practical (solving a problem), emotional (processing a feeling), and identity (protecting or revealing who we are).

Most communication fails because people are talking on different levels. You’re solving a problem, they’re expressing a fear. You’re focused on facts, they’re navigating self-worth. The mismatch creates distance, even if the words sound right.

Curiosity is key for the supercommunicator, not charm or verbosity. It’s the ability to pause and ask, “Wait—what kind of conversation is this?”

That question alone can shift everything. It slows things down. It creates space. It puts both people in the same mode of listening.

Since reading the book, I’ve started labeling conversations in real time. Am I hearing a feeling or a request? Am I answering a logistical question or something more profound? That shift alone has made me slower to speak and quicker to connect.

Matching the Tone and the Energy

The way something is said matters as much as the words themselves.

Skilled communicators pay attention to tone, rhythm, and emotional intensity. They slow down when someone hesitates. They let silence linger when it’s needed. They respond calmly when the other person feels tense. They stay in sync.

I’ve seen myself miss this. I jump in too fast. I focus on clarity and outcomes. But not every moment calls for progress. Some call for alignment. Matching someone’s energy isn’t about imitation—it’s about respect.

You respond at their pace, not yours. You meet them where they are.

That’s what presence looks like. And it’s what opens the door for trust.

How to Make Conversations Land

The best part of the book is how tactical it gets with its “guides to using these ideas.”

I will focus on a few key questions I noted, as well as parallels with notes I gathered from 'Never Split the Difference' and the playbook of CIA negotiators.

Duhigg shares a set of questions that help align conversations in real time:

• “Do you want help or just someone to talk to?”

• “Is this about the decision or how it was made?”

• “Is there something about this that feels personal to you?”

These questions help you tune into the emotional level of a conversation; they create space and slow things down. I’ve found myself using them not just at work, but with friends, family, and dates.

Following up with depth

The book also changed how I think about deep questions, the ones that invite someone to share more than just surface-level details, questions that tap into our emotions, feelings, and identities.

I started testing these questions in events, dates, randomly at the gym, and even in Eastern Europe, where the stigma is often perceived as less friendly people who don't smile as much, the difference between a flat “what do you do?” versus “how do you feel about where you are right now?” is striking.

You can memorize questions, get a deck with conversation starters, or whatever it takes to get reps and make these more natural to how you express genuine curiosity when connecting with others.

Super communicator meets negotiation

Some of these tactics echo what Chris Voss wrote about in Never Split the Difference, or what CIA field operatives use in high-stakes dialogue:

Mirroring the last few words someone says.

Labeling what you hear in their tone.

Staying with the silence instead of rushing to fill it.

These moves help people feel heard. They let you stay in rhythm with what the other person can actually receive.

During a strategy week in Canada, I joined a high-stakes session with VPs and C-levels to align on a 3-year plan for one of our car brands. I didn’t say much. But when I did, I reflected what I’d heard, connected a few threads, and asked a question that helped everyone take a step back. That moment kept coming up afterward. It didn’t land because it was clever—it landed because it was paced right, and in sync with the group.

The book also changed how I think about deep questions. I used to treat them as conversation starters. Now I see them as a way to meet someone at a more honest level.

Instead of asking “what do you do?” I ask “how do you feel about where you are right now?”

Instead of “what’s next?”—“what’s pulling you forward these days?”

I keep a deck of deep question cards in my living room. I use them with friends, and sometimes with people I’ve just met. They help break the script. They open something up.

Listening, mirroring, pacing, asking better questions—this isn’t theory. It’s how conversations open up. It’s how they land.

A Note from Me

This book reminded me that communication is a two-player game—and sometimes the best move isn’t to say something smarter, but to switch lanes entirely.

In life and business, connection often begins when we stop trying to be right and start trying to be in sync.

Next month, I will be in Warsaw bringing a summary of the book with personal experience notes to the stage.

What to Read Next

Check the summary for The Mom Test, the most recommended Product book.

The book in three sentences

1. People rely on psychological shortcuts — known as the six principles of influence— to make decisions faster.

2. These principles are powerful tools of persuasion, often used automatically and subconsciously.

3. Understanding them helps you both become more persuasive and protect yourself from manipulation.

Why I Picked It Up

It kept coming up. Whether we were interviewing product leaders, startup founders, or marketers, people would reference "Cialdini's work" like gospel.

It’s structured like a behavioral playbook for influence. You learn one psychological principle at a time, with vivid real-world examples. It's one of those books that changes how you notice things—ads, conversations, negotiations.

These were the three things that stayed with me:

1. The Six Shortcuts to Influence

2. Applying It Ethically

3. Spotting Influence in the Wild

The Six Shortcuts to Influence

Cialdini identifies six core principles that people use to make quick decisions:

• Reciprocity: We feel obligated to return favors.

• Commitment & Consistency: We want to stay true to our previous decisions.

• Social Proof: We follow what others are doing, especially in uncertain situations.

• Authority: We defer to those who appear knowledgeable or credible.

• Liking: We’re more likely to agree with people we like.

• Scarcity: We value things more when they seem limited.

Each principle taps into automatic behavior—mental shortcuts that help us navigate complexity but also leave us vulnerable to manipulation.

Applying It Ethically

These six principles don’t just work in sales or marketing. They show up everywhere—from product design to fundraising to parenting.

Here’s how I’ve seen them used well:

• Offering reciprocity with upfront value before a signup.

• Using commitment nudges like onboarding checklists.

• Featuring authentic testimonials and social stats.

• Framing advice with expert voices or credentials.

• Writing with warmth and relatability.

• Creating urgency ethically, not manipulatively.

Understanding these levers doesn’t mean you have to pull them all the time. But knowing they’re there gives you more intention and control.

Spotting Influence in the Wild

Once you read Influence, you start seeing these psychological shortcuts everywhere:

• The free sample at the grocery store (Reciprocity).

• The limited-time-only discount (Scarcity).

• The expert on TV in a lab coat (Authority).

• The “People Also Bought” section (Social Proof).

Cialdini doesn’t just teach you how to use influence—he gives you the tools to resist it too. This makes the book as much a defense manual as it is a strategy guide.

A Note from Me

Once you’ve seen these principles, you can’t unsee them. They’re everywhere. But one app that truly stands out for using all of them—often at once — is Duolingo ($DUOL).

{{Owl}}

Here are just a few of the ways I’ve seen Duolingo applying Cialdini's influence principles in the product:

1. Reciprocity – It gives you value immediately with lessons and streaks, often before asking you to pay or commit.

2. Commitment & Consistency – The daily streak mechanic builds a habit and nudges you to keep your word to yourself.

3. Social Proof – Leaderboards show what others are doing, and push notifications tell you how you're ranking.

4. Authority – The owl delivers tips and encouragement like an expert guide, often using structured learning paths backed by linguistics.

5. Liking – The app’s tone, mascot, and animations build an emotional connection. It’s friendly and unhinged.

6. Scarcity – Limited-time XP boosts, streak freezes, and seasonal badges add urgency and scarcity in a lightweight way.

What to Read Next

Check the summary for The Mom Test, the most recommended Product book.

Having a plan

​You gotta have a plan​. Everybody has a dream or a goal, but I must have a plan.

A C5 Plan is Clear, Concise, Compelling, Consistent, and Committed.

When you’re passionate about that C5 plan, there’s no plan B.

We do it in the business with retrospectives, quarterly business reviews, etc, but will often overlook running similar exercises for organizing life ambitions.

So the weekly review, every Sunday, and think week, every quarter, became evergreen reflective thinking time on my calendar. It helps establish mental models and encourages me to ponder what we’ve done, seen, and learned.

Journaling these moments is elevating good to ​memorable​.

The Think Week

At the beginning of each year, the think week is the place where I set the roadmap for life and business, and every quarter I sharpen the saw.

​Inspired by Bill Gates,​ I take the think week became my opportunity to go somewhere new, create memories, and think about the future.

I perfected my planning experiences over the past 4 years. I’m still working on the templates to share with the community.

We do sprint retrospectives, quarterly business reviews, etc, but do we make the same time for looking back, celebrating the wins, and organizing life ambitions?

I keep a couple of evergreen rituals on my calendar:

1. Focused Hours during peak energy: Dedicated periods for deep, uninterrupted work to boost productivity and creativity.

2. Friday Product Jam: Weekly sessions on Friday evening to study competitors, brainstorm, and develop new product experiments.

3. Weekly Review on Sundays: End-of-week reflections to review accomplishments, plan the upcoming week, and keep projects on track.

4. Think Week: Quarterly retreats for in-depth thinking, strategic planning, and personal development. The helicopter view from the journey.

It helps establish mental models and encourages me to ponder what we’ve done, seen, and learned.

Journaling these moments elevates good memories to ​memorable​ ones.

Asking right questions

Reflective thinking consistently puts me in a position to reflect on my actions, and plans and measure backward life’s journey.

However, any retrospective is as good as the questions asked and the amount of attention given to the right topics.

During these periods I ask questions like:

• What’s the main thing and what are the projects and adventures advancing the main thing?

• How are the different life areas I track progressing over time? How do I stack up against my definition of worst vs best?

• How am I growing? What are the routines in place that reinforce my 1% better every day? How and when do I apply learnings?

• To whom do I add value today? How do I know I added value? How can I hold accountability and follow up to compound the benefit?

Away from keyboard

In our digitally saturated environment, stepping away from our screens becomes a vital practice for mental clarity and creativity. This disconnection allows us to engage deeply with the world around us and fosters a space where reflective thinking can flourish.

By consciously choosing to disconnect, you open yourself up to experiences and insights that enrich your personal and professional life.

Make it a regular practice to take these journeys away from the keyboard, and watch as your world expands in depth and dimension.

Whether it’s a walk in the park, a bike ride, or simply enjoying a quiet moment in nature, these activities help rejuvenate the mind and body.

Cycling is my zen. The steady rhythm, the breeze, the changing landscape - it’s a moving meditation. For some, it’s running shoes hitting pavement or trails. Others find peace in the flow of yoga. The key is finding your active escape.

Spending time offline can lead to unexpected insights and solutions to problems that seemed insurmountable while you were staring at a screen. It’s in these moments of tranquility that true reflection and deep thinking often occur. Allow yourself the space to breathe, explore, and reconnect with the world around you.

The science is fascinating. During prolonged exercise or focused movement, our bodies release endorphins and endocannabinoids. These chemicals reduce pain, decrease anxiety, and create a sense of euphoria. It’s nature’s reward for pushing our limits.

But it’s more than just feeling good. This state enhances creativity, improves problem-solving, and boosts overall cognitive function.

Remember, the time you invest in these offline activities is not just a break from work but an essential part of your creative and reflective process. Embrace these moments as opportunities to nourish your soul and enhance your overall well-being.

Many of my best ideas come during or right after a ride.

Sources of wisdom

1. Designing Your Life: Build a Life that Works for You by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

Like everyone, I've been exploring the application landscape as new shiny-new-ai-things appear weekly. Productivity and workflow enhancement apps have been my favourite category, apart from using voice-GPT as a gallery guide.

I will react to Reforge's AI impact on PM activities and update you on my best AI-enhanced workflows.

Three sentence summary

1. AI is eliminating the time-consuming admin layers of product work.

2. This puts pressure on PMs to deepen judgment, taste, and storytelling.

3. The builders who can think clearly and communicate value will thrive.

What parts of product management get replaced?

I don't have a clear-cut answer or elaborated vision, but I can share what changed for me and my people.

AI enhances

These are areas where AI doesn’t replace the PM — it augments their thinking and accelerates output.

Strategic Direction: Competitive analysis or market research in deep research mode. Synthesizing survey responses, customer interviews, and chat transcripts. What used to take days now takes minutes.

Builder mentality: A prototype is worth a thousand Jira specs, and tools like V0, Lovable, Cursor, or Bolt have become essential for telling the product story.

Decision-making: I'm keen to see more development in this area. There is a case for prioritizing managers who process live backlog data and maintain some prioritization score, as you do. I also look forward to seeing more applications from experimentation platforms.

AI replaces

These are no longer PM differentiators; it's admin work delegated to systems. The best PMs are letting these go fast.

Meeting summaries: I've tried a few tools in this space, but Circleback worked like magic and became integral to my note-making system.

Product artifacts: I experimented with many tools to move faster with documentation, right now my toolkit looks like this:

1. Chat GPT Pro Projects, for PRD templates used in Jira epics or user stories for engineering tickets, where I share examples of templates to keep in memory.

2. Reforge AI extension in Jira is handy for release notes and comment summaries.

3. Notion AI for exploring the knowledge base (yes, I moved away from Obsidian)

If I had to highlight the top three workflows where AI feels like complete magic for me:

1. From meeting note to Jira ticket ready for developers: I ask the Circleback bot for a summary of requirements as we diligently repeat ourselves for the bot to capture the right decisions during calls. Copy and paste that transcript into the GPT Jira ticket writer bot template.

2. From UI inspiration to mobile-friendly prototype on your phone: You have a new feature you found from an adjacent industry that could be added to your product. You get that screenshot to ChatGPT, ask for a V0 spec, build the thing in V0, and get the prototype share link. With screenshots of the prototype and the specs, get the engineering ticket from the GPT Jira ticket writer to investigate the feature.

3. Talking to technical documentation: I export all API integration docs into a PDF and load them into a Claude project as a knowledge base, then I talk to the documentation and run audits on my systems.

Taste and judgement

I appreciate how Shaun and Fareed contextualize taste and judgment as key attributes for product people; I see both as integral parts of personal branding that influence the most powerful leadership tool: storytelling.

Product people are always crafting narratives that take people on a journey to understand what they're building and why it matters.

So what are you being paid for?

The confidence that I have in my taste and my ability to express what I feel has proven helpful for artists.

Don't miss

Women in Experimentation 2025. It is FREE to attend, online, and delivers enough value to warrant the time you might spend binge-watching your favorite Netflix series. Save your seat for July 9th.

The book in three sentences

1. Great teams aren’t built on talent alone — they’re built on trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.

2. Most teams fail not because they lack strategy, but because they lack the courage to be honest.

3. One dysfunction leads to the next, creating a compounding failure spiral.

Why I Picked It Up

I got this recommendation from a friend who was leading a software engineering department through a tense org restructuring. The book reveals a leadership parable told through the story of a fictional tech company that reminds me of The Goal.

I listened to the audiobook, and here are three things that stayed with me:

1. Trust is the Foundation

2. Conflict is Productive

3. Commitment to Results

As I reflect on my notes and start mapping the learnings, I couldn’t help but draw parallels with the Amazon Leadership Principles.

Trust is the Foundation

Lencioni begins his story with the team’s offsite, where the cracks are subtle but real. The CEO notices people play it safe, avoid personal disclosures, rarely admit when they’re unsure, and the absence of vulnerability-based trust, the kind that lets someone say:

I messed that up — I need help.

I've experienced a similar counterproductive environment as described in the book, where more time was spent documenting decisions and taking screenshots of who said what on Slack, because "being protected" is almost more important than making progress. If vulnerability is not welcomed, teams stay in protection mode.

The story portrays how even the most senior executives in the fable carry a status armor, which kills open dialogue. Building trust means being vulnerable and genuine first.

Conflict is Productive

As trust builds up, productive conflict can emerge — the second dysfunction.

In the early meetings, team members nod along, hold back critiques, and defer to consensus. The danger? Artificial harmony.

Lencioni contrasts this with healthy disagreement: interrupting not to derail, but to challenge and engage. In one moment from the story, a key exec finally voices disagreement about a hiring decision. It sparks tension — but also a breakthrough. People finally start speaking their minds.

This idea reminds me of Amazon's leadership principle “Have a backbone,” because Teams that don’t disagree and commit, don’t grow.

Commitment to Results

In Lencioni’s model, the fifth dysfunction is inattention to results. This aligns with Amazon’s principle of “Deliver Results”. It’s not enough for teams to trust each other and engage in healthy conflict if they aren’t collectively focused on outcomes. The fictional team in the book only starts succeeding when everyone shifts from individual agendas to a shared commitment to results.

A Note from Me

The five dysfunctions of a team:

1. Absence of Trust – people don’t open up or admit mistakes.

2. Fear of Conflict – real issues get buried under politeness.

3. Lack of Commitment – vague alignment leads to scattered execution.

4. Avoidance of Accountability – no one calls out underperformance.

5. Inattention to Results – ego or personal goals take priority over team wins.

I came back to this framework during a reorg when team roles were shifting, and trust was shaky. It helped me zoom out and ask: Where are we stuck? It wasn’t about velocity or OKRs — it was about people not feeling safe enough to disagree out loud.

I started by acting on what was under my control, making small trust deposits: owning my own mistakes early in meetings, being transparent about uncertainty, and surfacing silent resistance in 1:1s. Over time, it gave others an opening to do the same. That’s when the real progress started.

If your team feels off but you can’t quite name it — this book gives you the vocabulary and the mirror.

What to Read Next

Check the summary for The Mom Test, the most recommended Product book.

The book in three sentences

1. A father and son motorcycle trip becomes the canvas for a philosophical deep dive into the nature of Quality.

2. The narrative oscillates between the road and the mind, blending storytelling with an inquiry into values, meaning, and madness.

3. At its core, it’s a guide to living with care — integrating rational analysis and romantic intuition as one unified way of being, which reminds me of Product.

Why I Picked It Up

I first came across this book during my days as a mechanical engineer, when my world revolved around tolerances and inspections. I remembered it as dense — even intimidating.

Years later, after stumbling upon references to the book on Lenny's podcast, I picked it up again, now working in the digital space of Product — still solving problems, still thinking in systems, but through a completely different lens.

And here are three reflections that stayed with me:

1. Quality Comes Before Definition

2. The Mechanical Is Spiritual

3. Classical Meets Romantic

Quality Comes Before Definition

Before you can measure, define, or optimize anything, you feel its quality.

That feeling of “rightness” is the seed of good product decisions. It’s not irrational. It’s pre-rational. Learning to trust that sense, that Product intuition, and then validating it is part of mastering the craft.

In Zen, Pirsig assigns his English students the task of writing about “what is quality?” Most of them freeze. Not because it’s too abstract, but because it’s too familiar. They know what quality is — they feel it every time they read something good or bad — but they can’t define it. The moment they try to pin it down, it slips away.

That’s the point. Quality isn’t born from the definition. It’s revealed through experience.

Product people chase the same thing. A flow that just works. A design that feels frictionless. A release that clicks. We sense quality before we can articulate why it’s there.

The Mechanical Is About Care

One of Pirsig’s most vivid contrasts is between himself and his friend John, who rides a sleek BMW but wants nothing to do with maintenance. John just wants the machine to work. He avoids the details, dreads the thought of opening up the bike, and resents any breakdowns. For him, the machine is a black box — something to be used, not understood.

But Pirsig sees the opposite: real peace of mind comes from engaging with the machine, not ignoring it. From paying attention. From care.

Peace of mind isn’t at all superficial, really. It’s the whole thing. That which produces it is good maintenance; that which disturbs it is poor maintenance.

Product work has the same shape. You can either patch things blindly — or take the time to understand how the system works. Real builders don’t just want things to run. They want to know why they run, and how to make them better.

Care is not extra, it is the work.

Classical Meets Romantic

Zen is a book about a breakdown — intellectual, emotional, and philosophical. And at the heart of that breakdown is a split: the classical mindset that dissects and explains vs. the romantic mindset that experiences and appreciates.

Pirsig doesn’t tell us to pick one. He illustrates what happens when you fail to integrate the two, which applies to the Product world.

Strategy is worthless without taste. Design is fragile without structure.

The real craft is holding both, even when they pull against each other. Knowing when to analyze and when to feel. When to break something apart and when to step back and see the whole.

Most teams lean one way. Great teams hold the tension and build something better from it.

A Note from Me

In mechanical engineering, I was trained to eliminate error. In Product, I’ve learned to embrace uncertainty — and still move forward with care.

To me, product management is a discipline of attention. A commitment to listen, to inspect, to integrate — and above all, to pursue quality before we even try to define it.

What to Read Next

Check the summary for The Mom Test, the most recommended Product book.

1. Product people shape, sync, and ship

2. Valuable and feasible are Product responsibilities

3. Know the customers, the data, the business model, and the market trends

1. Shape the product: Harness insights from customers, stakeholders, and data to prioritize and build a product that will impact the business most. Product people must be able to develop their future projection for the product, the vision, and how to get there, the strategy. Setting goals, creating specs, discovery, roadmapping, and product/design feedback cycles must be executed excellently to reach the vision.

2. Ship the product: Ship high-quality product on time and without surprises. This is about quality assurance, fighting for budget/resources, unblocking blockers, going to market, and adjusting resources/priorities when things come up. Ultimately, if it's not live, it doesn't count. When in doubt, ship it.

3. Synchronise the people: Tell a story and align stakeholders around one vision, strategy, goal, roadmap, and timeline to avoid wasted time and effort. Running effective meetings and communicating important information up and down the ladder are vital.

Defining Product

My first contact with Product design came during technical high school, where technical drawing led to mechanical projects. A few years later, during my engineering studies, I was tasked with the most time-consuming and challenging assignment: to deliver the entire project of a reductor from scratch.

Of course, I didn't have to think about a business model for the device, because it wasn't the point. I had to think about every little part, consider every tolerance for each assembly step. The emphasis was on precision, reliability, and functionality, ensuring each product met rigorous standards and served a specific purpose.

Nowadays, I find myself on a different side of the product management discipline, in a digital world that is much more dynamic and customer-centric. Product is not just a physical object but often a digital experience, a service, or a platform. There's a lot more discussion on understanding user needs, iterating quickly, and continuously delivering value. The focus shifts from purely technical specifications to creating seamless and intuitive user experiences, ensuring the product evolves in line with market demands.

Usable, feasible, valuable, viable

Marty Cagan says that while the engineer owns feasible and the designer owns usable, valuable, and viable, it's the product manager who owns the two of the hardest things to do. And those are pretty big shoes to fill.

It reminds me of desirable, feasible, and viable — the core of Strategyzer's approach to business model testing.

Product people must understand their market drivers and desires so they can create a value proposition that is desirable. They must also model customers’ willingness to pay to keep the product viable with a sustainable profit.

Product principles and essential skills

Simple is kind

Perfect is not when there are no more things to add, but no more things to eliminate. Always choose concise and simple communication over complex. Don't use more words when less will do. Drop the unnecessary, find the bits of work and effort that will yield the least value, and tactfully eliminate them. Simple is kind is my favourite mantra.

Better every day

We encourage continuous improvement through testing. We believe in Kaizen, the compounding force, the aggregation of marginal gains from being 1% better every day in each corner of the business.

Think big, ship small

Product people must be able to project the future of their product and tell that growth story to stakeholders while navigating the realities of time, capacity, and scope. In 90% of cases, the first two are set in stone, leaving the Product to negotiate the scope to the best of our abilities. Descope and deliver because if it's not live, it doesn't count.

Build for hospitality

Anticipate user needs, pay attention to details, and celebrate the guest. Ancient Japanese hospitality gives us a way to look at what we build and how we build it.
Product people must be guests of the whole product experience. Eat the dog food.

Make it visual

We encourage going beyond the comfort of spoken and written language and tapping into our immense power as spatial thinkers. A prototype is worth a thousand specs, a short video is worth a thousand screenshots — augment with AI, show and tell.

There are four essential skills

Great product thinkers aren’t born, they’re built. While trends and tools come and go, what endures are core capabilities: the muscle groups that compound over time.

Good product managers know the market, the product, the product line, and the competition extremely well, operating from a strong basis of knowledge and confidence.

These skills are the quiet force behind confident decisions, crisp communication, and compounding outcomes:

1. Know the customers, who are using this?

2. Be an expert in the data and core behaviours, what and how is it used?

3. Understand the three areas of the business model, how is the product desirable, feasible, and viable?

4. Monitor industry trends and competitive landscape, who's up against us, and how do they play?

Prioritization, is the juice worth the squeeze?

More on this soon…

Leveling up and tuning the Product Organization

I use Ravi Mehta’s competency framework to score my strengths and gaps across execution, insight, and strategy. It keeps me honest about where I need to grow — and where I can add the most leverage.

Once a quarter, I step back, take a snapshot, and assess where the product organization is underperforming. When momentum stalls or impact feels shallow, this helps pinpoint whether we lack vision, delivery, or customer understanding.

It’s a tool for reflection — and a prompt for action.

People I follow:

1. Naomi Gleit

2. Lenny Rachitsky

3. Marty Cagan

4. Teresa Torres

5. Shreyas Doshi

6. Ravi Mehta

7. Itamar Gilad

Good reads

1. The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You by Rob Fitzpatrick

2. Continuous discovery habits by Teresa Torres

3. Atomic habits applied to business by James Clear

4. Influence by Robert Cialdini

5. Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager by Ben Horowitz

Broadly speaking, time management isn’t just a skill — it’s the essence of life itself.

But the main question isn’t how to extend life as long as possible, but how to live it all the way along.

Focus on essentials

The concept of time exists to support our minds in reasoning, measuring, categorizing, and understanding relative change.

Einstein explains it, the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

Time keeps our memories in context, and because we know time is limited we are forced to prioritize.

The main challenge of managing our limited time is deciding what not to do and how to feel at peace about not doing it.

More time is wasted doing things that don’t matter than doing things inefficiently, making elimination the best optimization.

I tell myself, do less, just like Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself, if you seek tranquility, do what’s essential. Do less, but better.

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on.

But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.

You have to pick carefully. I’m as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.

— Steve Jobs

Saying no doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t make you selfish, it doesn’t make you ungrateful for the generosity you’ve received, and it doesn’t shut the door on serendipity and opportunity.

We can go at any moment, we treat our time as a gift and focus only on what’s essential.

Waste no time

All of us are short-lived creatures vulnerable to being struck down by disease or accident at any time, 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, 100 years, or even 110 years. These are all tiny numbers in the grand sweep of time.

Life is short, and we only have one, but the main question isn’t how to extend life as long as possible, but how to live a life worth living all the way along, to live a life that you’d feel good about whenever it gets taken away.

Designing a life worth living became a hobby and a personal development system I started with a group of positive people that I met around the world.

How you live affects how long you live, and most people could do better, myself included.

Tracking and priorities

Where I dedicate my time and energy is the best description of my priorities.

I’ve been experimenting with productivity and tracking time for the past three years, here’s my recommendation:

Not having time is one of the biggest excuses we use. Because we all know, when it’s important enough we make time, if not we make an excuse.

Track your time meticulously for seven days.

You will be shocked at how much time flitters away doing things that don’t create value.

— ​Marie Forleo, Diary of a CEO E184​

You can treat time tracking as a habit for building momentum when you need accountability or as a quarterly exercise that you run for clarity when you need a picture of your time balance sheet. It depends on how much you want data.

There’s no place to hide once you confront the data, where the hours are going, and how life is being lived.

Tracking time as a habit helped me manage priorities as much as it reminded me to relax and explore.

We can’t add more days into our lives, but we can have more life into our days.

Do not take a minute of it for granted, remind yourself to live.

Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the amount of work so you must limit your time.

Hours are the only thing you can manage.

— Kevin Kelly, ​99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice​.

Sources of wisdom

1. Paul Graham, ​Life is Short​

2. Seneca, The shortness of life

All great achievements in life — whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge — stem from the magic of compounding minor improvements. Just as 1% daily growth can lead to a 37-fold increase over a year, consistent tiny gains in our daily efforts can result in extraordinary progress. The key is to focus on being just 1% better each day.

Continuous improvement is exponential growth. By striving to add more than we consume daily, we set ourselves on a path of abundance.

It’s not about perfection but progress. ​I take pride in every time you see me there’s progress.​ This commitment to daily wins is the heartbeat of my philosophy.

Japanese continuous improvement

My journey with continuous improvement began in an unexpected place - a manufacturing plant floor. As a young mechanical engineer, I was introduced to the concept of Kaizen not through books or lectures, but through the tangible transformation of processes I witnessed daily.

The term “Kaizen” was popularized in Masaaki Imai’s 1986 book, but its essence was already flowing through Japanese manufacturing long before that. American quality pioneers like W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran planted these seeds while helping rebuild Japan’s industry after WWII, and Toyota transformed these principles into what would become the most studied production system in history.

But what captured my imagination wasn’t just the systematic approach to improvement. It was watching how small, daily adjustments to seemingly minor details could cascade into remarkable outcomes. A worker would suggest a slight modification to their workstation, and within weeks, the entire process flow would become more efficient. A tiny adjustment in tool placement would save seconds, which multiplied across thousands of operations, would save hours.

This wasn’t just about manufacturing efficiency — it was a philosophy that spoke to something deeper. The idea that excellence isn’t achieved through dramatic overhauls but through patient, persistent, daily refinement resonated with my approach to personal growth.

Toyota’s implementation of Kaizen taught me five principles that transcended the factory floor:

1. Continuous Improvement: Change is not a one-time event but a constant journey;

2. Everyone Involved: Growth isn’t limited to leaders or experts - everyone contributes;

3. Eliminate Waste: Remove anything that doesn’t add value to your life or work;

4. Go to Gemba: Understand challenges by experiencing them firsthand;

5. Make Changes Now, Perfect Later: Start immediately, refine continuously. Think big, ship small.

These principles became the foundation of my personal philosophy.

Improvements don’t need to be dramatic to be meaningful, “It’s evolution, not revolution,” as I learned with Andrea Mastriner.

Just as a manufacturing process becomes more efficient through countless small adjustments, personal growth happens through daily conscious choices to be slightly better than yesterday. Progress compounds.

A Stoic approach to personal growth

The ancient Stoics understood something profound about human progress. To Seneca, one of Stoicism’s greatest teachers and the one I admire the most, the path to a fulfilled life was to acquire one valuable thing daily — a quote, an idea, an insight, a story. Something that fortifies you against fear, against adversity. Just one thing. He didn’t say that this one thing makes us perfect but rather that it makes us just a little bit better.

The Stoic approach strips away the overwhelming pressure of massive self-improvement goals and replaces it with something more sustainable: daily, intentional growth. Think of it as building your personal fortress, one stone at a time.

Consider these six Stoic practices for daily improvement:

1. Morning Preparation: Begin each day by anticipating challenges and starting with the end in mind

2. Physical Discipline: Train your body as a pathway to mental fortitude, a healthy body for a healthy mind

3. Mindful Response: Practice the pause between stimulus and response - a moment to choose wisdom over reaction

4. The Sage’s Perspective: Before making important decisions, ask, “What would the wisest person I know do in this situation?”

5. The Obstacle is the Way: View each challenge as your custom-designed opportunity for growth

6. Evening Review: End each day by acknowledging what you learned and how you grew

Epictetus, born into slavery in ancient Rome and crippled from an early age, embodied the very essence of daily progress against seemingly insurmountable odds. From these humble beginnings, he became one of history’s most influential teachers, proving that our circumstances need not define our growth potential. Notice he doesn’t say, “Become perfect immediately” or “Transform yourself overnight.” Instead, he advocates for a patient, persistent dedication to progress. This is what I mean by being better every day.

Prolific beats perfect

This message’s universality makes it powerful — it applies to every field, endeavor, and goal.

The emphasis shifts from perfection to persistence, from fear of failure to embrace of attempts.

Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a vital step on the journey.

Michael Jordan missed over 9000 shots before legendary status.

JK Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before Harry Potter.

Stallone’s script was denied 1500 times before Rocky.

Edison failed 1000 times before the lightbulb.

Dyson tried 5127 times before the vacuum.

The person who gets 1 shot needs everything to go right.

The person who gets 1000 shots is going to score at some point.

Find a way to play the game that ensures you get a lot of shots.

Prolific beats perfect. Keep shooting your shots.

Sources of wisdom

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear

Confidence is the belief one can do it, often influenced by past success.

Confidence is quiet

Confidence needs no introduction. It manifests in what we do, not what we claim.

You recognize it not by reaction, but by calm. Not by certainty, but by clarity.

“We tend to trust people who appear confident—even if that trust isn’t always deserved,” says Dr. Daniel Kahneman.

In leadership, relationships, or personal decisions, we gravitate toward people who believe in themselves, not because they’re always right, but because they show up with presence, conviction, and composure.

That’s why confident people don’t need to convince or complain. They don’t broadcast belief, it just shines.

And when they fall short, they don’t spiral. They reset, reflect, and return.

Because true confidence isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being anchored.

Confidence and taste

Confidence in personal taste is a crucial asset in creative fields, demonstrating that a clear understanding of likes and dislikes can guide successful collaboration with artists. While technical skills may enhance the ability to create, a decisive taste and intuition can often lead to more meaningful contributions. Intuition acts as a hypothesis generator, allowing individuals to propose ideas and engage in debates to evaluate their validity. By refining these hypotheses through analysis and discussion, one develops a robust framework for decision-making in product design.

This iterative process of generating and testing ideas enables a deeper understanding of what is effective and valuable in a product, ultimately enhancing intuition and product taste.

Types of confidence

Confidence comes from things such as shelter, savings, basic needs, and desires. Things can be taken, and confidence will be shaken.

Confidence from the ability to do things and get things done, the ability to exercise, lead projects, sit alone in a room, and plan an adventure. Accidents happen, one day you can, the other you can’t, this confidence can be taken.

Confidence from those you are connected with, this kind of confidence is rooted in belonging. In knowing that you are not alone. That someone has your back. It’s the quiet strength that comes from being part of a tribe, a team, a family, or even a single trusted relationship.

Confidence from self, confidence in who you are, when you believe you will always figure it out, that you can’t change the wave but you can surf it — that confidence can only be taken by death.

What we have, what we can do, who we know, and who we are

Getting reps

Confidence often grows through repetition, exposure, and practice — because familiarity turns the unknown into the known. When we first face something unfamiliar, it’s natural to feel uncertain or hesitant. But each time we show up, take action, or even fail forward, we gather data. We start recognizing patterns. What once felt intimidating becomes navigable. Reps improve our skills and reduce our fear. Over time, we stop asking “can I handle this?” and start thinking, “I’ve seen this before, I know what to do.” That shift—from unfamiliar to familiar—is the quiet engine behind durable confidence.

Not all confidence is made equal; I am confident speaking on camera, maybe less so speaking in massive stages. To me, the “quality of confidence” is determined by three factors: knowledge, practice, and natural talent, talent being the least important component. Someone who has practiced public speaking a hundred times will outperform a naturally gifted speaker with no experience. The practiced speaker has weathered nervousness, forgotten lines, hostile questions, technical difficulties, and survived each time, building both skill and psychological resilience.

“All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit.

Everybody I know who does interesting, creative work went through years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that.

And if you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re going to finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.

I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It takes a while. It’s gonna take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that.”

The traveler’s advantage

In a foreign city, we grow reluctant to ask anyone to guide us to the nice bars, because they might think us an ignorant, lousy lost tourist. This hesitation costs us hidden gems and meaningful encounters, it’s something you have to experience yourself.

Travel strengthens the second type of confidence—confidence in our ability to do things and figure it out. Each small success—finding your way back to the hotel without GPS, successfully ordering a meal with hand gestures, making a local smile despite the language barrier—reinforces our belief that we can handle the unknown, and we build evidence of our capability.

This confidence transfers to other areas of life. The person who successfully navigated Tokyo’s subway system without speaking Japanese brings that same resourcefulness to work challenges. The traveler who found shelter during an unexpected storm in the Alps approaches business setbacks with similar calm problem-solving. The traveler who got the car towed in the middle of Highway 15 and still made it to the party in Vegas learned how to tell great stories.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.— it’s about purpose. Instead of agonizing about what others might think of you or your work, concentrate on the unique perspective you bring

Accepting imperfections

Confidence is often misunderstood as unwavering self-assurance. However, true confidence comes from accepting our imperfections. No human is always wise or without their blind side.

I have been a fool before, and I will be a fool again. Bruegel’s “Dutch Proverbs” visually captures this idea - a chaotic canvas where everyone engages in foolish acts. This perspective should free us from the paralyzing fear of embarrassment. It’s normal to feel foolish the first time we try something new. Practice builds confidence.

The harmony of confidence

“Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No, they always do the right thing.” Great thought exercise by Alan Watts.

Treating yourself as a wave means understanding you can’t make a mistake, whatever you do. Even seemingly disastrous choices will, as he said, “all come out in the wash one way or another.”

Through this acceptance comes genuine confidence, not the brash certainty that never doubts, but the quiet knowledge that you’ll navigate whatever comes.

Like Hokusai’s Great Wave, true confidence has both power and grace.

It comes from many sources: what we possess, what we can do, who we are, and who stands beside us. Each type serves a purpose.

Confidence from things provides stability. Confidence from abilities creates capability. Confidence in oneself offers resilience. Confidence from others gives us support. Together, they form a complete picture.

The wave doesn’t question its purpose or path. It simply flows with natural power, adapting to every shore it meets.

Embrace natural imperfections, accumulate meaningful experience, and trust our ability to navigate the unknown.

Once you realize the value you bring to other people’s lives, confidence is no longer about self-promotion, in fact, confidence is no longer the right word — it’s about purpose. Instead of agonizing about what others might think of you or your work, concentrate on the unique perspective you bring.

Core Principles

1. Diversification We spread risk across multiple asset classes, sectors, and geographies to protect against concentrated losses.

2. Income Generation: Dividend collection is a core feature of our portfolio, providing steady cash flow and compounding opportunities.

3. Long-Term Perspective: Our investment decisions are made with a multi-year horizon, allowing us to benefit from compounding and ride out short-term market volatility.

Portfolio Composition

Our portfolio is structured with a core-satellite approach:

Core Investments (60-70% of portfolio)

These core holdings provide a stable foundation for long-term growth and income generation.

1. Broad-market ETFs (e.g., Vanguard S&P 500 ETF)

2. Dividend-focused ETFs (e.g., Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF)

3. Real Estate ETFs (e.g., Vanguard Real Estate ETF)

4. International ETFs (e.g., Vanguard Total International Stock ETF)

Satellite Positions (30-40% of portfolio)

Satellite positions allow us to potentially enhance returns through select opportunities and emerging asset classes.

1. Individual Stock Picks: Focusing on established companies with strong dividend histories and growth potential in sectors like technology, finance, and energy.

2. Cryptocurrency: A 5-8% allocation to established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.

Risk Management Strategies

To manage risk effectively, we implement the following strategies:

1. Diversification: Spreading investments across various assets, sectors, and geographies to reduce overall portfolio risk.

2. Position Sizing: Limiting the size of individual stock and cryptocurrency positions to manage exposure to any single investment.

3. Regular Monitoring: Continuously evaluating our holdings to ensure they align with our investment thesis and risk tolerance.

4. Stop-Loss Orders: Implementing stop-loss orders for more volatile investments to limit potential losses.

5. Dollar-Cost Averaging: Gradually building positions over time to mitigate the impact of market volatility.

Rebalancing Approach

We employ a simple yet effective rebalancing strategy to maintain our target allocations:

1. Periodic Review: Assess the portfolio quarterly to identify any significant deviations from target allocations.

2. Threshold Rebalancing: Rebalance when any asset class or individual position deviates by 5% or more from its target allocation.

3. Tax-Efficient Rebalancing: Utilize new contributions or dividend reinvestment to rebalance when possible, minimizing taxable events.

What to read next

Q3-2024 Portfolio Quarterly Report.

Access eToro portfolio.

Heavily influenced by my experience in tech, my initial vision was growing careers just like we grow Products.

Grow your career like you grow a product

We work tirelessly on growth models for our companies, focusing on creating sustainable, predictable, and defensible tactics to ensure lasting success.

Yet when it comes to our careers, we let luck and intuition guide our decision-making process.

If we are evaluating ourselves as a product or business, we are either terrible or absent, CEOs who hold our career decision-making process to a lower standard.

— ​Elena Verna for Reforge​.

It’s part of my playbook mapping business model canvas, growth loops, and value propositions, so I challenged myself to use these tools for more clarity in the roadmap of life.

Back in Sopot, Q2 2021 Think Week, the first holistic flywheel was created, to visualize the steps, and understand how my actions connect and compound.

The Flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book Good to Great.

No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformations never happen in one fell swoop. In building a great company or a life worth living, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, and no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.

In my experience, these are the key activities to push the flywheel

1. Intentional networking, meeting in person, capturing memories, and generating opportunities.

2. Pay me first means managing income as an investor, cash is first invested then spent.

3. Use freedom to plan, get adventures, and pursue flow.

4. Share and give back through a Product Ecosystem.

5. Grow stronger, and smarter, the 1% better every day.

I review and refine this artifact every quarter. This is the 7th iteration.

The magic loop

A different version of the flywheel came to my attention years later through ​Lenny’s interview with Ethan Evans​.

During his 15 years at Amazon, Ethan helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, the Amazon Appstore, Prime Gaming, etc, he led global teams of over 800, holds more than 70 patents, and helped draft one of Amazon’s 14 core Leadership Principles, “Ownership.”

This framework helped him rise quickly in his career and now helps countless mentees and direct reports rise in theirs.

The games we play

Life is shaped by a series of games we play. Some are thrust upon us, others we choose.

Recognizing these games allows us to be intentional, play them more skillfully, or opt out entirely.

We are all collecting experience points and leveling up our main characters in multiple games, the career game, wealth building, status, family, etc.

Consider the roles you’ve adopted, the goals you pursue, and the habits you’ve formed. Are they aligned with your values? How are they serving your growth?

For each game, understand how to win and the rules of how to play.

1. I’m going to do the best that I can

2. To acquire the resources that I’m good at acquiring

3. To direct them to the investments that I have access

— ​Mo Gowdat, Author of Solving for Happiness​.

It reminds me of ​Robert Greene’s pitch on acquiring skills​.

Sources of wisdom

1. ​The Magic Loop​ by ​Ethan Evans​

2. ​Grow your career like you grow a product​

3. ​Designing your life​, ​Bill Burnett​, ​Dave Evans​

4. ​Games people play​, ​Eric Berne​

Studying and learning from the right thought leaders in your area of interest gives you a vantage point to see further and reach higher.

It’s a hack to copy good habits and frameworks from the right mentors.

On having mentors

Progress rarely springs from a vacuum. It builds on the accumulated wisdom of those who came before.

By studying and learning from giants in your field, you gain a vantage point to see further and reach higher.

Mentors provide guidance, inspiration, and hard-won insights. They don’t need to be living or personally known to you. Books, historical figures, and contemporary leaders can all serve as mentors. Seek wisdom wherever you find it.

You also have to have mentors, dead or alive.
You have to connect with a body of work or someone who formulated a thought, an aesthetic, and then build years upon that.

Most people won’t tell you is that the people that you look up to didn’t invent it themselves.
You know, everyone has this sort of like, I call it “getting your brain reprogrammed”.

— ​Virgil Abloh​’s lecture at Harvard University on having mentors

I think one of the problems we have today is we don’t have heroes, we don’t have role models and heroes.
Because so many people are interested in tearing down people.

— Ray Dalio, ​interview with Charlie Rose​

If Serena Williams or LeBron James have coaches for correction, why shouldn’t we have coaches for areas we lack?

Learning and copying from the wise, who have been there and done that, feels like a hack.

When I seek feedback from coaches, it must be more reliable and correct than what I would get elsewhere in the same amount of time.

Creation requires influence

Originality is often overvalued. Most breakthroughs come from combining and refining existing ideas, not inventing new concepts. Embrace learning from others and make unique contributions by applying knowledge in new contexts, connecting dots in new ways, and not starting from scratch.

Everything we create is a synthesis of our experiences and influences, a remix of existing creations.

​Mike Taylor​ brought Everything is a Remix to me in Manchester, we had a meat up at Miller and Carter, great memory.

The information diet

In the same way that our bodies thrive on a balanced diet, our minds flourish on a well-rounded “information diet.”

What we consume in terms of content and information profoundly influences our thoughts, decisions, and ultimately, the mentors we look up to. The internet is busy and curation is key. I try hard to keep this content curated, carefully choosing from those that offer wisdom, diverse perspectives, and constructive insights. No information junk food.

This thoughtful approach to what you consume will help you grow.

Spend time reading

Reading is my favorite way to enrich my information diet.

Getting access to the thoughts and experiences of the greatest minds throughout history feels like a hack. Not only does it expand your knowledge, but it also shapes your thinking and perspective.

I have spent countless hours reading, and each book has contributed to my understanding of the world.

For a deeper dive into how I approach reading, explore my reading habits and favorite books here.

By committing to regular reading, you invest in your personal and professional growth.

Choose books that challenge you, expand your horizons, and encourage critical thinking.

Let the pages of well-chosen books be your mentors, guiding you through the complexities of life with the wisdom they hold.

Embrace the habit of reading as a lifelong journey of learning and self-discovery.

The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.

— James Clear

Sources of wisdom

1. Chen, C. (2003). On the Shoulders of Giants. In: Mapping Scientific Frontiers: The Quest for Knowledge Visualization. Springer, London.

2. Diversification is (still) the only free lunch in investing.

3. Investing has been solved, but it’s hard.

Important investing lessons

If I come back to a piece of content more than three times, I must share it with the community, that’s my rule of thumb.

I watched Ben’s video more than 10 times, it’s something I put on the TV when i have friends visiting, seven minutes packed with value that stimulates great conversation.

I admire Ben’s work because he goes the extra mile with white paper references. In a world of Helpful Content Update, publication references add legitimacy.

This is my commentary on three out of 20 market lessons from ​Benjamin Felix​.

1. Time in the market beats timing the market.

Sticking to a disciplined strategy will typically be more effective than trying to time the market, especially after costing taxes.

Trust the process and exercise patience, time in the market makes the compound effect play in your favor. If you need to visualize this go to money.ca calculator, make projections, and see the snowball effect for yourself.

Buffet started investing at the age of 10 and 95% of his net worth was realized after his 50th birthday.

2. Diversification is (still) the only free lunch in investing.

Diversification has been called the only free lunch investing for decades because it offers the rare opportunity to reduce risk measured by return variance without reducing expected returns.

3. Investing has been solved, but it’s hard.

For most people investing in a portfolio of low-cost total market index funds is good enough, even if it’s not perfect.

​Index investing is the smartest way for the majority of retail investors​.

If it has been solved by indexes like the S&P500, what makes it hard?

Handling emotions that arise with market volatility is what makes patience the most important virtue of great investors.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

From Pabrai, I learned to be at peace with copying others' success. What I call standing on the shoulders of giants. When I’m studying super investors, these are the commonalities I see about how they made money:

1. identifying exceptional businesses, ones that have a long runway of continued growth, ample pricing power, low chance of outside disruption to their business model.

2. Identifying those companies at reasonable prices. They don’t want to get them dirty, but just a reasonable price. You don’t want to be paying.com levels or 2021 levels for these companies. So we need to find them. We need to get them at a reasonable price and then buy a decent quantity.

3. Make a little bet. We don’t have to put all of our net worth in a single company or take any extravagant risk like that, but maybe have a five to 10% position in one of them, and then

4. Having the discipline to keep our hands off despite bad news or a bad quarter, or growth slowing one quarter, and being able to identify if the key drivers of the continued growth are still intact, if the moat is still there.

That’s how Peter Lynch did it. That’s how Nick Sleep did it, how Buffett did it, and even Ben Graham, the father of value investing, did it. So many investors made money by just having the discipline to hold onto a stock.

There are a lot of ways to make money in the market, but I continue to believe that this is the best and most attainable for the average investor. For you and I to be able to accomplish this is really by just compiling a portfolio of great companies and being able to have the discipline to hang on to them.

Hands-off investing strategy

Every quarter starts with a portfolio snapshot and a portfolio health report, it’s part of the Think Week repertoire.

It’s fascinating to see the portfolio 3-yr CAGR at 22%, considering the 2% dividend yield. Humble performance that matches the S&P500, a feat that many hedge fund managers can't reach because of their bad incentives.

When I look closer at the consistent dividend growth, the early days of a compounding machine, it's when my motivation sparks, and the wealth-building journey makes sense to me.

I love investing because it’s the best path to financial freedom that I know and have access to.

I like to be independent, I want to be able to do what I want to do every day, and money lets you do that.

— Warren Buffet

Sources of wisdom

1. ​Psychology of Money​ by ​Morgan Housel​ — check this post

2. ​My First Million Interview with Monish Pabrai on YouTube​

3. The best investment I’ve ever seen by Joseph Carlson

4. Morgan Housel at The Knowledge Project

5. Even God Couldn’t Beat Dollar Cost Averaging by Nick Maggiulli

Associate with people who are likely to improve you. and welcome those who are capable of improving.

The process is mutual: people learn as they teach. Here’s my experience as a mentor.

Why do I mentor?

Mentorship is a catalyst for learning, benefiting both mentor and mentee. By teaching, we’re forced to organize our thoughts and articulate our knowledge clearly, often uncovering gaps or new connections in our understanding. This process of preparation and explanation reinforces our own learning, while simultaneously passing wisdom to others.

Becoming a key person of influence

As an initiative, mentoring fits multiple areas from the Key Person of Influence framework I use for personal branding.

1. Mentoring creates a new profile to host reviews for my brand;

2. Reviews from great sessions become content for my network;

3. The network of new potential partners you maintain is extra value;

4. Mentoring becomes one extra step in the product ecosystem.

If you want to keep digging, I had the opportunity to explain how I see scaping the competition trap with personal branding in a GrowthMentor workshop with Vassy.

Solving for exposure

One of the best things I’ve done in my early days when transitioning from engineering to marketing was working at an agency. Ladder.io connected me with many brilliant minds, and if I got to GrowthMentor today, it’s because I had Mike Taylor in the office as a mentor.

After moving to in-house Product roles, GrowthMentor and LunchClub became my evergreen channels to share and give back to the community, my weekly dose of exposure to problems and people outside my bubble.

That helps ​the flywheel​ fly.

Simple mentoring style

I got the first 50 calls quite fast and I noticed mentees would benefit from a standard approach to having a productive and satisfying call.

After 100 calls I had improved my routine to be the most helpful to people while requiring little preparation time.

Upon session request, I react with one or many of the five themes:

1. What’s the Goal? How are you measuring if you’re moving closer to this goal?

2. What’s the current Reality? What have you tried?

3. What are the options and Obstacles? What assumptions do you currently hold that you haven’t put to the test?

4. What’s the Way forward?

5. What is your main Takeaway from today’s call?

Word mining GrowthMentor reviews data with GPT

How many times have I done review mining to help commerce find trends in the voice of their customers?

As I grow life using product frameworks, it’s time to mine my GrowthMentor reviews and find personality traits.

Don’t go alone, grow with a mentor

“Use Consultants” is a gem from Mr. Beast’s leaked PDF playbook, and Foti did a great job connecting the dots about what the GrowthMentor community is about.

When you need to learn quickly, learn from others. When you need to learn deeply, learn from experience.

Here’s an opportunity to access a hub of giants and learn quickly. Join the Growth Mentor community today​.

Want to give it a try? Get a ​free pass on me here​.

Sources of wisdom

1. ​Key Person of Influence​, by ​Daniel Priestley​

2. 100 Growth Mentoring sessions later: Why do it and how to do it right? by ​Vassylena Valchanova​