It’s the start of 2024 and to celebrate I thought I’d run through some of the best lessons I’ve picked up over the last 12 months.
This past year has had over 20 episodes produced so there was a lot to choose from but I ended up settling on 8 insights from some of my favorite conversations both inside and outside of the podcast.
Expect to learn how Tim Ferriss sets an extremely high/low quality bar, why Marc Andreessen uses a barbell approach to consume information, Kevin Kelly’s reason to be the only (not the best), how Riva Tez paints with words, why The Cultural Tutor won’t read anything from the past 50 years, how Tyler Cowen brings joy to his work, my thoughts on artificial intelligence, and much more…

WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
https://take.writeofpassage.school/writing-sprints

PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Met 20 of The World's Greatest Writers. Here's What I Learned.

How I Write is about helping you find what works best for your own writing. You can read what an author writes anywhere, but only on this show will you hear how they write. This show isn’t just about methods and styles, though. It’s also about what it means to be a writer today. How can you earn a living? What about building an audience? Should you use GPT? How I Write is your compass for navigating these changes. It’s a show by writers, for writers, built for the age of the Internet.
New episodes of the How I Write show go live every week on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.com/DavidPerellChannel.

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Books

Get ready to swap everything you know about business-writing for an unconventional approach that actually works. 

Basecamp CEO Jason Fried is one of the world’s most successful software entrepreneurs. And he’s unique for the way he challenges the tenets of Silicon Valley startups. 

He’s bold like Bezos, but relaxed like Buffett. He cares less about “rising-and-grinding” and more about an honest 40-hour work week. He never white-knuckles his ideas, but shares them freely with the world. As a result, he’s transformed how Internet businesses are being built. 

And it all starts with — you guessed it — getting his best ideas on the page. 

His founder letters stand out (and they’re his favorite thing to write). Whenever he announces a new product, he releases a letter that does three things: builds a devoted fanbase, ramps up excitement, and sheds light on the purpose behind his products. And in this episode, you’ll learn exactly how he does it. 

You’ll learn specific business-writing techniques: from storytelling to structure to word choice. You’ll learn how to find your flow, make writing easier, and use writing to start doing things in the world. 

SPEAKER LINKS: 
Website: https://world.hey.com/jason
Twitter: https://x.com/jasonfried
Medium: https://medium.com/@jasonfried
Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B002MQ13PQ

WRITE OF PASSAGE: 
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://writeofpassage.com/

PODCAST LINKS: 
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Writing Helped Jason Fried Build an 8-Figure Business

From frustrated middle school teacher to Chief Evangelist at Synthesis School. From 46 email subscribers to 165,000. From hating writing to publishing her first book with a major publishing house: The Learning Game. 
What made all of this possible for Ana Fabrega? 
She unlearned how to write. 
In this episode, Ana shares the seven writing principles you should unlearn if you want to fall in love with writing again and reach people with your ideas. Like Ana, your best ideas could have the power to impact hundreds, if not thousands, of people. You just need to share them in a way that resonates. 
If you’re ready to start making an impact with your ideas, then come learn writing for the modern age. 

SPEAKER LINKS: 
Website: https://afabrega.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anafabrega11
Book: https://a.co/d/afR9lkc
Newsletter: https://afabrega.com/newsletter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msfab_learninglab/

WRITE OF PASSAGE: 
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://writeofpassage.com/

PODCAST LINKS: 
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s Wrong with Writing Education? | Ana Lorena Fabrega | How I Write Podcast

This is business writing like you’ve never seen it before. 

Sam Corcos is the founder of a $300 million company called Levels. He’s built a culture of intellectual rigor by hiring excellent writers and giving them time to think on paper. But don’t get it twisted — a successful “writing-first work culture” is far more than grammatically correct Slack messages and the occasional memo. 

“95% of people would not be happy working in the culture that we’ve built. And the 5% who would be have been looking for this their entire lives.” – Sam

In this episode, we go deep (and I mean, deep) into what makes business writing work. Sam reveals how to use writing to:

Create strategic memos

Solve specific problems

Make better decisions

And work twice as fast. 


If you’re interested in learning how to use writing to scale businesses, this one’s for you. 

SPEAKER LINKS: 
Website: http://corcos.io/
Company: https://www.levelshealth.com/
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/samcorcos
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samcorcos

WRITE OF PASSAGE: 
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://writeofpassage.com/

PODCAST LINKS: 
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Corcos: How Writing Helped This CEO Build a $300m+ Company

“I’m not writing for you.” 
This was Paul’s response to a scathing critique that came early in his writing career. Since then, Paul’s book, The Pathless Path, has sold over 50,000 copies and has spurred thousands of writers to forge their own path forward — scathing critiques and all. 
Writing isn’t about building the biggest readership possible. It’s about connecting with the readers who care. It’s about broadcasting a signal for the kinds of people you want to attract. And in this episode, you’ll learn how to find these people. 
Paul shares his story from corporate cog to free-spirited wanderer, from blogger to author, from intellectual loner to leader of a thousands-strong community. Flow. Space. Surprise. The joy of finding out. These are just a few phrases Paul uses to describe how he writes. 
So, what about you? Who are you writing for? If you’re ready to write with a heart on fire and find the people who care, this episode is for you. 

SPEAKER LINKS:
Website: https://pmillerd.com
Twitter:  https://x.com/p_millerd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pathlesspaul
Substack: https://substack.com/@paulmillerd
Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmillerd/
Book: https://amzn.to/4aBxEUZ 

WRITE OF PASSAGE: 
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
https://writeofpassage.com

PODCAST LINKS: 
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Millerd: Why Writing Is The Path For Self Discovery

There is an intrinsic interestingness inside of you. But, you’re probably suppressing it. Welcome to 96-minutes of learning how to use your interestingness to stand out online. 
Speaking of standing out, Steph Smith:

Hosts a16z, a top five technology podcast

Taught herself to code and launched multiple websites that hit #1 on Product Hunt

Sold over $220k in her book launch for Doing Content Right


Grew The Hustle’s Trends product to millions

And led HubSpot’s Creator Program.


(Safe to say that she knows what she’s talking about.) And now, Steph reveals everything she’s learned about creating unforgettable work on the Internet. 
Millions of people mirror what you do — your job, hobbies, routines — but how you do it is another story. Come learn how to follow your compass of interestingness and stand out online. 

SPEAKER LINKS: 
Website: https://stephsmith.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio
Blog: https://blog.stephsmith.io/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniesmith93

WRITE OF PASSAGE: 
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://writeofpassage.com

PODCAST LINKS: 
Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Met 20 of The World's Greatest Writers. Here's What I Learned.

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