← thinking · post

big ideas are usually simple ideas

Velocity over speed: Direction matters more than pace. Worry more about where you are headed, not how fast you are moving.

Compounding: Small gains, repeated, become massive. Improve a little daily.

Supply & demand: Price moves where balance breaks. Find and take advantage of the imbalance.

Scarcity: Rare feels valuable. Accumulate rare qualities, skills, assets.

Tit for tat: Play fair, but don’t be a fool.

Trial and error: To succeed, do, fail, learn, repeat. Try. Try. Try.

Opportunity cost: Choosing one thing means losing another. Know what you are losing when choosing.

Incentives: People do/don’t what you reward/punish.

Feedback loops: Wins create more wins, losses create more losses.

Leverage: A little effort can move a lot. Find it. Use it.

Diminishing returns: More isn’t always better. Know when to stop.

The 80/20 rule: A few inputs drive most results. Don’t lose your 20.

Parkinson’s law: Work expands to fill the time. Set short deadlines.

First principles: Break problems down to the basics. Reason up from there.

Marginal gains: Tiny improvements stack up. (similar to Compounding)

Asymmetric bets: Small risk, huge upside. Make many of these bets.

Sunk cost fallacy: Don’t throw good after bad. Cut your losses, money, time, energy.

Second-order effects: Actions have ripples you can’t always predict. Try hard to predict them anyway.

Inversion: Think about what to avoid, not just what to do. Focus is removing noise and saying no. Prefer a not to-do list over a to-do list.

Lindy effect: The longer it’s lasted, the longer it will last. Read and learn old ideas.

Power laws: A few things matter way more than the rest. Identify the few, ignore the many.

Optionality: Keep choices open; value flexibility. Position yourself to have multiple options rather than one.

Opportunity window: Great opportunities have an expiry date. Act before it closes.

Confirmation bias: You’ll find proof for whatever you already believe. Look for disproof.

Self-fulfilling prophecy: Belief shapes reality. Curate your beliefs to support the reality you want to create.

Trade-offs: You can’t have it all. Don’t try to. The man who chases two rabbits catches none.


What other big ideas you know that happen to be simple?

Happy weekend!

the newsletter

Get the next one in your inbox

Essays on building, craft, and staying in the game. One email when I publish something worth your time, and nothing in between.

Free, on Substack. Unsubscribe whenever, no hard feelings.