A quick ask:

Would you help me compile answers for a new post?

Just reply to this email responding to: What books, PDFs, or articles have had the most impact on your life (and why)?

Special shoutout to Justin, Joe, Grayson, Momin, and Daniel for providing such excellent answers.

Get on the Plane

I’m writing this from seat 17E. American Airlines. They mentioned this was an Airbus A320. Getting on a plane allows me to grapple with reality in a more consequential way.

Consuming reports about how a business has organized and been built is unquestionably helpful. Yet, nothing beats in-person time. Being able to soak in and build implicit knowledge from our customers is crucial.

Some of this is because there’s ingrained institutional knowledge. Which is notoriously difficult annoying impossible to convey over paper.

The other reason is…people are disconnected! Even when they share the same office for 50-hour week. We are all wrapped up in our warped worlds. Inertia doesn’t help. Being infrequently in-person gives space for the novel and the critical.

Being on a plane is tiring. Yet landing and waltzing into an office can be refreshing. Not only in the energy sense. But being able to start observing from a different angle unlocks rapport and refreshes your view of the truth.

As we start our descent, I am already picturing whiteboards filled with Harrison’s scrawl.

I hope you enjoy reading about Charlie Munger’s first investment (it did NOT go well. Thankfully he learned most of the hard bits about investing early so he wouldn’t fall into this tar-pit-business again). And my reflections on Billion Dollar PDFs.

Best,

Myles