Dru's Notes

Dru's Notes

By Dru RileyBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducationSelf-Improvement
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Dru's Notes episodes

  • How I Learned Spanish While Running | Daily Essay

    I tried to learn Spanish for years and never consistently found the time. Any hour I gave it came straight out of something else I needed to do.

    Featuring: Kevin J. Anderson, Nilofer Merchant, Alice Walker

    Read the full post

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    Chapters:

    (00:00) Studying Spanish While Running

    (00:36) An AI Refuses the Trade in Breakout
    (00:57) What Tunneling Means
    (01:03) Kevin J. Anderson Dictating on the Trail
    (01:28) Nilofer Merchant and Walking Meetings
    (01:47) Stacking Activities and Testing Trade-Offs

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min
  • I Did It Once, So I Can Do It Again | Daily Essay

    Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile and within two years dozens followed. Proving that a threshold is possible destroys the mental hurdle and ratchets belief forward.

    Featuring: Roger Bannister, John Landy

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) The critical organ

    (00:06) Rebuilding conditioning past 34 minutes
    (00:33) Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile
    (01:08) Mini case studies in business
    (01:32) Stories are ratchets
    (01:44) Confidence follows evidence

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min
  • How a Dark Mexico City Room Killed My Output | Daily Essay

    I paid two to three times what the same condo cost outside the city. It was the tail end of a three-year mini-retirement.

    Featuring: B. F. Skinner, Wilbur Wright, Lee Robins

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) Paying for the BeltLine

    (00:46) How the Wright Brothers Picked Kitty Hawk
    (01:29) The Mexico City Wall
    (01:43) Why 943 Soldiers Quit Heroin
    (02:16) The 4 Living Rules

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    3 min
  • The Habit That (Quietly) Changed My Life | Daily Essay

    My shirt rubbed my nipple raw when I moved my run from 55 minutes to 89. Dehydration arrived at the same time.

    Featuring: Safi Bahcall, Emil Zátopek

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) Phase transitions in habit systems

    (00:12) Moving a run from 55 minutes to 89
    (00:51) Emil Zátopek's Olympic triple gold and hernia
    (01:21) Habits do not scale as a straight line

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min
  • Why I Said No to Venture Capital for Trends.vc | Daily Essay

    On the show Creator Lab, Bilal Zaidi asked me whether I would take investors for Trends.vc. I said no.

    Featuring: Bilal Zaidi, Phillip Knowlton, Craig Newmark, Jim Buckmaster, Travis Kalanick, Fawzi Kamel

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) Stability at war with itself

    (00:11) Trends.vc and the three interest groups
    (00:31) Craigslist, eBay and Delaware Chancery Court
    (01:26) Uber and the dashcam argument
    (02:12) Who shouldn't have a vote?

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    3 min
  • I Got Everything I Wanted at 23 and Stopped Growing | Daily Essay

    I got the thing I'd wanted my whole life and then I stopped growing. Doing hard things when your back is against the wall is survival; courage is doing them when nothing is making you.

    Featuring: Søren Kierkegaard, Jia Jiang, Tim Ferriss

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) When Nothing Is Chasing You

    (00:34) Involuntary Discomfort vs Courage
    (01:11) Jia Jiang's 100 Days of Rejection
    (01:34) Tim Ferriss and Comfort Challenges
    (01:53) 8 Courage Challenges a Day

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    3 min
  • The 1 Area I Ignored Across 20 Businesses | Daily Essay

    I tried more than 20 businesses before one of them worked. One or two made a little money, but none of them got big despite working hard on each one.

    Featuring: Thomas Reid

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) The weakest link in business

    (00:13) Five areas of focus
    (00:32) The mastermind that broke isolation
    (00:52) The underdiversified portfolio
    (01:24) Skipping leg day

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min
  • Plenty of Fish Sold for $575M. He Had 3 Employees.

    Markus Frind built the largest dating site in the world by himself, ran it on about an hour a day and sold it for $575 million to a single shareholder. Then he bought more than 1,100 acres in the Okanagan and went back to farming.

    Featuring: Markus Frind, Annie Frind, Kevin Burton, Frank Giustra, Lady Gaga

    Watch on YouTube

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) The French Riviera, and a business running without him

    (00:27) Donauwörth to Hudson's Hope, 1,200 acres and a trailer
    (01:27) BCIT, the 1999 diploma and the dot-com break
    (03:05) Plenty of Fish, written in two weeks and priced at zero
    (04:14) The $901,733.84 cheque from Google
    (05:13) The midnight call, and the $575 million sale

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    7 min
  • The Estimation Trick I Use to Start Moving | Daily Essay

    Each day I ask one question: what's the one thing I can do that makes everything else easier or unnecessary? Putting a time estimate beside the answer forces a mental simulation before you lift a finger.

    Featuring: Sun Tzu

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) Sun Tzu on calculations before battle

    (00:08) Daily question and the time estimate
    (00:19) Estimating as mental simulation
    (00:32) The 90-minute cardiac deadline
    (00:52) Activating the lab before arrival
    (01:11) Walking the path before the clock

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min
  • The $1,000 Rule Behind My Trends.vc Reports | Daily Essay

    When I wrote my first Trends.vc reports, I focused on density. Each good piece of content either makes you afraid to stop consuming or unable to stop consuming: the signal-to-noise contract or the escapism contract.

    Featuring: Flannery O'Connor

    Read the full post

    Brought to you by:

    Trends.vc: Discover new markets and opportunities. https://trends.vc/

    HeadsUp: Know when your competitors move. Before your customers do. https://headsup.bot

    Multi: Turn any content into a YouTube video. https://makemulti.com

    Chapters:

    (00:00) The story way

    (00:06) Raw research and density
    (00:26) Signal to noise
    (00:46) Escapism and serialization
    (01:04) Combining signal and story

    Where to find Dru:

    Essays: https://druriley.com/

    X: https://x.com/DruRly
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dru-notes
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/drus-notes/id1888795427
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lFHqgKxuvEHmdiEUfYShG

    Subscribe to Dru's Notes for a new episode every day.

    Click here to view the episode transcript.

    2 min

About Dru's Notes

From the publisher's feed

One mental model each day in a few minutes. Habits, business, building products and thinking clearly. From Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc.