Dru's Notes Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/drus-notes One mental model each day in a few minutes. Habits, business, building products and thinking clearly. From Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc. © 2026 Dru Riley 45aa7891-e725-53ee-a863-7a03c673b68d yes en Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:11:18 -0700 Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:12:09 -0700 https://druriley.com/ https://img.transistorcdn.com/r0DMcX3nv-yI0yQfg3fZl-xvJ-L8nOScPFteVqEOBgc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xYzNh/NzM1Njk4MWQ1MzJj/OGQ2MmU4MTlhOWM2/NmM3NS5wbmc.jpg Dru's Notes https://druriley.com/ episodic Dru Riley One mental model each day in a few minutes. Habits, business, building products and thinking clearly. From Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc. One mental model each day in a few minutes. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence Dru Riley No No From Clay to Code: What 24 Technologies Made Scarce | Daily Essay From Clay to Code: What 24 Technologies Made Scarce | Daily Essay full cdbd1bb0-fb52-4b5d-9d9a-aa25046d4cb4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/43d539fb Every time a technology makes something cheap, it makes something else scarce. Money never flows to the abundance. It flows to the new bottleneck. When writing made remembering cheap, reading got expensive. Today, artificial intelligence makes intelligence cheap. What gets expensive when generating answers costs nothing?

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]]> Every time a technology makes something cheap, it makes something else scarce. Money never flows to the abundance. It flows to the new bottleneck. When writing made remembering cheap, reading got expensive. Today, artificial intelligence makes intelligence cheap. What gets expensive when generating answers costs nothing?

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]]> Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:11:17 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 546 Every time a technology makes something cheap, it makes something else scarce. Money never flows to the abundance. It flows to the new bottleneck. When writing made remembering cheap, reading got expensive. Today, artificial intelligence makes intelligence cheap. What gets expensive when generating answers costs nothing? Every time a technology makes something cheap, it makes something else scarce. Money never flows to the abundance. It flows to the new bottleneck. When writing made remembering cheap, reading got expensive. Today, artificial intelligence makes intelligenc artificial intelligence,economic history,technology,productivity,future of work No If You Ain't Got Nothing, You Ain't Got Nothing To Lose | Daily Essay If You Ain't Got Nothing, You Ain't Got Nothing To Lose | Daily Essay full c17d707b-09ad-43c4-9443-45060ce4d139 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f7cc6211 When you have no position to defend, you can afford to take big swings. Starting from zero feels like a disadvantage, but it gives you total freedom to run wild experiments.

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]]> When you have no position to defend, you can afford to take big swings. Starting from zero feels like a disadvantage, but it gives you total freedom to run wild experiments.

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]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2026 11:35:56 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 114 When you have no position to defend, you can afford to take big swings. Starting from zero feels like a disadvantage, but it gives you total freedom to run wild experiments. When you have no position to defend, you can afford to take big swings. Starting from zero feels like a disadvantage, but it gives you total freedom to run wild experiments. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Force Yourself to Go Faster - Then Pay for It | Daily Essay Force Yourself to Go Faster - Then Pay for It | Daily Essay full 23f45788-c824-4b39-bba9-4c2b7ebef54d https://share.transistor.fm/s/062449fc He had one lap before the engine turned into a lump of molten metal. In 1986 Formula 1 let teams run as much turbo boost as they dared in qualifying.

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]]> He had one lap before the engine turned into a lump of molten metal. In 1986 Formula 1 let teams run as much turbo boost as they dared in qualifying.

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]]> Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:46:24 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 128 He had one lap before the engine turned into a lump of molten metal. In 1986 Formula 1 let teams run as much turbo boost as they dared in qualifying. He had one lap before the engine turned into a lump of molten metal. In 1986 Formula 1 let teams run as much turbo boost as they dared in qualifying. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Cold Water Beats a Pep Talk | Daily Essay Cold Water Beats a Pep Talk | Daily Essay full fb10ebca-6c57-4376-886f-7b3bfb27ebc9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3ba5e82e Mental state is a lagging output of physical state. When your energy drags, the default move is to fight your mind directly, but biology responds to physical triggers in seconds.

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]]> Mental state is a lagging output of physical state. When your energy drags, the default move is to fight your mind directly, but biology responds to physical triggers in seconds.

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]]> Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:53:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 136 Mental state is a lagging output of physical state. When your energy drags, the default move is to fight your mind directly, but biology responds to physical triggers in seconds. Mental state is a lagging output of physical state. When your energy drags, the default move is to fight your mind directly, but biology responds to physical triggers in seconds. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Is Getting Rich Luck or Hard Work? | The Market vs. You Is Getting Rich Luck or Hard Work? | The Market vs. You full a8237a8f-8823-49e0-b38b-de4fbc476cae https://share.transistor.fm/s/8e5b2edf Finance splits an investment return into beta and alpha. Beta is what the market gave you just for showing up. Alpha is what your skill added on top. A founder who catches a rising tide can drift forward and mistake the current for their own stroke. When multiple scientists discover calculus or the telephone simultaneously, the era's beta did the heavy lifting. Alpha shows up when the result depended on who was in the room. When you size up a win, separate the current from the stroke.

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]]> Finance splits an investment return into beta and alpha. Beta is what the market gave you just for showing up. Alpha is what your skill added on top. A founder who catches a rising tide can drift forward and mistake the current for their own stroke. When multiple scientists discover calculus or the telephone simultaneously, the era's beta did the heavy lifting. Alpha shows up when the result depended on who was in the room. When you size up a win, separate the current from the stroke.

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]]> Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:51:36 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 161 Finance splits an investment return into beta and alpha. Beta is what the market gave you just for showing up. Alpha is what your skill added on top. A founder who catches a rising tide can drift forward and mistake the current for their own stroke. When multiple scientists discover calculus or the telephone simultaneously, the era's beta did the heavy lifting. Alpha shows up when the result depended on who was in the room. When you size up a win, separate the current from the stroke. Finance splits an investment return into beta and alpha. Beta is what the market gave you just for showing up. Alpha is what your skill added on top. A founder who catches a rising tide can drift forward and mistake the current for their own stroke. When alpha,beta,luck,skill,market,timing,success,environment No The Downward Spiral of Oscar Wilde | Daily Essay The Downward Spiral of Oscar Wilde | Daily Essay full 283e0147-88c1-4f09-8f3e-141bcf5baf31 https://share.transistor.fm/s/9250072a A flywheel accelerates bad trajectories as easily as good ones. Oscar Wilde's fatal libel suit reveals why intelligent people walk straight into obvious blunders when momentum takes over.

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]]> A flywheel accelerates bad trajectories as easily as good ones. Oscar Wilde's fatal libel suit reveals why intelligent people walk straight into obvious blunders when momentum takes over.

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]]> Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:56:13 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 179 A flywheel accelerates bad trajectories as easily as good ones. Oscar Wilde's fatal libel suit reveals why intelligent people walk straight into obvious blunders when momentum takes over. A flywheel accelerates bad trajectories as easily as good ones. Oscar Wilde's fatal libel suit reveals why intelligent people walk straight into obvious blunders when momentum takes over. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No What Everyone Gets Wrong About Continuous Improvement | Daily Essay What Everyone Gets Wrong About Continuous Improvement | Daily Essay full 373a5e02-ab8b-4bee-ac1b-9ecac231aff0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/78618887 The drugs were killing people. In April 1989 the safety board stopped the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial. Testing an assumption exposes you to temporary downside to discover what actually works.

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]]> The drugs were killing people. In April 1989 the safety board stopped the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial. Testing an assumption exposes you to temporary downside to discover what actually works.

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]]> Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:43:35 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 164 The drugs were killing people. In April 1989 the safety board stopped the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial. Testing an assumption exposes you to temporary downside to discover what actually works. The drugs were killing people. In April 1989 the safety board stopped the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial. Testing an assumption exposes you to temporary downside to discover what actually works. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No What a Poker Table Taught Me About Daily Habits | Daily Essay What a Poker Table Taught Me About Daily Habits | Daily Essay full dc95300b-eaa7-489a-9dc7-2de9b70c020c https://share.transistor.fm/s/3693b031 He turned down the extra guns and rode in anyway. In the summer of 1876, George Custer was offered Gatling guns before marching to the Little Bighorn. He said no.

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]]> He turned down the extra guns and rode in anyway. In the summer of 1876, George Custer was offered Gatling guns before marching to the Little Bighorn. He said no.

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]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:28:26 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 169 He turned down the extra guns and rode in anyway. In the summer of 1876, George Custer was offered Gatling guns before marching to the Little Bighorn. He said no. He turned down the extra guns and rode in anyway. In the summer of 1876, George Custer was offered Gatling guns before marching to the Little Bighorn. He said no. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Set These 10 Anti-Habits: How I Finish Work by 4pm | Daily Essay I Set These 10 Anti-Habits: How I Finish Work by 4pm | Daily Essay full 0fcd405e-6b42-4ad9-9e36-780bc874d300 https://share.transistor.fm/s/8d7acde3 Turning off a phone at 10pm protects sleep, making the next morning's schedule far more likely to hold. A refusal requires zero runtime execution, so you can maintain dozens of boundaries without cluttering your day.

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]]> Turning off a phone at 10pm protects sleep, making the next morning's schedule far more likely to hold. A refusal requires zero runtime execution, so you can maintain dozens of boundaries without cluttering your day.

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]]> Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:40:47 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 153 Turning off a phone at 10pm protects sleep, making the next morning's schedule far more likely to hold. A refusal requires zero runtime execution, so you can maintain dozens of boundaries without cluttering your day. Turning off a phone at 10pm protects sleep, making the next morning's schedule far more likely to hold. A refusal requires zero runtime execution, so you can maintain dozens of boundaries without cluttering your day. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Stay Consistent (By Finding the Minimum Dose) How to Stay Consistent (By Finding the Minimum Dose) full 6b7d9921-137d-4e61-ac52-70d9fa3edf03 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b454ef4c I cut my team's one-on-ones from every 2 weeks to once a month. Stretching the schedule looked like a clean win: fewer calls and more hours back. Alignment broke instead. Reconciling the drift took more time than the calls I set out to save. Each habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input the system needs to clear what pushes back on it. In 1966, 3 weeks of complete bed rest cost young men 27% of their aerobic fitness; 30 years of natural aging only took 12%. You find the floor by lowering what you put in until progress slips, then returning to the input that held.

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]]> I cut my team's one-on-ones from every 2 weeks to once a month. Stretching the schedule looked like a clean win: fewer calls and more hours back. Alignment broke instead. Reconciling the drift took more time than the calls I set out to save. Each habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input the system needs to clear what pushes back on it. In 1966, 3 weeks of complete bed rest cost young men 27% of their aerobic fitness; 30 years of natural aging only took 12%. You find the floor by lowering what you put in until progress slips, then returning to the input that held.

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]]> Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:49:30 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 128 I cut my team's one-on-ones from every 2 weeks to once a month. Stretching the schedule looked like a clean win: fewer calls and more hours back. Alignment broke instead. Reconciling the drift took more time than the calls I set out to save. Each habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input the system needs to clear what pushes back on it. In 1966, 3 weeks of complete bed rest cost young men 27% of their aerobic fitness; 30 years of natural aging only took 12%. You find the floor by lowering what you put in until progress slips, then returning to the input that held. I cut my team's one-on-ones from every 2 weeks to once a month. Stretching the schedule looked like a clean win: fewer calls and more hours back. Alignment broke instead. Reconciling the drift took more time than the calls I set out to save. Each habit ha habits,consistency,hurdle rate,minimum effective dose,productivity No His Joke Was So Bad It Cost £500 Million | Daily Essay His Joke Was So Bad It Cost £500 Million | Daily Essay full 5056149a-1183-4676-ab32-d1e18bdadec5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c501d288 He built the biggest jewellery chain in the world. Then he stood up at the Royal Albert Hall and called his products crap.

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]]> He built the biggest jewellery chain in the world. Then he stood up at the Royal Albert Hall and called his products crap.

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]]> Sun, 16 Aug 2026 08:46:28 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 123 He built the biggest jewellery chain in the world. Then he stood up at the Royal Albert Hall and called his products crap. He built the biggest jewellery chain in the world. Then he stood up at the Royal Albert Hall and called his products crap. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No You're Not Overthinking. You're Under-Moving. | Daily Essay You're Not Overthinking. You're Under-Moving. | Daily Essay full aa2a30bb-8805-4d9e-97c0-3981098405c7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ab63f135 Nelson Mandela broke rock in a quarry all day, went back to a cell about 7 feet across and ran 45 minutes on the spot. He kept that routine for most of 18 years, and he wrote down what it was for.

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]]> Nelson Mandela broke rock in a quarry all day, went back to a cell about 7 feet across and ran 45 minutes on the spot. He kept that routine for most of 18 years, and he wrote down what it was for.

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]]> Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:21:55 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 166 Nelson Mandela broke rock in a quarry all day, went back to a cell about 7 feet across and ran 45 minutes on the spot. He kept that routine for most of 18 years, and he wrote down what it was for. Nelson Mandela broke rock in a quarry all day, went back to a cell about 7 feet across and ran 45 minutes on the spot. He kept that routine for most of 18 years, and he wrote down what it was for. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How I Got My First Customer With 8 Notion Docs | Daily Essay How I Got My First Customer With 8 Notion Docs | Daily Essay full c6e805f7-b297-4744-9bea-8a9a78179f7a https://share.transistor.fm/s/5c116572 3 months of mornings bought one Saturday's worth of information. In 2012 I coded before work every day on a product nobody had agreed to buy, then found out the truth in an afternoon at a car dealership. Thirteen years later the same test cost hours instead of months and produced a paying customer before a line of code existed.

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]]> 3 months of mornings bought one Saturday's worth of information. In 2012 I coded before work every day on a product nobody had agreed to buy, then found out the truth in an afternoon at a car dealership. Thirteen years later the same test cost hours instead of months and produced a paying customer before a line of code existed.

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]]> Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:57:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 138 3 months of mornings bought one Saturday's worth of information. In 2012 I coded before work every day on a product nobody had agreed to buy, then found out the truth in an afternoon at a car dealership. Thirteen years later the same test cost hours instead of months and produced a paying customer before a line of code existed. 3 months of mornings bought one Saturday's worth of information. In 2012 I coded before work every day on a product nobody had agreed to buy, then found out the truth in an afternoon at a car dealership. Thirteen years later the same test cost hours inste entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No 1 Metric for Life Progress: The Daily Tempo Score | Daily Essay 1 Metric for Life Progress: The Daily Tempo Score | Daily Essay full dc4e7878-cca2-4897-8753-2e05798f9130 https://share.transistor.fm/s/da3c75c9 A single digit between -4 and +4 scores each day. Two questions follow it each night. An app called Apex correlates a year of those scores against habits, sleep and mood, which ranks cold showers at +0.7, phone off after 10pm at +0.7 and laptop off after 9pm at +0.6.

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]]> A single digit between -4 and +4 scores each day. Two questions follow it each night. An app called Apex correlates a year of those scores against habits, sleep and mood, which ranks cold showers at +0.7, phone off after 10pm at +0.7 and laptop off after 9pm at +0.6.

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]]> Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:13:29 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 65 A single digit between -4 and +4 scores each day. Two questions follow it each night. An app called Apex correlates a year of those scores against habits, sleep and mood, which ranks cold showers at +0.7, phone off after 10pm at +0.7 and laptop off after 9pm at +0.6. A single digit between -4 and +4 scores each day. Two questions follow it each night. An app called Apex correlates a year of those scores against habits, sleep and mood, which ranks cold showers at +0.7, phone off after 10pm at +0.7 and laptop off after entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No AI's 7-Month Doubling Rule | Daily Essay AI's 7-Month Doubling Rule | Daily Essay full 527c710d-394c-4e93-96be-8ff29f4c5a35 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ef256210 METR sizes an AI's capability by the longest job it can finish, measured against how long a person would take, and through 2025 that length doubled roughly every seven months. A model counts as finishing when it comes out right half the time, so what you get is a coin flip you still have to check.

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]]> METR sizes an AI's capability by the longest job it can finish, measured against how long a person would take, and through 2025 that length doubled roughly every seven months. A model counts as finishing when it comes out right half the time, so what you get is a coin flip you still have to check.

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]]> Wed, 12 Aug 2026 10:28:35 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 63 METR sizes an AI's capability by the longest job it can finish, measured against how long a person would take, and through 2025 that length doubled roughly every seven months. A model counts as finishing when it comes out right half the time, so what you get is a coin flip you still have to check. METR sizes an AI's capability by the longest job it can finish, measured against how long a person would take, and through 2025 that length doubled roughly every seven months. A model counts as finishing when it comes out right half the time, so what you entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Y Combinator's 1,000-to-1 Bet | Daily Essay Y Combinator's 1,000-to-1 Bet | Daily Essay full 7f749e5c-e88a-43de-bcc0-484479cfcd49 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e111f526 Charlie Munger accused venture capitalists of screwing their investors, then called the business legitimate if you do it right. Two strategies sit behind that contradiction, one betting on what changes and one on what endures, and the choice between them turns on which fits you.

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]]> Charlie Munger accused venture capitalists of screwing their investors, then called the business legitimate if you do it right. Two strategies sit behind that contradiction, one betting on what changes and one on what endures, and the choice between them turns on which fits you.

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]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:43:47 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 144 Charlie Munger accused venture capitalists of screwing their investors, then called the business legitimate if you do it right. Two strategies sit behind that contradiction, one betting on what changes and one on what endures, and the choice between them turns on which fits you. Charlie Munger accused venture capitalists of screwing their investors, then called the business legitimate if you do it right. Two strategies sit behind that contradiction, one betting on what changes and one on what endures, and the choice between them entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Rich People and Dying Spacecraft Follow the Same Rule | Daily Essay Why Rich People and Dying Spacecraft Follow the Same Rule | Daily Essay full a033000c-9050-4a0b-8d95-7bc0593fd8a9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/367466ff One drop of solder came off each kerosene can and kept paying Rockefeller for as long as the plant ran. Rockefeller, Amazon, Voyager 1, a 272-year-old shark and the co-founder of HubSpot all run the same rule: lower what a thing costs to run and the advantage keeps paying.

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]]> One drop of solder came off each kerosene can and kept paying Rockefeller for as long as the plant ran. Rockefeller, Amazon, Voyager 1, a 272-year-old shark and the co-founder of HubSpot all run the same rule: lower what a thing costs to run and the advantage keeps paying.

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]]> Mon, 10 Aug 2026 08:10:55 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 169 One drop of solder came off each kerosene can and kept paying Rockefeller for as long as the plant ran. Rockefeller, Amazon, Voyager 1, a 272-year-old shark and the co-founder of HubSpot all run the same rule: lower what a thing costs to run and the advantage keeps paying. One drop of solder came off each kerosene can and kept paying Rockefeller for as long as the plant ran. Rockefeller, Amazon, Voyager 1, a 272-year-old shark and the co-founder of HubSpot all run the same rule: lower what a thing costs to run and the advan entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No You're Not Undisciplined. Your Habit Is Too Big. | Daily Essay You're Not Undisciplined. Your Habit Is Too Big. | Daily Essay full 4d4fab75-36fb-4246-8b06-d3a8792ebea3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/bf99a75c Two men who won the Nobel Prize for pricing options helped found a fund that lost 4.6 billion dollars in four months. Ed Thorp ran the formula that names the right bet size and spent 19 years betting half of it, because you can count your odds at a blackjack table and only estimate them in a market. Eliud Kipchoge, an Okinawan dinner table and the race to the South Pole all run the same rule at different speeds.

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]]> Two men who won the Nobel Prize for pricing options helped found a fund that lost 4.6 billion dollars in four months. Ed Thorp ran the formula that names the right bet size and spent 19 years betting half of it, because you can count your odds at a blackjack table and only estimate them in a market. Eliud Kipchoge, an Okinawan dinner table and the race to the South Pole all run the same rule at different speeds.

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]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2026 05:21:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 196 Two men who won the Nobel Prize for pricing options helped found a fund that lost 4.6 billion dollars in four months. Ed Thorp ran the formula that names the right bet size and spent 19 years betting half of it, because you can count your odds at a blackjack table and only estimate them in a market. Eliud Kipchoge, an Okinawan dinner table and the race to the South Pole all run the same rule at different speeds. Two men who won the Nobel Prize for pricing options helped found a fund that lost 4.6 billion dollars in four months. Ed Thorp ran the formula that names the right bet size and spent 19 years betting half of it, because you can count your odds at a blackj entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 150-Year Art of Delayed Gratification | Daily Essay The 150-Year Art of Delayed Gratification | Daily Essay full 9c7bc152-5ed2-4371-a2e0-97245bba3b8d https://share.transistor.fm/s/ff7bc88f I put off a book for 15 years and finished it before lunch. The notebook it came out of had been filling since 2013, which is the whole point: Johan Cruyff's academy, a bankrupt royalist's letters about clover, and a Vanderbilt grandson who kept every dollar all run the same pattern at different speeds.

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]]> I put off a book for 15 years and finished it before lunch. The notebook it came out of had been filling since 2013, which is the whole point: Johan Cruyff's academy, a bankrupt royalist's letters about clover, and a Vanderbilt grandson who kept every dollar all run the same pattern at different speeds.

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]]> Sat, 08 Aug 2026 10:16:15 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 165 I put off a book for 15 years and finished it before lunch. The notebook it came out of had been filling since 2013, which is the whole point: Johan Cruyff's academy, a bankrupt royalist's letters about clover, and a Vanderbilt grandson who kept every dollar all run the same pattern at different speeds. I put off a book for 15 years and finished it before lunch. The notebook it came out of had been filling since 2013, which is the whole point: Johan Cruyff's academy, a bankrupt royalist's letters about clover, and a Vanderbilt grandson who kept every dol entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 10,000 Hour Rule Counts the Wrong Thing | Daily Essay The 10,000 Hour Rule Counts the Wrong Thing | Daily Essay full 5b79e081-44e3-4425-be49-07400a0f7eff https://share.transistor.fm/s/383bb048 James Dyson built the same vacuum cleaner 5,127 times in an unheated coach house while his wife taught school to cover the mortgage. Four years on one problem bought him a position nobody else could follow him into, and the same shape shows up in a Michigan State lab, a Johns Hopkins operating room and a Toyota plant.

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]]> James Dyson built the same vacuum cleaner 5,127 times in an unheated coach house while his wife taught school to cover the mortgage. Four years on one problem bought him a position nobody else could follow him into, and the same shape shows up in a Michigan State lab, a Johns Hopkins operating room and a Toyota plant.

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]]> Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:44:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 178 James Dyson built the same vacuum cleaner 5,127 times in an unheated coach house while his wife taught school to cover the mortgage. Four years on one problem bought him a position nobody else could follow him into, and the same shape shows up in a Michigan State lab, a Johns Hopkins operating room and a Toyota plant. James Dyson built the same vacuum cleaner 5,127 times in an unheated coach house while his wife taught school to cover the mortgage. Four years on one problem bought him a position nobody else could follow him into, and the same shape shows up in a Michig entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Everything Feels Important? It's a Ranking Problem | Daily Essay Everything Feels Important? It's a Ranking Problem | Daily Essay full c70355d2-410c-45a3-af46-bde28f62a777 https://share.transistor.fm/s/73d3010a Napoleon's surgeon-in-chief had more wounded men than surgeons, so he threw rank out and sorted by injury instead. Alexander Kotov wrote the same move down for chess in 1971, and Henry Singleton ran Teledyne on it with no five-year plan.

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]]> Napoleon's surgeon-in-chief had more wounded men than surgeons, so he threw rank out and sorted by injury instead. Alexander Kotov wrote the same move down for chess in 1971, and Henry Singleton ran Teledyne on it with no five-year plan.

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]]> Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:46:33 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 157 Napoleon's surgeon-in-chief had more wounded men than surgeons, so he threw rank out and sorted by injury instead. Alexander Kotov wrote the same move down for chess in 1971, and Henry Singleton ran Teledyne on it with no five-year plan. Napoleon's surgeon-in-chief had more wounded men than surgeons, so he threw rank out and sorted by injury instead. Alexander Kotov wrote the same move down for chess in 1971, and Henry Singleton ran Teledyne on it with no five-year plan. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Neil Gaiman's Two-Draft Rule | Daily Essay Neil Gaiman's Two-Draft Rule | Daily Essay full c65f22f8-5edb-4d54-a616-a0639497bb69 https://share.transistor.fm/s/eaee9f0b Each book Neil Gaiman writes gets written twice. He writes the first draft by hand, because a pen is slow enough to think a sentence all the way through, then types the whole thing up. Lucretius, Darwin's finches and Chris Rock all ran the same test.

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]]> Each book Neil Gaiman writes gets written twice. He writes the first draft by hand, because a pen is slow enough to think a sentence all the way through, then types the whole thing up. Lucretius, Darwin's finches and Chris Rock all ran the same test.

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]]> Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:07:29 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 122 Each book Neil Gaiman writes gets written twice. He writes the first draft by hand, because a pen is slow enough to think a sentence all the way through, then types the whole thing up. Lucretius, Darwin's finches and Chris Rock all ran the same test. Each book Neil Gaiman writes gets written twice. He writes the first draft by hand, because a pen is slow enough to think a sentence all the way through, then types the whole thing up. Lucretius, Darwin's finches and Chris Rock all ran the same test. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Cold Shower Is an Exposure Therapy Rep | Daily Essay Your Cold Shower Is an Exposure Therapy Rep | Daily Essay full 667de4d9-e1b5-4a97-90cc-4213bd1bf5aa https://share.transistor.fm/s/bb1a738d Day 389 the cold water stopped scaring me, and that is the day it stopped being a courage challenge. Clinicians call the mechanism exposure therapy: repeat the thing that frightens you until the fear drains out, then climb to the next rung.

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]]> Day 389 the cold water stopped scaring me, and that is the day it stopped being a courage challenge. Clinicians call the mechanism exposure therapy: repeat the thing that frightens you until the fear drains out, then climb to the next rung.

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]]> Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:48:21 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 162 Day 389 the cold water stopped scaring me, and that is the day it stopped being a courage challenge. Clinicians call the mechanism exposure therapy: repeat the thing that frightens you until the fear drains out, then climb to the next rung. Day 389 the cold water stopped scaring me, and that is the day it stopped being a courage challenge. Clinicians call the mechanism exposure therapy: repeat the thing that frightens you until the fear drains out, then climb to the next rung. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Habit List Is a Single Point of Failure | Daily Essay Your Habit List Is a Single Point of Failure | Daily Essay full 3451c3d4-c849-422d-b7d8-9bcd2197ac1c https://share.transistor.fm/s/293ffea1 Five good habits can be one bet wearing five coats. Mine all covered my health, and nothing else in my life had any cover at all. Three hydraulic systems ran through one DC-10 tail, two flight computers ran one piece of software, and millions of banana plants were one plant repeated. Each looked like redundancy and each failed in a single stroke.

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]]> Five good habits can be one bet wearing five coats. Mine all covered my health, and nothing else in my life had any cover at all. Three hydraulic systems ran through one DC-10 tail, two flight computers ran one piece of software, and millions of banana plants were one plant repeated. Each looked like redundancy and each failed in a single stroke.

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]]> Mon, 03 Aug 2026 09:50:42 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 238 Five good habits can be one bet wearing five coats. Mine all covered my health, and nothing else in my life had any cover at all. Three hydraulic systems ran through one DC-10 tail, two flight computers ran one piece of software, and millions of banana plants were one plant repeated. Each looked like redundancy and each failed in a single stroke. Five good habits can be one bet wearing five coats. Mine all covered my health, and nothing else in my life had any cover at all. Three hydraulic systems ran through one DC-10 tail, two flight computers ran one piece of software, and millions of banana pl entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No You Stopped Feeling It. It Didn't Stop Working. | Daily Essay You Stopped Feeling It. It Didn't Stop Working. | Daily Essay full e09f9b83-0864-4b6d-a9ea-dc875679173c https://share.transistor.fm/s/b0f97b2a Egypt dammed the Nile to stop the yearly flood, and two years later the sardine catch off the delta had fallen from about 15,000 tons to about 550. Britain tore out close to a million kilometers of hedgerow and now pays farmers to plant it back. India walked away from its stepwells until the taps started running dry. Three things that still worked, cut because nobody was watching them any more.

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]]> Egypt dammed the Nile to stop the yearly flood, and two years later the sardine catch off the delta had fallen from about 15,000 tons to about 550. Britain tore out close to a million kilometers of hedgerow and now pays farmers to plant it back. India walked away from its stepwells until the taps started running dry. Three things that still worked, cut because nobody was watching them any more.

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]]> Sun, 02 Aug 2026 07:01:12 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 192 Egypt dammed the Nile to stop the yearly flood, and two years later the sardine catch off the delta had fallen from about 15,000 tons to about 550. Britain tore out close to a million kilometers of hedgerow and now pays farmers to plant it back. India walked away from its stepwells until the taps started running dry. Three things that still worked, cut because nobody was watching them any more. Egypt dammed the Nile to stop the yearly flood, and two years later the sardine catch off the delta had fallen from about 15,000 tons to about 550. Britain tore out close to a million kilometers of hedgerow and now pays farmers to plant it back. India wal entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Stop Raising Your Standards. Start Proving Them. | Daily Essay Stop Raising Your Standards. Start Proving Them. | Daily Essay full 31161487-e46a-4c40-8aa2-3beb208f9d65 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a7a25464 Chris Ferguson had already won a World Series of Poker Main Event when he ran a fresh bankroll from zero to ten thousand dollars, and he never put more than 5 percent of it on a table. Poker players run four tests before they move up in stakes. The same four decide when to raise the floor on a daily habit, and passing them is still a separate question from whether you should.

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]]> Chris Ferguson had already won a World Series of Poker Main Event when he ran a fresh bankroll from zero to ten thousand dollars, and he never put more than 5 percent of it on a table. Poker players run four tests before they move up in stakes. The same four decide when to raise the floor on a daily habit, and passing them is still a separate question from whether you should.

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]]> Sat, 01 Aug 2026 07:39:51 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 282 Chris Ferguson had already won a World Series of Poker Main Event when he ran a fresh bankroll from zero to ten thousand dollars, and he never put more than 5 percent of it on a table. Poker players run four tests before they move up in stakes. The same four decide when to raise the floor on a daily habit, and passing them is still a separate question from whether you should. Chris Ferguson had already won a World Series of Poker Main Event when he ran a fresh bankroll from zero to ten thousand dollars, and he never put more than 5 percent of it on a table. Poker players run four tests before they move up in stakes. The same f entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No 190,000 Taste Tests Said Yes. Customers Said No. | Daily Essay 190,000 Taste Tests Said Yes. Customers Said No. | Daily Essay full c148ac02-0a85-43bf-a0fa-0fc9af6fcf1c https://share.transistor.fm/s/592baca0 Coke swapped a recipe that worked and 40,000 people wrote in to complain. The bicycle, the honeycomb and the QWERTY keyboard each show a different way a design stops changing, and why touching a finished one costs you.

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]]> Coke swapped a recipe that worked and 40,000 people wrote in to complain. The bicycle, the honeycomb and the QWERTY keyboard each show a different way a design stops changing, and why touching a finished one costs you.

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]]> Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:04:51 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 208 Coke swapped a recipe that worked and 40,000 people wrote in to complain. The bicycle, the honeycomb and the QWERTY keyboard each show a different way a design stops changing, and why touching a finished one costs you. Coke swapped a recipe that worked and 40,000 people wrote in to complain. The bicycle, the honeycomb and the QWERTY keyboard each show a different way a design stops changing, and why touching a finished one costs you. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Madam C.J. Walker: $1.25 to 20,000 Agents | Daily Essay Madam C.J. Walker: $1.25 to 20,000 Agents | Daily Essay full 3f963959-61d1-4c73-8b9c-029f0b841746 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5190ed17 Her best proof that her hair formula worked was her own bald head. She carried before-and-after photographs into church basements and told the story herself.

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]]> Her best proof that her hair formula worked was her own bald head. She carried before-and-after photographs into church basements and told the story herself.

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]]> Thu, 30 Jul 2026 06:54:59 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 245 Her best proof that her hair formula worked was her own bald head. She carried before-and-after photographs into church basements and told the story herself. Her best proof that her hair formula worked was her own bald head. She carried before-and-after photographs into church basements and told the story herself. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 200-Million-Year Test for Any Habit | Daily Essay The 200-Million-Year Test for Any Habit | Daily Essay full 944e0dac-799e-492d-8b3f-6cb3e24f02e5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3aa990e4 I dug the same grave 5 times. All 5 climbed back out, some more than once. A habit that outlives my judgment is one worth keeping, and a crocodile that has worn the same body for 200 million years explains why.

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]]> I dug the same grave 5 times. All 5 climbed back out, some more than once. A habit that outlives my judgment is one worth keeping, and a crocodile that has worn the same body for 200 million years explains why.

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]]> Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:17:37 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 91 I dug the same grave 5 times. All 5 climbed back out, some more than once. A habit that outlives my judgment is one worth keeping, and a crocodile that has worn the same body for 200 million years explains why. I dug the same grave 5 times. All 5 climbed back out, some more than once. A habit that outlives my judgment is one worth keeping, and a crocodile that has worn the same body for 200 million years explains why. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Revenge Bedtime Procrastination Isn't About Sleep. Ask Hermès. | Daily Essay Revenge Bedtime Procrastination Isn't About Sleep. Ask Hermès. | Daily Essay full 39fd8da3-5071-4f85-b6f2-cb812d6250c7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/abf7ec6f I gave up rest days and paid for it with 3am binges. The harder a day runs, the more I need to decompress before bed, and the day never leaves room for it.

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]]> I gave up rest days and paid for it with 3am binges. The harder a day runs, the more I need to decompress before bed, and the day never leaves room for it.

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]]> Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:18:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 157 I gave up rest days and paid for it with 3am binges. The harder a day runs, the more I need to decompress before bed, and the day never leaves room for it. I gave up rest days and paid for it with 3am binges. The harder a day runs, the more I need to decompress before bed, and the day never leaves room for it. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Proximity Is Power. Here's the Math. | Daily Essay Proximity Is Power. Here's the Math. | Daily Essay full 340f29fc-7501-4bb2-8b04-58cf6b00e9a7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/94f15c08 Three years of zero income ended two hours after a member of my first mastermind told me to pivot and send the message that day. The room mattered as much as the advice, and the same pattern runs through Florence, Iten, St. Louis and Bell Labs.

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]]> Three years of zero income ended two hours after a member of my first mastermind told me to pivot and send the message that day. The room mattered as much as the advice, and the same pattern runs through Florence, Iten, St. Louis and Bell Labs.

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]]> Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:15:58 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 233 Three years of zero income ended two hours after a member of my first mastermind told me to pivot and send the message that day. The room mattered as much as the advice, and the same pattern runs through Florence, Iten, St. Louis and Bell Labs. Three years of zero income ended two hours after a member of my first mastermind told me to pivot and send the message that day. The room mattered as much as the advice, and the same pattern runs through Florence, Iten, St. Louis and Bell Labs. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 100x Comparison: Big City vs Small Town | Daily Essay The 100x Comparison: Big City vs Small Town | Daily Essay full a01c214d-2525-4832-95b2-cd36c9e388e6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/4bdc9f17 Bill Gates spent more than a billion dollars making high schools smaller and later wrote that test scores barely moved. Crime is worse in big cities, so the same reasoning is running on them now.

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]]> Bill Gates spent more than a billion dollars making high schools smaller and later wrote that test scores barely moved. Crime is worse in big cities, so the same reasoning is running on them now.

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]]> Sun, 26 Jul 2026 01:20:06 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 160 Bill Gates spent more than a billion dollars making high schools smaller and later wrote that test scores barely moved. Crime is worse in big cities, so the same reasoning is running on them now. Bill Gates spent more than a billion dollars making high schools smaller and later wrote that test scores barely moved. Crime is worse in big cities, so the same reasoning is running on them now. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No From $32 Billion to 25 Years: The Math He Skipped | Daily Essay From $32 Billion to 25 Years: The Math He Skipped | Daily Essay full 9b0132c0-f5d8-4f4c-84b2-7995507cfd15 https://share.transistor.fm/s/6bf26841 A voice cuts through the track and asks, "What if I fall?" The answer follows: "Oh but my darling, what if you fly?" Erin Hanson wrote those lines at 18. The math underneath them is real, and Sam Bankman-Fried skipped the part that keeps a miss from ending you.

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]]> A voice cuts through the track and asks, "What if I fall?" The answer follows: "Oh but my darling, what if you fly?" Erin Hanson wrote those lines at 18. The math underneath them is real, and Sam Bankman-Fried skipped the part that keeps a miss from ending you.

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]]> Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:42:26 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 127 A voice cuts through the track and asks, "What if I fall?" The answer follows: "Oh but my darling, what if you fly?" Erin Hanson wrote those lines at 18. The math underneath them is real, and Sam Bankman-Fried skipped the part that keeps a miss from ending you. A voice cuts through the track and asks, "What if I fall?" The answer follows: "Oh but my darling, what if you fly?" Erin Hanson wrote those lines at 18. The math underneath them is real, and Sam Bankman-Fried skipped the part that keeps a miss from endin entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Same Loop That Killed Sears Runs Your Nights | Daily Essay The Same Loop That Killed Sears Runs Your Nights | Daily Essay full 84bfb723-28d5-4827-abda-2b06394389d6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c21adcdd I stay up late to catch up on my day and the catching up puts me further behind. The clock reads close to 1am and I'm still scrolling.

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]]> I stay up late to catch up on my day and the catching up puts me further behind. The clock reads close to 1am and I'm still scrolling.

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]]> Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:41:24 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 218 I stay up late to catch up on my day and the catching up puts me further behind. The clock reads close to 1am and I'm still scrolling. I stay up late to catch up on my day and the catching up puts me further behind. The clock reads close to 1am and I'm still scrolling. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Patagonia's 5-Word Policy for Getting Work Done | Daily Essay Patagonia's 5-Word Policy for Getting Work Done | Daily Essay full 1f2c1d80-6465-4175-b6a1-bd4241d1a994 https://share.transistor.fm/s/22e560a7 Yvon Chouinard told his staff to surf when the surf comes up. The trick isn't skipping the work, it's banking it ahead so a free morning is already paid for.

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]]> Yvon Chouinard told his staff to surf when the surf comes up. The trick isn't skipping the work, it's banking it ahead so a free morning is already paid for.

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]]> Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:52:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 100 Yvon Chouinard told his staff to surf when the surf comes up. The trick isn't skipping the work, it's banking it ahead so a free morning is already paid for. Yvon Chouinard told his staff to surf when the surf comes up. The trick isn't skipping the work, it's banking it ahead so a free morning is already paid for. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Focus on One Thing All Day | Daily Essay How to Focus on One Thing All Day | Daily Essay full 451f59df-7089-41c0-9fa2-0f552aa897e4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/30651fdc For the past 170 mornings, my writing streak depended on me showing up. This morning it stood on its own. Habit banking turns spare effort into a reserve, and a full reserve is what buys a whole day on one thing.

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]]> For the past 170 mornings, my writing streak depended on me showing up. This morning it stood on its own. Habit banking turns spare effort into a reserve, and a full reserve is what buys a whole day on one thing.

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]]> Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:28:54 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 130 For the past 170 mornings, my writing streak depended on me showing up. This morning it stood on its own. Habit banking turns spare effort into a reserve, and a full reserve is what buys a whole day on one thing. For the past 170 mornings, my writing streak depended on me showing up. This morning it stood on its own. Habit banking turns spare effort into a reserve, and a full reserve is what buys a whole day on one thing. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No One Small Promise, Kept 108 Mornings in a Row | Daily Essay One Small Promise, Kept 108 Mornings in a Row | Daily Essay full f2e454d4-d8cb-4e2e-b26b-164a58e3f115 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0ba978b3 One cup of tea almost broke my 108-day streak. At ten I stop caffeine for the day, and a late start meant choosing between the cup and the cutoff. A record of kept promises is your reputation with yourself, and it pays out as confidence.

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]]> One cup of tea almost broke my 108-day streak. At ten I stop caffeine for the day, and a late start meant choosing between the cup and the cutoff. A record of kept promises is your reputation with yourself, and it pays out as confidence.

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]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:44:45 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 131 One cup of tea almost broke my 108-day streak. At ten I stop caffeine for the day, and a late start meant choosing between the cup and the cutoff. A record of kept promises is your reputation with yourself, and it pays out as confidence. One cup of tea almost broke my 108-day streak. At ten I stop caffeine for the day, and a late start meant choosing between the cup and the cutoff. A record of kept promises is your reputation with yourself, and it pays out as confidence. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 3% Mortgage Debate Is Really About Sleep | Daily Essay The 3% Mortgage Debate Is Really About Sleep | Daily Essay full 60392501-a165-429e-8ab4-9472a4d45c49 https://share.transistor.fm/s/67c88350 My friend paid off a three percent mortgage to sleep better. The same payoff would keep me up at night. Money is the one resource that fits on a spreadsheet, so it wins arguments by default against attention, energy and sleep.

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]]> My friend paid off a three percent mortgage to sleep better. The same payoff would keep me up at night. Money is the one resource that fits on a spreadsheet, so it wins arguments by default against attention, energy and sleep.

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]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:33:03 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 135 My friend paid off a three percent mortgage to sleep better. The same payoff would keep me up at night. Money is the one resource that fits on a spreadsheet, so it wins arguments by default against attention, energy and sleep. My friend paid off a three percent mortgage to sleep better. The same payoff would keep me up at night. Money is the one resource that fits on a spreadsheet, so it wins arguments by default against attention, energy and sleep. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Chase Risk Before It Chases You | Daily Essay Chase Risk Before It Chases You | Daily Essay full 9de3e1f8-c4aa-472f-8f92-6768c199b61b https://share.transistor.fm/s/90dbf04b You can pay for a risk you never take. One email cost me a month of dread and thirty minutes of work, Kodak buried a working digital camera to protect film, and Blockbuster laughed off a fifty million dollar Netflix. Standing still is its own bet, and usually the expensive one.

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]]> You can pay for a risk you never take. One email cost me a month of dread and thirty minutes of work, Kodak buried a working digital camera to protect film, and Blockbuster laughed off a fifty million dollar Netflix. Standing still is its own bet, and usually the expensive one.

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]]> Sun, 19 Jul 2026 07:46:37 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 151 You can pay for a risk you never take. One email cost me a month of dread and thirty minutes of work, Kodak buried a working digital camera to protect film, and Blockbuster laughed off a fifty million dollar Netflix. Standing still is its own bet, and usually the expensive one. You can pay for a risk you never take. One email cost me a month of dread and thirty minutes of work, Kodak buried a working digital camera to protect film, and Blockbuster laughed off a fifty million dollar Netflix. Standing still is its own bet, and usu entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Tater Tots Trick for Repurposing Content | Daily Essay The Tater Tots Trick for Repurposing Content | Daily Essay full 0d0ad57d-9923-4306-9907-e416c00e9e60 https://share.transistor.fm/s/9c6ab5f3 For years two brothers threw their best product in the trash. You've probably eaten it. The archive of work you already finished is raw material for the next thing you keep planning to build from scratch.

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]]> For years two brothers threw their best product in the trash. You've probably eaten it. The archive of work you already finished is raw material for the next thing you keep planning to build from scratch.

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]]> Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:15:21 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 110 For years two brothers threw their best product in the trash. You've probably eaten it. The archive of work you already finished is raw material for the next thing you keep planning to build from scratch. For years two brothers threw their best product in the trash. You've probably eaten it. The archive of work you already finished is raw material for the next thing you keep planning to build from scratch. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Work-Life Balance Is a Myth. Choose Your Table. | Daily Essay Work-Life Balance Is a Myth. Choose Your Table. | Daily Essay full ffbba0fe-2a76-494c-97a3-a91cc7c11a7b https://share.transistor.fm/s/2fdb3947 Keyshia Cole sold a million copies of an album about love, then used one bridge for a bigger instruction: know your focus. Life seats you at several tables at once and the chips are attention.

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]]> Keyshia Cole sold a million copies of an album about love, then used one bridge for a bigger instruction: know your focus. Life seats you at several tables at once and the chips are attention.

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]]> Fri, 17 Jul 2026 07:49:40 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 201 Keyshia Cole sold a million copies of an album about love, then used one bridge for a bigger instruction: know your focus. Life seats you at several tables at once and the chips are attention. Keyshia Cole sold a million copies of an album about love, then used one bridge for a bigger instruction: know your focus. Life seats you at several tables at once and the chips are attention. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Pay 34 Minutes a Day for My Business to Grow | Daily Essay I Pay 34 Minutes a Day for My Business to Grow | Daily Essay full 83e57894-f6f4-4fb4-b1ff-4bbdda449186 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a8f4fcf5 It costs me thirty-four seconds of cold water a day to stay in a good mood. My business growth charges more: thirty-four minutes of marketing a day. Each goal has a price. You choose how to pay it: in habits or in sporadic effort.

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]]> It costs me thirty-four seconds of cold water a day to stay in a good mood. My business growth charges more: thirty-four minutes of marketing a day. Each goal has a price. You choose how to pay it: in habits or in sporadic effort.

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]]> Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:09:48 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 123 It costs me thirty-four seconds of cold water a day to stay in a good mood. My business growth charges more: thirty-four minutes of marketing a day. Each goal has a price. You choose how to pay it: in habits or in sporadic effort. It costs me thirty-four seconds of cold water a day to stay in a good mood. My business growth charges more: thirty-four minutes of marketing a day. Each goal has a price. You choose how to pay it: in habits or in sporadic effort. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Habits Have a Hurdle Rate | Daily Essay Your Habits Have a Hurdle Rate | Daily Essay full 13cc011d-9d78-43b7-bd7e-c9bbc6280a7d https://share.transistor.fm/s/40bd3b40 A working habit is the one in danger. Once your effort clears its hurdle rate and starts compounding, the only threat left is your own hand reaching to push it further. Here's how to tell when raising the bar is earned, and the three forces that move it.

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]]> A working habit is the one in danger. Once your effort clears its hurdle rate and starts compounding, the only threat left is your own hand reaching to push it further. Here's how to tell when raising the bar is earned, and the three forces that move it.

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]]> Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:43:00 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 296 A working habit is the one in danger. Once your effort clears its hurdle rate and starts compounding, the only threat left is your own hand reaching to push it further. Here's how to tell when raising the bar is earned, and the three forces that move it. A working habit is the one in danger. Once your effort clears its hurdle rate and starts compounding, the only threat left is your own hand reaching to push it further. Here's how to tell when raising the bar is earned, and the three forces that move it. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No You're in a Status Game Whether You Entered or Not | Daily Essay You're in a Status Game Whether You Entered or Not | Daily Essay full a9f8300e-195e-4d2a-9435-b8bc6d65354e https://share.transistor.fm/s/44ce9043 My chess wins are funded by other people's losses. Every rating point I take comes off someone else's number, and the same is true of status: rank in a crowd has to be taken from someone. Some goals charge the iron price. Others charge gold. Know which one your goal charges before you chase it.

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]]> My chess wins are funded by other people's losses. Every rating point I take comes off someone else's number, and the same is true of status: rank in a crowd has to be taken from someone. Some goals charge the iron price. Others charge gold. Know which one your goal charges before you chase it.

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]]> Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:43:06 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 167 My chess wins are funded by other people's losses. Every rating point I take comes off someone else's number, and the same is true of status: rank in a crowd has to be taken from someone. Some goals charge the iron price. Others charge gold. Know which one your goal charges before you chase it. My chess wins are funded by other people's losses. Every rating point I take comes off someone else's number, and the same is true of status: rank in a crowd has to be taken from someone. Some goals charge the iron price. Others charge gold. Know which on entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Con I Run on Myself to Start Working | Daily Essay The Con I Run on Myself to Start Working | Daily Essay full 4585c5d4-ac18-46b5-afde-8052b7156a8e https://share.transistor.fm/s/fbc76a7d I promised myself 20 minutes of outbound sales. Two hours later I was still doing targeted outreach. The small number was bait. Going from zero to one costs more than everything after it, so shrink the first step until it's too small to refuse.

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]]> I promised myself 20 minutes of outbound sales. Two hours later I was still doing targeted outreach. The small number was bait. Going from zero to one costs more than everything after it, so shrink the first step until it's too small to refuse.

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]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 07:09:49 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 93 I promised myself 20 minutes of outbound sales. Two hours later I was still doing targeted outreach. The small number was bait. Going from zero to one costs more than everything after it, so shrink the first step until it's too small to refuse. I promised myself 20 minutes of outbound sales. Two hours later I was still doing targeted outreach. The small number was bait. Going from zero to one costs more than everything after it, so shrink the first step until it's too small to refuse. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Optimizing Your Life Is Killing Your Progress | Daily Essay Optimizing Your Life Is Killing Your Progress | Daily Essay full 42a44b02-2d84-42df-9c87-3525b7652790 https://share.transistor.fm/s/48e224ae My worst weeks start right after I improve something. For years I couldn't see the pattern, until I noticed each dip followed a habit I added or dropped. Constant tinkering resets a working system before it can compound.

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]]> My worst weeks start right after I improve something. For years I couldn't see the pattern, until I noticed each dip followed a habit I added or dropped. Constant tinkering resets a working system before it can compound.

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]]> Sun, 12 Jul 2026 06:33:50 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 196 My worst weeks start right after I improve something. For years I couldn't see the pattern, until I noticed each dip followed a habit I added or dropped. Constant tinkering resets a working system before it can compound. My worst weeks start right after I improve something. For years I couldn't see the pattern, until I noticed each dip followed a habit I added or dropped. Constant tinkering resets a working system before it can compound. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 10pm Rule I Failed for Two Years | Daily Essay The 10pm Rule I Failed for Two Years | Daily Essay full 4ad80ff6-1dd4-455b-a47b-4f98b4a98669 https://share.transistor.fm/s/78c378a3 Two years of thinking never told me why I struggle to disconnect from electronics by 10pm. One week of experiments did. The fix came from treating my own habit like broken code: change one variable, watch what moves.

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]]> Two years of thinking never told me why I struggle to disconnect from electronics by 10pm. One week of experiments did. The fix came from treating my own habit like broken code: change one variable, watch what moves.

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]]> Sat, 11 Jul 2026 02:36:21 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 193 Two years of thinking never told me why I struggle to disconnect from electronics by 10pm. One week of experiments did. The fix came from treating my own habit like broken code: change one variable, watch what moves. Two years of thinking never told me why I struggle to disconnect from electronics by 10pm. One week of experiments did. The fix came from treating my own habit like broken code: change one variable, watch what moves. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The NBA Deleted a Shot. Your Habit Needs the Same. | Daily Essay The NBA Deleted a Shot. Your Habit Needs the Same. | Daily Essay full db6a0767-ad85-4178-a519-ecda816ebf66 https://share.transistor.fm/s/369066f8 Sears died in the gap between Walmart and Nordstrom. The NBA deleted its least efficient shot and scored better than ever. A habit set on a single middle number carries the same hidden tax: cut the middle, keep the floor and the bar, and the range gets stronger.

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]]> Sears died in the gap between Walmart and Nordstrom. The NBA deleted its least efficient shot and scored better than ever. A habit set on a single middle number carries the same hidden tax: cut the middle, keep the floor and the bar, and the range gets stronger.

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]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 05:13:05 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 104 Sears died in the gap between Walmart and Nordstrom. The NBA deleted its least efficient shot and scored better than ever. A habit set on a single middle number carries the same hidden tax: cut the middle, keep the floor and the bar, and the range gets stronger. Sears died in the gap between Walmart and Nordstrom. The NBA deleted its least efficient shot and scored better than ever. A habit set on a single middle number carries the same hidden tax: cut the middle, keep the floor and the bar, and the range gets st entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Fifteen Years on One Wall. One Day Off the Business Week. | Daily Essay Fifteen Years on One Wall. One Day Off the Business Week. | Daily Essay full 71c72db3-dbf0-473d-b377-7499ed0fdeaf https://share.transistor.fm/s/6ce2ce26 I broke my own meditation practice the same way for fifteen years. Then an AI playing Atari Breakout taught me to tell a wall I should accept from a door I could walk through.

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]]> I broke my own meditation practice the same way for fifteen years. Then an AI playing Atari Breakout taught me to tell a wall I should accept from a door I could walk through.

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]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:42:58 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 217 I broke my own meditation practice the same way for fifteen years. Then an AI playing Atari Breakout taught me to tell a wall I should accept from a door I could walk through. I broke my own meditation practice the same way for fifteen years. Then an AI playing Atari Breakout taught me to tell a wall I should accept from a door I could walk through. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The 3am Binge Isn't a Willpower Failure | Daily Essay The 3am Binge Isn't a Willpower Failure | Daily Essay full 2cfe1ec7-52c2-4cdc-8a91-423924cec55e https://share.transistor.fm/s/b30ff62e Some nights I'd binge until 3am, sometimes 5, then wake up ashamed. For a long time I read those nights as a discipline failure.

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]]> Some nights I'd binge until 3am, sometimes 5, then wake up ashamed. For a long time I read those nights as a discipline failure.

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]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:20:12 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 60 Some nights I'd binge until 3am, sometimes 5, then wake up ashamed. For a long time I read those nights as a discipline failure. Some nights I'd binge until 3am, sometimes 5, then wake up ashamed. For a long time I read those nights as a discipline failure. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Map Is Not the Territory (And Why That's Fine) | Daily Essay The Map Is Not the Territory (And Why That's Fine) | Daily Essay full 5016938c-a55e-4639-b1bb-12650f391960 https://share.transistor.fm/s/10812735 I sent an email about putting my habits on a range instead of a single number, and a reader asked why. The answer says something true about every model worth using, from a subway map to Newton's laws.

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]]> I sent an email about putting my habits on a range instead of a single number, and a reader asked why. The answer says something true about every model worth using, from a subway map to Newton's laws.

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]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 05:13:12 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 174 I sent an email about putting my habits on a range instead of a single number, and a reader asked why. The answer says something true about every model worth using, from a subway map to Newton's laws. I sent an email about putting my habits on a range instead of a single number, and a reader asked why. The answer says something true about every model worth using, from a subway map to Newton's laws. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Habit Banking: What You Can Bank and What You Can't | Daily Essay Habit Banking: What You Can Bank and What You Can't | Daily Essay full d9b28e24-82cc-4f75-9ad2-a49b0e26bf11 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c01333e3 My sleep app shows a debt. Skip an hour of sleep and it adds that hour to the total. A few short nights running and I owe eight hours, then ten.

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]]> My sleep app shows a debt. Skip an hour of sleep and it adds that hour to the total. A few short nights running and I owe eight hours, then ten.

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]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:21:41 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 385 My sleep app shows a debt. Skip an hour of sleep and it adds that hour to the total. A few short nights running and I owe eight hours, then ten. My sleep app shows a debt. Skip an hour of sleep and it adds that hour to the total. A few short nights running and I owe eight hours, then ten. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Small Habits, Big Results: 47 Novels Before Work | Daily Essay Small Habits, Big Results: 47 Novels Before Work | Daily Essay full d9fdb9bd-3c01-47ac-b1e8-8ea79886a996 https://share.transistor.fm/s/bda532ec I sat down to meditate for one minute a day, fifteen years ago. The sitting now runs up to two and a half hours, and the same math built a business, forty-seven novels and the biggest carmaker in the world.

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]]> I sat down to meditate for one minute a day, fifteen years ago. The sitting now runs up to two and a half hours, and the same math built a business, forty-seven novels and the biggest carmaker in the world.

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]]> Sun, 05 Jul 2026 12:22:04 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 108 I sat down to meditate for one minute a day, fifteen years ago. The sitting now runs up to two and a half hours, and the same math built a business, forty-seven novels and the biggest carmaker in the world. I sat down to meditate for one minute a day, fifteen years ago. The sitting now runs up to two and a half hours, and the same math built a business, forty-seven novels and the biggest carmaker in the world. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The $4.6 Billion Lesson in Not Rushing | Daily Essay The $4.6 Billion Lesson in Not Rushing | Daily Essay full 7a7f2117-6880-4784-9946-51fce1034358 https://share.transistor.fm/s/8da5a00c Rick Guerin had the same returns as Buffett and Munger. He borrowed to get there faster and lost his seat at the table. The same leverage runs through a hedge fund of Nobel winners and my own daily habits.

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]]> Rick Guerin had the same returns as Buffett and Munger. He borrowed to get there faster and lost his seat at the table. The same leverage runs through a hedge fund of Nobel winners and my own daily habits.

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]]> Sat, 04 Jul 2026 11:00:40 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 223 Rick Guerin had the same returns as Buffett and Munger. He borrowed to get there faster and lost his seat at the table. The same leverage runs through a hedge fund of Nobel winners and my own daily habits. Rick Guerin had the same returns as Buffett and Munger. He borrowed to get there faster and lost his seat at the table. The same leverage runs through a hedge fund of Nobel winners and my own daily habits. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No You're Not Lazy. The Step Is Too Steep. | Daily Essay You're Not Lazy. The Step Is Too Steep. | Daily Essay full 55e75269-3a03-4bd7-b87a-0c8b065acbf2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b73274e4 One line in my task queue said "set up an email address." It was really nine steps across two domains. Breaking a task into its real steps is what turns a stuck line into work you can start.

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]]> One line in my task queue said "set up an email address." It was really nine steps across two domains. Breaking a task into its real steps is what turns a stuck line into work you can start.

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]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:12:54 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 118 One line in my task queue said "set up an email address." It was really nine steps across two domains. Breaking a task into its real steps is what turns a stuck line into work you can start. One line in my task queue said "set up an email address." It was really nine steps across two domains. Breaking a task into its real steps is what turns a stuck line into work you can start. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No 4 Things I'd Tell My Younger Self. One Changed Everything. | Daily Essay 4 Things I'd Tell My Younger Self. One Changed Everything. | Daily Essay full deea89e2-b4e8-45a5-96d7-7da7e1443935 https://share.transistor.fm/s/36fa2413 If you rewound your life and took the fastest route to where you stand right now, you'd see how much time got burned on things that didn't matter. A quote from Julian Shapiro sent the exercise off, and here are the four things it surfaced.

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]]> If you rewound your life and took the fastest route to where you stand right now, you'd see how much time got burned on things that didn't matter. A quote from Julian Shapiro sent the exercise off, and here are the four things it surfaced.

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]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:35:05 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 121 If you rewound your life and took the fastest route to where you stand right now, you'd see how much time got burned on things that didn't matter. A quote from Julian Shapiro sent the exercise off, and here are the four things it surfaced. If you rewound your life and took the fastest route to where you stand right now, you'd see how much time got burned on things that didn't matter. A quote from Julian Shapiro sent the exercise off, and here are the four things it surfaced. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Confidence Is a Trailing Indicator | Daily Essay Confidence Is a Trailing Indicator | Daily Essay full 6c3909d3-543e-4316-98c5-42117b5551f0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e43935c6 Confidence is a trailing indicator. The feeling follows the evidence, and the evidence comes from reps. A neuroscientist's work on addiction explains why pep talks fade like a drug while months of showing up move the baseline for good.

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]]> Confidence is a trailing indicator. The feeling follows the evidence, and the evidence comes from reps. A neuroscientist's work on addiction explains why pep talks fade like a drug while months of showing up move the baseline for good.

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]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:10:37 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 142 Confidence is a trailing indicator. The feeling follows the evidence, and the evidence comes from reps. A neuroscientist's work on addiction explains why pep talks fade like a drug while months of showing up move the baseline for good. Confidence is a trailing indicator. The feeling follows the evidence, and the evidence comes from reps. A neuroscientist's work on addiction explains why pep talks fade like a drug while months of showing up move the baseline for good. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Navy Cured Scurvy. Then It Uncured It. | Daily Essay The Navy Cured Scurvy. Then It Uncured It. | Daily Essay full 6ee27347-4e0f-4200-865d-fa23fcf64100 https://share.transistor.fm/s/406a1eb6 The British Navy cured scurvy, then optimized the cure away without noticing. The habit whose benefit you can no longer feel is the one you're most likely to cut.

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]]> The British Navy cured scurvy, then optimized the cure away without noticing. The habit whose benefit you can no longer feel is the one you're most likely to cut.

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]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:10:24 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 227 The British Navy cured scurvy, then optimized the cure away without noticing. The habit whose benefit you can no longer feel is the one you're most likely to cut. The British Navy cured scurvy, then optimized the cure away without noticing. The habit whose benefit you can no longer feel is the one you're most likely to cut. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why I Can't Drink a Latte (and Billionaires Pay No Tax) | Daily Essay Why I Can't Drink a Latte (and Billionaires Pay No Tax) | Daily Essay full 0b36e5d2-1639-4e49-8c5d-4003bb30b2cc https://share.transistor.fm/s/be5e3bcb Two rules I keep for unrelated reasons (no caffeine after ten, no food before two) quietly banned coffee with milk. The same thing builds computers inside a math game, leaves a baby stateless, and lets a fortune pass untaxed: simple rules stacking into outcomes no one designed.

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]]> Two rules I keep for unrelated reasons (no caffeine after ten, no food before two) quietly banned coffee with milk. The same thing builds computers inside a math game, leaves a baby stateless, and lets a fortune pass untaxed: simple rules stacking into outcomes no one designed.

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]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:09:42 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 229 Two rules I keep for unrelated reasons (no caffeine after ten, no food before two) quietly banned coffee with milk. The same thing builds computers inside a math game, leaves a baby stateless, and lets a fortune pass untaxed: simple rules stacking into outcomes no one designed. Two rules I keep for unrelated reasons (no caffeine after ten, no food before two) quietly banned coffee with milk. The same thing builds computers inside a math game, leaves a baby stateless, and lets a fortune pass untaxed: simple rules stacking into ou entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Stop Trading Your Habits Like Stocks | Daily Essay Stop Trading Your Habits Like Stocks | Daily Essay full 7188c6df-1ca5-4e5f-980e-166353d73442 https://share.transistor.fm/s/67058745 The investors who traded the most underperformed the market by a wide margin. I traded my habits the same way, swapping working routines for new ones and ignoring what each trade cost the whole system. Locking my habits for the month is what stopped the crashes.

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]]> The investors who traded the most underperformed the market by a wide margin. I traded my habits the same way, swapping working routines for new ones and ignoring what each trade cost the whole system. Locking my habits for the month is what stopped the crashes.

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]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2026 15:08:48 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 162 The investors who traded the most underperformed the market by a wide margin. I traded my habits the same way, swapping working routines for new ones and ignoring what each trade cost the whole system. Locking my habits for the month is what stopped the crashes. The investors who traded the most underperformed the market by a wide margin. I traded my habits the same way, swapping working routines for new ones and ignoring what each trade cost the whole system. Locking my habits for the month is what stopped the c entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Mormons Get Rich and Adventists Live to 100 | Daily Essay Why Mormons Get Rich and Adventists Live to 100 | Daily Essay full 3378eff1-5c92-4d84-9e76-595695edc534 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a59f7ec8 Jews are 0.2% of the world and have won 20% of the Nobel Prizes. A poor kid in Salt Lake City has the best odds of reaching the top of any big city in America. Seventh-day Adventists outlive their neighbors by a decade. Five repeated rituals explain it, and you can borrow them without the belief.

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]]> Jews are 0.2% of the world and have won 20% of the Nobel Prizes. A poor kid in Salt Lake City has the best odds of reaching the top of any big city in America. Seventh-day Adventists outlive their neighbors by a decade. Five repeated rituals explain it, and you can borrow them without the belief.

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]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2026 14:20:14 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 457 Jews are 0.2% of the world and have won 20% of the Nobel Prizes. A poor kid in Salt Lake City has the best odds of reaching the top of any big city in America. Seventh-day Adventists outlive their neighbors by a decade. Five repeated rituals explain it, and you can borrow them without the belief. Jews are 0.2% of the world and have won 20% of the Nobel Prizes. A poor kid in Salt Lake City has the best odds of reaching the top of any big city in America. Seventh-day Adventists outlive their neighbors by a decade. Five repeated rituals explain it, a entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Habits Are Your Investment Portfolio | Daily Essay Your Habits Are Your Investment Portfolio | Daily Essay full f7a1f480-7c25-4623-bdab-1fa60aba6132 https://share.transistor.fm/s/d970324f I sold a habit this week: 389 days of cold showers, closed out and swapped for a daily courage challenge. Your life is the blended return on the habits you hold, so run them like a portfolio: hold the winners, reallocate when a better use appears and stay concentrated.

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]]> I sold a habit this week: 389 days of cold showers, closed out and swapped for a daily courage challenge. Your life is the blended return on the habits you hold, so run them like a portfolio: hold the winners, reallocate when a better use appears and stay concentrated.

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]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:12:21 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 142 I sold a habit this week: 389 days of cold showers, closed out and swapped for a daily courage challenge. Your life is the blended return on the habits you hold, so run them like a portfolio: hold the winners, reallocate when a better use appears and stay concentrated. I sold a habit this week: 389 days of cold showers, closed out and swapped for a daily courage challenge. Your life is the blended return on the habits you hold, so run them like a portfolio: hold the winners, reallocate when a better use appears and stay entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Anti-Habits: The Discipline of Saying No | Daily Essay Anti-Habits: The Discipline of Saying No | Daily Essay full 9808fb64-444b-46a5-9601-d2528fe52f30 https://share.transistor.fm/s/01fb5386 I turned down someone I was interested in because their party started after my 10pm shutdown. A look at the rules about what I won't do and what each one pays back.

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]]> I turned down someone I was interested in because their party started after my 10pm shutdown. A look at the rules about what I won't do and what each one pays back.

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]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:06:42 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 164 I turned down someone I was interested in because their party started after my 10pm shutdown. A look at the rules about what I won't do and what each one pays back. I turned down someone I was interested in because their party started after my 10pm shutdown. A look at the rules about what I won't do and what each one pays back. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Optimized My Habits Until They Broke | Daily Essay I Optimized My Habits Until They Broke | Daily Essay full fe01b4a1-3b05-49a8-b744-a1ceeb4eec23 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a3670c8e For years I kept swapping working habits for better ones. Each swap reset the momentum, until I capped my habits at 13 and locked the portfolio so it could only change in the first five days of the month.

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]]> For years I kept swapping working habits for better ones. Each swap reset the momentum, until I capped my habits at 13 and locked the portfolio so it could only change in the first five days of the month.

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]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:21:24 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 184 For years I kept swapping working habits for better ones. Each swap reset the momentum, until I capped my habits at 13 and locked the portfolio so it could only change in the first five days of the month. For years I kept swapping working habits for better ones. Each swap reset the momentum, until I capped my habits at 13 and locked the portfolio so it could only change in the first five days of the month. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Habits Are Only as Strong as Your Worst Day | Daily Essay Your Habits Are Only as Strong as Your Worst Day | Daily Essay full c4f54797-5354-43e4-8ce1-a6c25f444c1c https://share.transistor.fm/s/9e84d946 A habit set on a single target snaps the first hard week. Set each habit on a range instead, with a floor low enough to clear on your worst day, and the streak bends rather than breaks. Fibonacci bands turn one number into three states: floor, normal and stretch.

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]]> A habit set on a single target snaps the first hard week. Set each habit on a range instead, with a floor low enough to clear on your worst day, and the streak bends rather than breaks. Fibonacci bands turn one number into three states: floor, normal and stretch.

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]]> Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:30:41 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 126 A habit set on a single target snaps the first hard week. Set each habit on a range instead, with a floor low enough to clear on your worst day, and the streak bends rather than breaks. Fibonacci bands turn one number into three states: floor, normal and stretch. A habit set on a single target snaps the first hard week. Set each habit on a range instead, with a floor low enough to clear on your worst day, and the streak bends rather than breaks. Fibonacci bands turn one number into three states: floor, normal and entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No My Cold Shower Got Better. My Business Didn't. | Daily Essay My Cold Shower Got Better. My Business Didn't. | Daily Essay full eef05cf5-57b0-4575-8638-c75645603b1f https://share.transistor.fm/s/dfb889ec I made my cold shower longer for months while my business barely grew. The willpower I poured into a habit that already worked was willpower the bottleneck never got.

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]]> I made my cold shower longer for months while my business barely grew. The willpower I poured into a habit that already worked was willpower the bottleneck never got.

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]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:41:22 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 59 I made my cold shower longer for months while my business barely grew. The willpower I poured into a habit that already worked was willpower the bottleneck never got. I made my cold shower longer for months while my business barely grew. The willpower I poured into a habit that already worked was willpower the bottleneck never got. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No An AI Named the One Trait That Predicts Success | Daily Essay An AI Named the One Trait That Predicts Success | Daily Essay full 9204d38e-fdc3-445b-9b9a-2c33c7872ec0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/359ca5bb An AI, asked what separates the ultra successful, named tolerance for ambiguity. Most people resolve the not-knowing too early and call it prudence. Running experiments daily is how you train the opposite.

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]]> An AI, asked what separates the ultra successful, named tolerance for ambiguity. Most people resolve the not-knowing too early and call it prudence. Running experiments daily is how you train the opposite.

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]]> Sun, 21 Jun 2026 12:50:33 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 78 An AI, asked what separates the ultra successful, named tolerance for ambiguity. Most people resolve the not-knowing too early and call it prudence. Running experiments daily is how you train the opposite. An AI, asked what separates the ultra successful, named tolerance for ambiguity. Most people resolve the not-knowing too early and call it prudence. Running experiments daily is how you train the opposite. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Centralize or Decentralize: How to Actually Decide | Daily Essay Centralize or Decentralize: How to Actually Decide | Daily Essay full 0b384666-56a3-4055-acca-ce6f136f7fad https://share.transistor.fm/s/65e32199 A jellyfish survives 500 million years with no brain, every decision made at the edge. Where decisions should live, at the edge or in a center, decides whether an organization wins.

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]]> A jellyfish survives 500 million years with no brain, every decision made at the edge. Where decisions should live, at the edge or in a center, decides whether an organization wins.

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]]> Sat, 20 Jun 2026 10:40:32 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 162 A jellyfish survives 500 million years with no brain, every decision made at the edge. Where decisions should live, at the edge or in a center, decides whether an organization wins. A jellyfish survives 500 million years with no brain, every decision made at the edge. Where decisions should live, at the edge or in a center, decides whether an organization wins. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Make Hard Decisions When You Already Know | Daily Essay How to Make Hard Decisions When You Already Know | Daily Essay full 6c9227c0-6f17-4a8b-84ca-694f87d5e6f1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a85588b5 A poker trainer hands you the right move in a fraction of a second. Pulling the trigger is the hard part. Knowing the expected value was never the blocker. Nerve is.

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]]> A poker trainer hands you the right move in a fraction of a second. Pulling the trigger is the hard part. Knowing the expected value was never the blocker. Nerve is.

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]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:44:41 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 92 A poker trainer hands you the right move in a fraction of a second. Pulling the trigger is the hard part. Knowing the expected value was never the blocker. Nerve is. A poker trainer hands you the right move in a fraction of a second. Pulling the trigger is the hard part. Knowing the expected value was never the blocker. Nerve is. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Attract the Right Clients With Your Price | Daily Essay How to Attract the Right Clients With Your Price | Daily Essay full ed44cd3c-7c9f-437b-aef8-55156c0e0f12 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ef6e1ada Cutting the price of Trends Pro changed who signed up. Support rose, engagement thinned, the room shifted. Raising the price back filtered for people who arrived ready. Price selects your market before anyone reaches your inbox.

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]]> Cutting the price of Trends Pro changed who signed up. Support rose, engagement thinned, the room shifted. Raising the price back filtered for people who arrived ready. Price selects your market before anyone reaches your inbox.

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:50:52 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 100 Cutting the price of Trends Pro changed who signed up. Support rose, engagement thinned, the room shifted. Raising the price back filtered for people who arrived ready. Price selects your market before anyone reaches your inbox. Cutting the price of Trends Pro changed who signed up. Support rose, engagement thinned, the room shifted. Raising the price back filtered for people who arrived ready. Price selects your market before anyone reaches your inbox. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Customer Lifetime Value: What ConvertKit Got Wrong | Daily Essay Customer Lifetime Value: What ConvertKit Got Wrong | Daily Essay full 36fb9b9f-53e0-4a48-8e54-77ef65f23baa https://share.transistor.fm/s/3b07a32c ConvertKit auto-upgraded my bill the hour my list crossed a tier, then held the higher price when it dropped back under. Their own logs later admitted about $936 in overcharges across eight months. The math from the vendor's side is the real story.

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]]> ConvertKit auto-upgraded my bill the hour my list crossed a tier, then held the higher price when it dropped back under. Their own logs later admitted about $936 in overcharges across eight months. The math from the vendor's side is the real story.

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]]> Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:09:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 167 ConvertKit auto-upgraded my bill the hour my list crossed a tier, then held the higher price when it dropped back under. Their own logs later admitted about $936 in overcharges across eight months. The math from the vendor's side is the real story. ConvertKit auto-upgraded my bill the hour my list crossed a tier, then held the higher price when it dropped back under. Their own logs later admitted about $936 in overcharges across eight months. The math from the vendor's side is the real story. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Adapt to Change Fast Enough | Daily Essay How to Adapt to Change Fast Enough | Daily Essay full 5d522dfe-b321-4858-8728-75c3f850cf20 https://share.transistor.fm/s/11202c0c For years I built businesses that went nowhere. Then one took off, once I held a daily floor of experiments. Below the floor your work falls behind a drifting world. Above it, it compounds.

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]]> For years I built businesses that went nowhere. Then one took off, once I held a daily floor of experiments. Below the floor your work falls behind a drifting world. Above it, it compounds.

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]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:35:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 126 For years I built businesses that went nowhere. Then one took off, once I held a daily floor of experiments. Below the floor your work falls behind a drifting world. Above it, it compounds. For years I built businesses that went nowhere. Then one took off, once I held a daily floor of experiments. Below the floor your work falls behind a drifting world. Above it, it compounds. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Consistency Over Intensity: What Pushing Harder Costs | Daily Essay Consistency Over Intensity: What Pushing Harder Costs | Daily Essay full 3ed994a5-bb52-4cdd-9e84-f57d27dcc210 https://share.transistor.fm/s/4c7ff196 Pushing one habit harder than it needs steals from the habits still below the line. The durable move is the smallest version that still compounds.

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]]> Pushing one habit harder than it needs steals from the habits still below the line. The durable move is the smallest version that still compounds.

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]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:42:11 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 125 Pushing one habit harder than it needs steals from the habits still below the line. The durable move is the smallest version that still compounds. Pushing one habit harder than it needs steals from the habits still below the line. The durable move is the smallest version that still compounds. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Think on Paper to Keep Your Principles Sharp | Daily Essay Think on Paper to Keep Your Principles Sharp | Daily Essay full d6a3c65c-545c-464d-892e-50c5ef53e8f7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/089c7706 After a month without rewriting my principles by hand, the impulses they keep in check started winning. Copying them onto a fresh page each week is what keeps hard-won lessons from fading.

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]]> After a month without rewriting my principles by hand, the impulses they keep in check started winning. Copying them onto a fresh page each week is what keeps hard-won lessons from fading.

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:07:39 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 53 After a month without rewriting my principles by hand, the impulses they keep in check started winning. Copying them onto a fresh page each week is what keeps hard-won lessons from fading. After a month without rewriting my principles by hand, the impulses they keep in check started winning. Copying them onto a fresh page each week is what keeps hard-won lessons from fading. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Get More Done by Counting What You Finish | Daily Essay Get More Done by Counting What You Finish | Daily Essay full be6ada33-f0d6-4704-8715-e6b05e658200 https://share.transistor.fm/s/576494b4 I count my output by what I finish, not the hours I sit. Flannery O'Connor watched the clock; Stephen King counted words. A 17-day launch burnout taught me which one to trust.

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]]> I count my output by what I finish, not the hours I sit. Flannery O'Connor watched the clock; Stephen King counted words. A 17-day launch burnout taught me which one to trust.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:08:29 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 62 I count my output by what I finish, not the hours I sit. Flannery O'Connor watched the clock; Stephen King counted words. A 17-day launch burnout taught me which one to trust. I count my output by what I finish, not the hours I sit. Flannery O'Connor watched the clock; Stephen King counted words. A 17-day launch burnout taught me which one to trust. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Analysis Paralysis Is a Bundling Problem | Daily Essay Analysis Paralysis Is a Bundling Problem | Daily Essay full 3b81e02e-8275-490a-9651-bb094faab227 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0717e0e2 Most plans stall because several separate problems got bundled into one decision. Split them, ship the piece that stands alone and the freeze breaks.

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]]> Most plans stall because several separate problems got bundled into one decision. Split them, ship the piece that stands alone and the freeze breaks.

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:01:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 188 Most plans stall because several separate problems got bundled into one decision. Split them, ship the piece that stands alone and the freeze breaks. Most plans stall because several separate problems got bundled into one decision. Split them, ship the piece that stands alone and the freeze breaks. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Stopped Taking Rest Days. The Binges Started. | Daily Essay I Stopped Taking Rest Days. The Binges Started. | Daily Essay full 312e5395-7128-4b20-ab07-cf0feafa7143 https://share.transistor.fm/s/d6cc5ce4 I made the case for cutting rest days. Then the binges started: every two weeks or so, a Thursday ending at 3am, with the brain collecting the rest I refused to schedule.

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]]> I made the case for cutting rest days. Then the binges started: every two weeks or so, a Thursday ending at 3am, with the brain collecting the rest I refused to schedule.

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]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:22:33 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 166 I made the case for cutting rest days. Then the binges started: every two weeks or so, a Thursday ending at 3am, with the brain collecting the rest I refused to schedule. I made the case for cutting rest days. Then the binges started: every two weeks or so, a Thursday ending at 3am, with the brain collecting the rest I refused to schedule. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Get Startup Ideas: Build the "Dumb" One First | Daily Essay How to Get Startup Ideas: Build the "Dumb" One First | Daily Essay full 1f4e1947-c946-4d69-906b-379cb124e624 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3946423 The great idea shows up after you start. Build the "dumb" one and the problems you hit along the way become your next products.

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]]> The great idea shows up after you start. Build the "dumb" one and the problems you hit along the way become your next products.

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]]> Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:27:42 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 101 The great idea shows up after you start. Build the "dumb" one and the problems you hit along the way become your next products. The great idea shows up after you start. Build the "dumb" one and the problems you hit along the way become your next products. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Comfort Will Ruin Your Life: The Turkey Problem | Daily Essay Why Comfort Will Ruin Your Life: The Turkey Problem | Daily Essay full ba591732-ba5b-4b9d-bd4a-3d8aa33ed440 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2720defe One day the turkey wakes up and it's Thanksgiving. Comfort feels like safety, but it lets risk pile up quietly until it hits all at once. The fix is to take small risks on purpose, while a miss still costs little.

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]]> One day the turkey wakes up and it's Thanksgiving. Comfort feels like safety, but it lets risk pile up quietly until it hits all at once. The fix is to take small risks on purpose, while a miss still costs little.

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]]> Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:06:53 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 127 One day the turkey wakes up and it's Thanksgiving. Comfort feels like safety, but it lets risk pile up quietly until it hits all at once. The fix is to take small risks on purpose, while a miss still costs little. One day the turkey wakes up and it's Thanksgiving. Comfort feels like safety, but it lets risk pile up quietly until it hits all at once. The fix is to take small risks on purpose, while a miss still costs little. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No To Achieve Your Goals, Aim at Your Habits | Daily Essay To Achieve Your Goals, Aim at Your Habits | Daily Essay full 7a5bf23d-ca64-4280-b9ca-8a1bf883e844 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ef709d29 A goal doesn't have a hurdle rate. Habits do. Break the goal into the habits that feed it. Find each one's input level. Make experimenting the habit that carries you when the destination is uncertain.

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]]> A goal doesn't have a hurdle rate. Habits do. Break the goal into the habits that feed it. Find each one's input level. Make experimenting the habit that carries you when the destination is uncertain.

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]]> Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:38:53 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 118 A goal doesn't have a hurdle rate. Habits do. Break the goal into the habits that feed it. Find each one's input level. Make experimenting the habit that carries you when the destination is uncertain. A goal doesn't have a hurdle rate. Habits do. Break the goal into the habits that feed it. Find each one's input level. Make experimenting the habit that carries you when the destination is uncertain. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Fail Fast, Fail Often: My 1-in-20 Hit Rate | Daily Essay Fail Fast, Fail Often: My 1-in-20 Hit Rate | Daily Essay full b6ed7252-c78d-423b-9a31-f6d9f554eae5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e0c21db7 Most experiments fail, and that's the point. About 1 in 20 becomes a material win that keeps paying, and you can't tell which before you run it. So run more.

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]]> Most experiments fail, and that's the point. About 1 in 20 becomes a material win that keeps paying, and you can't tell which before you run it. So run more.

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]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:05:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 67 Most experiments fail, and that's the point. About 1 in 20 becomes a material win that keeps paying, and you can't tell which before you run it. So run more. Most experiments fail, and that's the point. About 1 in 20 becomes a material win that keeps paying, and you can't tell which before you run it. So run more. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Achieving Goals Doesn't Make You Happy | Daily Essay Why Achieving Goals Doesn't Make You Happy | Daily Essay full 6fdef097-af5d-4390-8a61-5fb3ff085421 https://share.transistor.fm/s/47fb8387 You hit the goal and the win fades by tomorrow. The target was never fixed: reach it and you want the next one. Chess ratings and jiu-jitsu belts turn out to be the same trap in different clothing.

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]]> You hit the goal and the win fades by tomorrow. The target was never fixed: reach it and you want the next one. Chess ratings and jiu-jitsu belts turn out to be the same trap in different clothing.

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]]> Sat, 06 Jun 2026 06:48:13 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 73 You hit the goal and the win fades by tomorrow. The target was never fixed: reach it and you want the next one. Chess ratings and jiu-jitsu belts turn out to be the same trap in different clothing. You hit the goal and the win fades by tomorrow. The target was never fixed: reach it and you want the next one. Chess ratings and jiu-jitsu belts turn out to be the same trap in different clothing. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Turning Failure Into Success: 7,000 Subs, Zero Sales | Daily Essay Turning Failure Into Success: 7,000 Subs, Zero Sales | Daily Essay full 0b18bd98-94e0-4c3b-831b-ddebc27edb55 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ac594cfb A pre-sell to 7,000 subscribers got zero sales. The failure forced a free-plus-upgrade model that broke a three-year income drought and became Trends.vc. The target I missed was smaller than what the miss handed me.

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]]> A pre-sell to 7,000 subscribers got zero sales. The failure forced a free-plus-upgrade model that broke a three-year income drought and became Trends.vc. The target I missed was smaller than what the miss handed me.

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]]> Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:41:27 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 102 A pre-sell to 7,000 subscribers got zero sales. The failure forced a free-plus-upgrade model that broke a three-year income drought and became Trends.vc. The target I missed was smaller than what the miss handed me. A pre-sell to 7,000 subscribers got zero sales. The failure forced a free-plus-upgrade model that broke a three-year income drought and became Trends.vc. The target I missed was smaller than what the miss handed me. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Don't Hard-Code Trauma: How to Let Go of the Past | Daily Essay Don't Hard-Code Trauma: How to Let Go of the Past | Daily Essay full 41ee3b0a-c74b-41b0-8eb9-98344e57a792 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c1e05ed2 A fraud alert in a foreign country almost became a permanent rule. The real fix was a backup card. Most bad experiences don't deserve a lifetime policy.

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]]> A fraud alert in a foreign country almost became a permanent rule. The real fix was a backup card. Most bad experiences don't deserve a lifetime policy.

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]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:51:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 104 A fraud alert in a foreign country almost became a permanent rule. The real fix was a backup card. Most bad experiences don't deserve a lifetime policy. A fraud alert in a foreign country almost became a permanent rule. The real fix was a backup card. Most bad experiences don't deserve a lifetime policy. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Not All Trade-Offs Are Real | Daily Essay Not All Trade-Offs Are Real | Daily Essay full 1a618959-6950-4ec4-9e0a-5d1735684b29 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3bd7bc52 I cut from two operations days a week to one and watched email slow down while support got faster. That gap exposed a trade-off that was never real, and a way through it.

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]]> I cut from two operations days a week to one and watched email slow down while support got faster. That gap exposed a trade-off that was never real, and a way through it.

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]]> Wed, 03 Jun 2026 19:34:14 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 93 I cut from two operations days a week to one and watched email slow down while support got faster. That gap exposed a trade-off that was never real, and a way through it. I cut from two operations days a week to one and watched email slow down while support got faster. That gap exposed a trade-off that was never real, and a way through it. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Smart People Stay Broke | Daily Essay Why Smart People Stay Broke | Daily Essay full ce97dc07-1cea-4bf5-b351-da86af4d85b0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a5ef5846 There are two ways to be careful with money. One group tracks what they pay. The other tracks what they get back. Only one builds wealth.

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]]> There are two ways to be careful with money. One group tracks what they pay. The other tracks what they get back. Only one builds wealth.

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]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:56:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 58 There are two ways to be careful with money. One group tracks what they pay. The other tracks what they get back. Only one builds wealth. There are two ways to be careful with money. One group tracks what they pay. The other tracks what they get back. Only one builds wealth. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Your Morning Habits Work. The Order Doesn't. | Daily Essay Your Morning Habits Work. The Order Doesn't. | Daily Essay full dfdec9d6-0d49-462e-b670-b508717420d6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5cb71fd3 I drank tea before I meditated and the day went sideways. The habits were identical. Only the order changed.

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]]> I drank tea before I meditated and the day went sideways. The habits were identical. Only the order changed.

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]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:28:31 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 36 I drank tea before I meditated and the day went sideways. The habits were identical. Only the order changed. I drank tea before I meditated and the day went sideways. The habits were identical. Only the order changed. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Niche | Daily Essay Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Niche | Daily Essay full b207bf82-acbc-4b04-abc9-bfa52fe3de5e https://share.transistor.fm/s/91eeab31 The anger you aim at a public figure is aimed at the wrong target. The role was open and the pay was good, so someone was going to take it. The person is replaceable. The game stays.

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]]> The anger you aim at a public figure is aimed at the wrong target. The role was open and the pay was good, so someone was going to take it. The person is replaceable. The game stays.

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 15:50:35 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 29 The anger you aim at a public figure is aimed at the wrong target. The role was open and the pay was good, so someone was going to take it. The person is replaceable. The game stays. The anger you aim at a public figure is aimed at the wrong target. The role was open and the pay was good, so someone was going to take it. The person is replaceable. The game stays. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Get Good Ideas | Daily Essay How to Get Good Ideas | Daily Essay full 12163fbc-5ae7-4f13-a8be-5d798ae88bcc https://share.transistor.fm/s/3058eabb A single curious question became Multi and the biggest payoff of my year. You can't tell how much an experiment will pay off before you run it, so run more of them.

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]]> A single curious question became Multi and the biggest payoff of my year. You can't tell how much an experiment will pay off before you run it, so run more of them.

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 15:06:55 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 60 A single curious question became Multi and the biggest payoff of my year. You can't tell how much an experiment will pay off before you run it, so run more of them. A single curious question became Multi and the biggest payoff of my year. You can't tell how much an experiment will pay off before you run it, so run more of them. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Good Habits Get Boring | Daily Essay Why Good Habits Get Boring | Daily Essay full 964b8ff8-eb8a-4eb8-bd31-1a2471b61e8d https://share.transistor.fm/s/92d79091 Day one of a habit is an inertia problem. Day 89 is a boredom problem. The challenge changes as a habit ages, and naming the level you're on tells you which fight you're actually in.

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]]> Day one of a habit is an inertia problem. Day 89 is a boredom problem. The challenge changes as a habit ages, and naming the level you're on tells you which fight you're actually in.

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 16:43:20 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 60 Day one of a habit is an inertia problem. Day 89 is a boredom problem. The challenge changes as a habit ages, and naming the level you're on tells you which fight you're actually in. Day one of a habit is an inertia problem. Day 89 is a boredom problem. The challenge changes as a habit ages, and naming the level you're on tells you which fight you're actually in. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The One Minute Rule for Habits That Stick | Daily Essay The One Minute Rule for Habits That Stick | Daily Essay full 067f0f76-aec1-4bea-ae78-009641b3f187 https://share.transistor.fm/s/d3408365 Three weeks of planning a habit I never started. The first step felt too steep. I set a timer for one minute, worked on the launch, and did it again the next day.

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]]> Three weeks of planning a habit I never started. The first step felt too steep. I set a timer for one minute, worked on the launch, and did it again the next day.

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]]> Thu, 28 May 2026 17:20:02 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 53 Three weeks of planning a habit I never started. The first step felt too steep. I set a timer for one minute, worked on the launch, and did it again the next day. Three weeks of planning a habit I never started. The first step felt too steep. I set a timer for one minute, worked on the launch, and did it again the next day. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Warren Buffett's Ovarian Lottery: Are You Born Lucky? | Daily Essay Warren Buffett's Ovarian Lottery: Are You Born Lucky? | Daily Essay full 1882065b-7ca7-4a58-8729-ae280b352248 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2e8827dc John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where.

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]]> John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where.

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]]> Wed, 27 May 2026 12:06:19 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 43 John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where. John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Consistent But No Progress? It's the Hurdle Rate | Daily Essay Consistent But No Progress? It's the Hurdle Rate | Daily Essay full d876b19f-c11e-49ff-8da9-03f2bd5809e5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2a31e0f8 You can be consistent and still be dying. Every habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input it needs to clear the entropy working against it. Show up below the rate and you lose ground daily, even while the streak holds.

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]]> You can be consistent and still be dying. Every habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input it needs to clear the entropy working against it. Show up below the rate and you lose ground daily, even while the streak holds.

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]]> Tue, 26 May 2026 13:23:26 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 72 You can be consistent and still be dying. Every habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input it needs to clear the entropy working against it. Show up below the rate and you lose ground daily, even while the streak holds. You can be consistent and still be dying. Every habit has a hurdle rate: the minimum input it needs to clear the entropy working against it. Show up below the rate and you lose ground daily, even while the streak holds. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Make Habits Stick When Life Pushes Back | Daily Essay How to Make Habits Stick When Life Pushes Back | Daily Essay full d567dc0d-0777-4bf3-b504-7e353dabbefe https://share.transistor.fm/s/166a8720 I ran for half an hour and ten minutes became my new normal. Most habits break because the daily target has no room above it. Put the habit on a range with a floor and a ceiling, and the ceiling buys the buffer that keeps the habit alive on bad days.

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]]> I ran for half an hour and ten minutes became my new normal. Most habits break because the daily target has no room above it. Put the habit on a range with a floor and a ceiling, and the ceiling buys the buffer that keeps the habit alive on bad days.

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]]> Mon, 25 May 2026 12:23:13 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 51 I ran for half an hour and ten minutes became my new normal. Most habits break because the daily target has no room above it. Put the habit on a range with a floor and a ceiling, and the ceiling buys the buffer that keeps the habit alive on bad days. I ran for half an hour and ten minutes became my new normal. Most habits break because the daily target has no room above it. Put the habit on a range with a floor and a ceiling, and the ceiling buys the buffer that keeps the habit alive on bad days. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Substitute, Don't Subtract: How to Break a Habit | Daily Essay Substitute, Don't Subtract: How to Break a Habit | Daily Essay full 0c11a945-8942-4798-8d6c-dfedb4eb346f https://share.transistor.fm/s/2381e9bb Every rule I set to stop scrolling at night broke until I added jazz. Imperfect substitution beats failed abstinence because it leaves you with progress while pure willpower leaves you with nothing.

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]]> Every rule I set to stop scrolling at night broke until I added jazz. Imperfect substitution beats failed abstinence because it leaves you with progress while pure willpower leaves you with nothing.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 14:33:30 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 79 Every rule I set to stop scrolling at night broke until I added jazz. Imperfect substitution beats failed abstinence because it leaves you with progress while pure willpower leaves you with nothing. Every rule I set to stop scrolling at night broke until I added jazz. Imperfect substitution beats failed abstinence because it leaves you with progress while pure willpower leaves you with nothing. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Engineered Addiction: Why I Deleted the App | Daily Essay Engineered Addiction: Why I Deleted the App | Daily Essay full f2bcbdac-cf75-413f-bb1e-d4d16fce497b https://share.transistor.fm/s/9b83416f I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later, I deleted the app.

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]]> I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later, I deleted the app.

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 14:44:45 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 119 I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later, I deleted the app. I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later, I deleted the app. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Habits of Great Writers, Founders and Investors | Daily Essay Habits of Great Writers, Founders and Investors | Daily Essay full f7b75082-cb6e-4c27-a513-7f437a73cb33 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3463f92f Great operators run two stacks every day: the work stack and the distribution stack. This episode maps how writers, founders and investors build both, and why one stack alone leaves great work unseen.

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]]> Great operators run two stacks every day: the work stack and the distribution stack. This episode maps how writers, founders and investors build both, and why one stack alone leaves great work unseen.

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 13:36:29 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 388 Great operators run two stacks every day: the work stack and the distribution stack. This episode maps how writers, founders and investors build both, and why one stack alone leaves great work unseen. Great operators run two stacks every day: the work stack and the distribution stack. This episode maps how writers, founders and investors build both, and why one stack alone leaves great work unseen. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No What a Mastermind Group Actually Does | Daily Essay What a Mastermind Group Actually Does | Daily Essay full a4e05c2a-9dd4-48d6-b492-24d0392e9366 https://share.transistor.fm/s/501435fd Three years of zero income ended in two hours because someone in a room saw what I couldn't. The five things a mastermind does that solo work can't replicate.

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]]> Three years of zero income ended in two hours because someone in a room saw what I couldn't. The five things a mastermind does that solo work can't replicate.

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]]> Thu, 21 May 2026 15:09:58 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 101 Three years of zero income ended in two hours because someone in a room saw what I couldn't. The five things a mastermind does that solo work can't replicate. Three years of zero income ended in two hours because someone in a room saw what I couldn't. The five things a mastermind does that solo work can't replicate. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Charlie Munger's Learning Machine (In Plain English) | Daily Essay Charlie Munger's Learning Machine (In Plain English) | Daily Essay full 4edea631-ce1a-4bc2-8e2b-0dd29108bdc8 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b16a7b9c Charlie Munger said this when asked how to live a good life. Your learning rate is your investment rate.

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]]> Charlie Munger said this when asked how to live a good life. Your learning rate is your investment rate.

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]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 16:08:55 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 67 Charlie Munger said this when asked how to live a good life. Your learning rate is your investment rate. Charlie Munger said this when asked how to live a good life. Your learning rate is your investment rate. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Don't Believe Everything You Think. Test It. | Daily Essay Don't Believe Everything You Think. Test It. | Daily Essay full 5c938384-0128-46ee-971c-7ecede0363c4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/765fa9f6 For 15 years I believed meditation had to be the first thing after waking. One experiment with sun exposure dissolved that 15-year belief in 48 hours. The more experiments you run, the more fit you become to your environment, and the more accurate your model of the world.

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]]> For 15 years I believed meditation had to be the first thing after waking. One experiment with sun exposure dissolved that 15-year belief in 48 hours. The more experiments you run, the more fit you become to your environment, and the more accurate your model of the world.

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 16:28:18 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 65 For 15 years I believed meditation had to be the first thing after waking. One experiment with sun exposure dissolved that 15-year belief in 48 hours. The more experiments you run, the more fit you become to your environment, and the more accurate your model of the world. For 15 years I believed meditation had to be the first thing after waking. One experiment with sun exposure dissolved that 15-year belief in 48 hours. The more experiments you run, the more fit you become to your environment, and the more accurate your mo entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No 5 Things Chess Teaches Us About Life | Daily Essay 5 Things Chess Teaches Us About Life | Daily Essay full f930f031-c6ac-493f-b411-9db39956b3c8 https://share.transistor.fm/s/165d5462 I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later the day was gone. Five lessons from the board that run my work and my life.

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]]> I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later the day was gone. Five lessons from the board that run my work and my life.

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]]> Mon, 18 May 2026 19:23:32 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 157 I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later the day was gone. Five lessons from the board that run my work and my life. I sat down to play one game of chess. Twelve hours later the day was gone. Five lessons from the board that run my work and my life. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Build Systems So Your Work Runs on Easy Mode | Daily Essay Build Systems So Your Work Runs on Easy Mode | Daily Essay full c3ee9b65-da42-45d4-b9f1-fea6f463874b https://share.transistor.fm/s/33fe52b9 I draft most posts on walks now. One experiment, voice-to-text, changed how much leverage every post gets.

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]]> I draft most posts on walks now. One experiment, voice-to-text, changed how much leverage every post gets.

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 16:15:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 45 I draft most posts on walks now. One experiment, voice-to-text, changed how much leverage every post gets. I draft most posts on walks now. One experiment, voice-to-text, changed how much leverage every post gets. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No We Are All Investors | Daily Essay We Are All Investors | Daily Essay full c48c04b4-1b1c-46cd-8a91-43e98db0b001 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5cfdfd0d Say the word investor and most people picture money. Money is one resource among several you trade every day to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

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]]> Say the word investor and most people picture money. Money is one resource among several you trade every day to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

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]]> Sat, 16 May 2026 18:24:28 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 67 Say the word investor and most people picture money. Money is one resource among several you trade every day to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Say the word investor and most people picture money. Money is one resource among several you trade every day to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Optimization Trap That Broke My Meditation Habit | Daily Essay The Optimization Trap That Broke My Meditation Habit | Daily Essay full 4fb69c13-dd73-42be-8e2c-71f43b3b3cbb https://share.transistor.fm/s/1850f1c9 I broke my meditation practice many times over fifteen years. The pattern was always the same. A working practice, the impulse to make it more efficient, and a feedback loop too delayed to catch in time.

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]]> I broke my meditation practice many times over fifteen years. The pattern was always the same. A working practice, the impulse to make it more efficient, and a feedback loop too delayed to catch in time.

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]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 13:04:31 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 66 I broke my meditation practice many times over fifteen years. The pattern was always the same. A working practice, the impulse to make it more efficient, and a feedback loop too delayed to catch in time. I broke my meditation practice many times over fifteen years. The pattern was always the same. A working practice, the impulse to make it more efficient, and a feedback loop too delayed to catch in time. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, Faster | Daily Essay How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, Faster | Daily Essay full 0b089d9e-aac5-4918-a8f7-e11ef0aec571 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5292fe1d Three types of experiments — mental, physical, social — cost different amounts of energy. The type you avoid most is usually the one to lean into next.

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]]> Three types of experiments — mental, physical, social — cost different amounts of energy. The type you avoid most is usually the one to lean into next.

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]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 15:54:38 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 109 Three types of experiments — mental, physical, social — cost different amounts of energy. The type you avoid most is usually the one to lean into next. Three types of experiments — mental, physical, social — cost different amounts of energy. The type you avoid most is usually the one to lean into next. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Lee Kuan Yew: Engineered Sovereignty | Biography Lee Kuan Yew: Engineered Sovereignty | Biography full 075a6d06-9185-4930-9cf2-d65bad1ea851 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0a13f57a Lee Kuan Yew built one of the most efficient states in modern history and engineered the legal toolkit that kept his party in office for fifty-six years.

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]]> Lee Kuan Yew built one of the most efficient states in modern history and engineered the legal toolkit that kept his party in office for fifty-six years.

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]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 13:52:49 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 717 Lee Kuan Yew built one of the most efficient states in modern history and engineered the legal toolkit that kept his party in office for fifty-six years. Lee Kuan Yew built one of the most efficient states in modern history and engineered the legal toolkit that kept his party in office for fifty-six years. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why I Rewrite My Principles by Hand | Daily Essay Why I Rewrite My Principles by Hand | Daily Essay full e925335c-91ff-413b-866c-3e18e058546e https://share.transistor.fm/s/010b9615 Each day I'd open my notebook and copy yesterday's principles to a new page by hand. Some lines I wrote without thinking. Others slowed me down.

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]]> Each day I'd open my notebook and copy yesterday's principles to a new page by hand. Some lines I wrote without thinking. Others slowed me down.

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]]> Wed, 13 May 2026 13:41:21 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 50 Each day I'd open my notebook and copy yesterday's principles to a new page by hand. Some lines I wrote without thinking. Others slowed me down. Each day I'd open my notebook and copy yesterday's principles to a new page by hand. Some lines I wrote without thinking. Others slowed me down. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Minimalist Philosophy of a Jellyfish | Daily Essay The Minimalist Philosophy of a Jellyfish | Daily Essay full f9b40b7c-546a-48f8-8102-422a59faaaaf https://share.transistor.fm/s/c1d4f5fc Each day I remove three things. A physical item, an app off my phone, a subscription on autopay. A jellyfish has no brain and has lasted 500 million years.

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]]> Each day I remove three things. A physical item, an app off my phone, a subscription on autopay. A jellyfish has no brain and has lasted 500 million years.

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]]> Tue, 12 May 2026 10:59:47 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 98 Each day I remove three things. A physical item, an app off my phone, a subscription on autopay. A jellyfish has no brain and has lasted 500 million years. Each day I remove three things. A physical item, an app off my phone, a subscription on autopay. A jellyfish has no brain and has lasted 500 million years. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Some Habits Stick: 12 Tardigrade Traits | Daily Essay Why Some Habits Stick: 12 Tardigrade Traits | Daily Essay full 3143c472-9d30-4bd9-9400-8b95f62b336d https://share.transistor.fm/s/7a990ed6 I came up with a term to describe something I value. If tardigradity is the probability a thing keeps going, it has to come from somewhere.

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]]> I came up with a term to describe something I value. If tardigradity is the probability a thing keeps going, it has to come from somewhere.

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]]> Mon, 11 May 2026 14:30:14 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 206 I came up with a term to describe something I value. If tardigradity is the probability a thing keeps going, it has to come from somewhere. I came up with a term to describe something I value. If tardigradity is the probability a thing keeps going, it has to come from somewhere. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Buy the Red Ocean | Daily Essay Buy the Red Ocean | Daily Essay full 8ecd6f81-f969-4053-ab30-9430d92b47e4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5423c6ed Most founders see 15 competitors and feel deflated. They should feel relieved. The buyer's move in a red ocean is to switch seats and let the market do the work.

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]]> Most founders see 15 competitors and feel deflated. They should feel relieved. The buyer's move in a red ocean is to switch seats and let the market do the work.

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]]> Sun, 10 May 2026 08:53:24 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 106 Most founders see 15 competitors and feel deflated. They should feel relieved. The buyer's move in a red ocean is to switch seats and let the market do the work. Most founders see 15 competitors and feel deflated. They should feel relieved. The buyer's move in a red ocean is to switch seats and let the market do the work. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No When to Give Up on a Business: Force or Flow? | Daily Essay When to Give Up on a Business: Force or Flow? | Daily Essay full a25e2d49-68cf-4ecc-94ac-acb7527aef27 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1b6df02f What's forced falls apart. The line between effort and force is flow, and the test is whether the market is returning what you put in.

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]]> What's forced falls apart. The line between effort and force is flow, and the test is whether the market is returning what you put in.

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]]> Sat, 09 May 2026 11:24:04 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 104 What's forced falls apart. The line between effort and force is flow, and the test is whether the market is returning what you put in. What's forced falls apart. The line between effort and force is flow, and the test is whether the market is returning what you put in. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Ray Dalio's 42-Year Daily Habit | Daily Essay Ray Dalio's 42-Year Daily Habit | Daily Essay full 41fa0dfa-888c-4aa2-a02b-bb8658774ab4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/89f31074 Most people treat their morning routine like a battery that runs all day. It doesn't. Meetings, decisions and small frictions bleed it dry by noon. Reading through biographies of Dalio, Dorsey and Harari, I kept hitting the same detail: all of them meditate twice a day. So I added a midday session to test what a second reset actually does.

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]]> Most people treat their morning routine like a battery that runs all day. It doesn't. Meetings, decisions and small frictions bleed it dry by noon. Reading through biographies of Dalio, Dorsey and Harari, I kept hitting the same detail: all of them meditate twice a day. So I added a midday session to test what a second reset actually does.

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]]> Fri, 08 May 2026 14:59:17 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 66 Most people treat their morning routine like a battery that runs all day. It doesn't. Meetings, decisions and small frictions bleed it dry by noon. Reading through biographies of Dalio, Dorsey and Harari, I kept hitting the same detail: all of them meditate twice a day. So I added a midday session to test what a second reset actually does. Most people treat their morning routine like a battery that runs all day. It doesn't. Meetings, decisions and small frictions bleed it dry by noon. Reading through biographies of Dalio, Dorsey and Harari, I kept hitting the same detail: all of them medita meditation,ray dalio,mindfulness,daily habit,productivity No How Meditation Eats Stress | Daily Essay How Meditation Eats Stress | Daily Essay full 1e2d3c7f-8179-482b-9965-55a6954ed0d2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/00ec319e Stress is raw material. Meditation metabolizes it. Life supplies the stressors whether you want them or not, and the practice has two modes: clearing the table or going deeper.

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]]> Stress is raw material. Meditation metabolizes it. Life supplies the stressors whether you want them or not, and the practice has two modes: clearing the table or going deeper.

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]]> Thu, 07 May 2026 09:19:59 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 28 Stress is raw material. Meditation metabolizes it. Life supplies the stressors whether you want them or not, and the practice has two modes: clearing the table or going deeper. Stress is raw material. Meditation metabolizes it. Life supplies the stressors whether you want them or not, and the practice has two modes: clearing the table or going deeper. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Satoshi Nakamoto: Absent Authority | Biography Satoshi Nakamoto: Absent Authority | Biography full 06bc059d-9541-4bc6-bd15-4da45e1958c6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2f4887d2 Satoshi Nakamoto built money that could run without personal trust, then protected it by becoming impossible to find. This biography traces the technical record, the political timing and the deliberate disappearance of the most consequential anonymous person in financial history.

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]]> Satoshi Nakamoto built money that could run without personal trust, then protected it by becoming impossible to find. This biography traces the technical record, the political timing and the deliberate disappearance of the most consequential anonymous person in financial history.

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]]> Thu, 07 May 2026 08:00:25 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 1242 Satoshi Nakamoto built money that could run without personal trust, then protected it by becoming impossible to find. This biography traces the technical record, the political timing and the deliberate disappearance of the most consequential anonymous person in financial history. Satoshi Nakamoto built money that could run without personal trust, then protected it by becoming impossible to find. This biography traces the technical record, the political timing and the deliberate disappearance of the most consequential anonymous per entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Mental Toughness via Meditation Mental Toughness via Meditation full 397c8d04-3303-41f5-b96c-6495884e6865 https://share.transistor.fm/s/724e00bf I sit still for two and a half hours each day. Meditation trains a specific muscle: each minute is a rep against the urge to stop or check the time, and that muscle transfers to hard runs, heavy lifts, tense negotiations and cold showers.

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]]> I sit still for two and a half hours each day. Meditation trains a specific muscle: each minute is a rep against the urge to stop or check the time, and that muscle transfers to hard runs, heavy lifts, tense negotiations and cold showers.

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]]> Wed, 06 May 2026 10:42:44 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 107 I sit still for two and a half hours each day. Meditation trains a specific muscle: each minute is a rep against the urge to stop or check the time, and that muscle transfers to hard runs, heavy lifts, tense negotiations and cold showers. I sit still for two and a half hours each day. Meditation trains a specific muscle: each minute is a rep against the urge to stop or check the time, and that muscle transfers to hard runs, heavy lifts, tense negotiations and cold showers. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No From Self Taught Programmer to Senior in Under 2 Years From Self Taught Programmer to Senior in Under 2 Years full f7f5900e-e7a5-4479-b5fb-2bb30450d7a6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3b8752f I learned to code alone in Vim, with no one to unblock me. A single bug could cost a month. The high-friction years built the foundation that made everything after compound fast.

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]]> I learned to code alone in Vim, with no one to unblock me. A single bug could cost a month. The high-friction years built the foundation that made everything after compound fast.

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]]> Tue, 05 May 2026 16:40:32 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 122 I learned to code alone in Vim, with no one to unblock me. A single bug could cost a month. The high-friction years built the foundation that made everything after compound fast. I learned to code alone in Vim, with no one to unblock me. A single bug could cost a month. The high-friction years built the foundation that made everything after compound fast. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Willpower Is Finite (How to Do Hard Things Anyway) Willpower Is Finite (How to Do Hard Things Anyway) full 34d65c00-3d04-49f3-af98-81c4a82d76f4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2dd4789e Stanford says believe hard enough and your willpower becomes unlimited. Henry Ford said the same thing a century earlier. Turns out the battery drains whether you believe it or not.

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]]> Stanford says believe hard enough and your willpower becomes unlimited. Henry Ford said the same thing a century earlier. Turns out the battery drains whether you believe it or not.

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]]> Mon, 04 May 2026 15:42:53 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 57 Stanford says believe hard enough and your willpower becomes unlimited. Henry Ford said the same thing a century earlier. Turns out the battery drains whether you believe it or not. Stanford says believe hard enough and your willpower becomes unlimited. Henry Ford said the same thing a century earlier. Turns out the battery drains whether you believe it or not. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Morning Habits That Stick (Why Order Matters) The Morning Habits That Stick (Why Order Matters) full b4ba3f60-aaf8-4f3c-9ce6-d0fa4216d133 https://share.transistor.fm/s/333a3b8f I keep my habits in an app that tracks how often I do each one. The ones at the top of the list have longer streaks. Position is the lever. Willpower is exhaustible. Interruptions stack. The first slot has the most fuel and the least drag.

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]]> I keep my habits in an app that tracks how often I do each one. The ones at the top of the list have longer streaks. Position is the lever. Willpower is exhaustible. Interruptions stack. The first slot has the most fuel and the least drag.

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]]> Sun, 03 May 2026 12:14:28 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 56 I keep my habits in an app that tracks how often I do each one. The ones at the top of the list have longer streaks. Position is the lever. Willpower is exhaustible. Interruptions stack. The first slot has the most fuel and the least drag. I keep my habits in an app that tracks how often I do each one. The ones at the top of the list have longer streaks. Position is the lever. Willpower is exhaustible. Interruptions stack. The first slot has the most fuel and the least drag. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Eat Your Own Cooking Eat Your Own Cooking full 73170149-c2fc-451d-8356-f36243247f1b https://share.transistor.fm/s/dccb9de1 Most bug reports travel through three people before anyone fixes them. By then the pain is a paragraph in a ticket and the person who felt it has moved on. There's a shorter path.

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]]> Most bug reports travel through three people before anyone fixes them. By then the pain is a paragraph in a ticket and the person who felt it has moved on. There's a shorter path.

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]]> Sat, 02 May 2026 14:26:14 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 92 Most bug reports travel through three people before anyone fixes them. By then the pain is a paragraph in a ticket and the person who felt it has moved on. There's a shorter path. Most bug reports travel through three people before anyone fixes them. By then the pain is a paragraph in a ticket and the person who felt it has moved on. There's a shorter path. indie hackers,saas,dogfooding,founder,build in public No Flywheel Explained: One Action, Many Wins Flywheel Explained: One Action, Many Wins full 96949aae-aa07-40df-aa63-b6e4ac7800c1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/4c847e02 I write a post each morning. By lunch, that post is a video on YouTube. One action that touches more than one node in your system at once. I call this a tap.

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]]> I write a post each morning. By lunch, that post is a video on YouTube. One action that touches more than one node in your system at once. I call this a tap.

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]]> Fri, 01 May 2026 16:12:14 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 69 I write a post each morning. By lunch, that post is a video on YouTube. One action that touches more than one node in your system at once. I call this a tap. I write a post each morning. By lunch, that post is a video on YouTube. One action that touches more than one node in your system at once. I call this a tap. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Manifesting Is Learned Helplessness in Reverse Manifesting Is Learned Helplessness in Reverse full 2be669e1-cde5-486e-8753-61af0ae9e05c https://share.transistor.fm/s/a9d2ea17 One line from my prediction markets video kept looping in my head. The market price was supposed to reflect what the crowd believed. It was reflecting those beliefs. It was also changing them.

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]]> One line from my prediction markets video kept looping in my head. The market price was supposed to reflect what the crowd believed. It was reflecting those beliefs. It was also changing them.

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]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:41:18 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 87 One line from my prediction markets video kept looping in my head. The market price was supposed to reflect what the crowd believed. It was reflecting those beliefs. It was also changing them. One line from my prediction markets video kept looping in my head. The market price was supposed to reflect what the crowd believed. It was reflecting those beliefs. It was also changing them. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Launch First, Name Later Launch First, Name Later full bc4afd10-b6f6-438f-bcf2-c1fdcb7240aa https://share.transistor.fm/s/bfb274a3 I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. Then I stopped, deployed on a subdomain and started shipping. The name came later.

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]]> I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. Then I stopped, deployed on a subdomain and started shipping. The name came later.

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]]> Wed, 29 Apr 2026 08:59:27 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 76 I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. Then I stopped, deployed on a subdomain and started shipping. The name came later. I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. Then I stopped, deployed on a subdomain and started shipping. The name came later. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Deleted Social Media. Here's What I Kept. I Deleted Social Media. Here's What I Kept. full 633b9336-c849-45e5-a89b-0fa018fa4cd9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a7ab70d4 You already know the cost before you open the app. You open it anyway. The algorithm that taught you a skill in a month is the same one eating your evenings.

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]]> You already know the cost before you open the app. You open it anyway. The algorithm that taught you a skill in a month is the same one eating your evenings.

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]]> Tue, 28 Apr 2026 08:28:05 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 81 You already know the cost before you open the app. You open it anyway. The algorithm that taught you a skill in a month is the same one eating your evenings. You already know the cost before you open the app. You open it anyway. The algorithm that taught you a skill in a month is the same one eating your evenings. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Do Less, Get More: The F1 Math Do Less, Get More: The F1 Math full b16052dd-89b9-40a5-9683-222f482ecef2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a9009eae Most people behind on their work add more. F1 engineers know better. The math says removing weight wins.

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]]> Most people behind on their work add more. F1 engineers know better. The math says removing weight wins.

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]]> Mon, 27 Apr 2026 06:14:18 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 91 Most people behind on their work add more. F1 engineers know better. The math says removing weight wins. Most people behind on their work add more. F1 engineers know better. The math says removing weight wins. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Warren Buffett vs Y Combinator: Two Strategies, One Rule Warren Buffett vs Y Combinator: Two Strategies, One Rule full 77019986-05ea-4cee-b8c5-5ffe6fab7ae9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f973362f Most investors argue about concentration versus diversification. The best ones think evolutionarily. Strategy follows the environment, not preference.

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]]> Most investors argue about concentration versus diversification. The best ones think evolutionarily. Strategy follows the environment, not preference.

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]]> Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:39:44 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 146 Most investors argue about concentration versus diversification. The best ones think evolutionarily. Strategy follows the environment, not preference. Most investors argue about concentration versus diversification. The best ones think evolutionarily. Strategy follows the environment, not preference. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Tardigrade Test: How to Build Habits That Last The Tardigrade Test: How to Build Habits That Last full 2a91549c-3812-4c7b-89f3-7ed346bfe4de https://share.transistor.fm/s/e35eaf61 Most habits die during your worst weeks. The ones that survive share a single trait that has nothing to do with discipline. This episode introduces tardigradity. It's the probability that a practice keeps going.

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]]> Most habits die during your worst weeks. The ones that survive share a single trait that has nothing to do with discipline. This episode introduces tardigradity. It's the probability that a practice keeps going.

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]]> Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:52:07 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 109 Most habits die during your worst weeks. The ones that survive share a single trait that has nothing to do with discipline. This episode introduces tardigradity. It's the probability that a practice keeps going. Most habits die during your worst weeks. The ones that survive share a single trait that has nothing to do with discipline. This episode introduces tardigradity. It's the probability that a practice keeps going. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How I Get Business Ideas How I Get Business Ideas full 96f6bc31-19a5-4acc-810f-9dc734e6def0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e39c10f3 I have a backlog of 200+ rough blog post ideas. When I sit down to write today's post, the idea is already there. The same habit works for business ideas.

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]]> I have a backlog of 200+ rough blog post ideas. When I sit down to write today's post, the idea is already there. The same habit works for business ideas.

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:12:43 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 46 I have a backlog of 200+ rough blog post ideas. When I sit down to write today's post, the idea is already there. The same habit works for business ideas. I have a backlog of 200+ rough blog post ideas. When I sit down to write today's post, the idea is already there. The same habit works for business ideas. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Simulation Thinking: How to Make Hard Decisions Simulation Thinking: How to Make Hard Decisions full 0fdf202e-425b-4974-b078-39c2b9e88a20 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e1d247ee I built five books in one day to pick which one to ship. Why simulation thinking beats picking between descriptions, and why AI makes it runnable on any decision that matters.

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]]> I built five books in one day to pick which one to ship. Why simulation thinking beats picking between descriptions, and why AI makes it runnable on any decision that matters.

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:41:07 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 120 I built five books in one day to pick which one to ship. Why simulation thinking beats picking between descriptions, and why AI makes it runnable on any decision that matters. I built five books in one day to pick which one to ship. Why simulation thinking beats picking between descriptions, and why AI makes it runnable on any decision that matters. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Hidden Cost of Moving: Decision Fatigue The Hidden Cost of Moving: Decision Fatigue full 4bb67eef-c1c9-4bba-a83a-fed0f280005d https://share.transistor.fm/s/40f6788a Five years of moving to a new city every few months felt like freedom. The real cost was thousands of invisible daily decisions a settled person never faces. Why environment design is really decision reduction.

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]]> Five years of moving to a new city every few months felt like freedom. The real cost was thousands of invisible daily decisions a settled person never faces. Why environment design is really decision reduction.

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]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:42:17 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 152 Five years of moving to a new city every few months felt like freedom. The real cost was thousands of invisible daily decisions a settled person never faces. Why environment design is really decision reduction. Five years of moving to a new city every few months felt like freedom. The real cost was thousands of invisible daily decisions a settled person never faces. Why environment design is really decision reduction. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Time Is Not Your Most Valuable Asset Time Is Not Your Most Valuable Asset full 1f730e56-1c3d-485c-aa02-2083d7a2b152 https://share.transistor.fm/s/6321ff82 Time goes one way. Money goes both ways. You can earn back a dollar. You can never earn back an hour. Treating the two as the same is a category error. This episode breaks down a seven-layer hierarchy of resources, from money at the bottom to awareness at the top.

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]]> Time goes one way. Money goes both ways. You can earn back a dollar. You can never earn back an hour. Treating the two as the same is a category error. This episode breaks down a seven-layer hierarchy of resources, from money at the bottom to awareness at the top.

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]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:45:32 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 111 Time goes one way. Money goes both ways. You can earn back a dollar. You can never earn back an hour. Treating the two as the same is a category error. This episode breaks down a seven-layer hierarchy of resources, from money at the bottom to awareness at the top. Time goes one way. Money goes both ways. You can earn back a dollar. You can never earn back an hour. Treating the two as the same is a category error. This episode breaks down a seven-layer hierarchy of resources, from money at the bottom to awareness at entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Prioritize When You Have Too Many Ideas How to Prioritize When You Have Too Many Ideas full 3a378a32-d22b-4e6d-a94b-5f5878c8a486 https://share.transistor.fm/s/431f3c1d Each day I run experiments. Most days there are more experiments in my queue than I can run. Two filters decide what gets picked first: does this remove something from the system, or does this build something future experiments depend on?

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]]> Each day I run experiments. Most days there are more experiments in my queue than I can run. Two filters decide what gets picked first: does this remove something from the system, or does this build something future experiments depend on?

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]]> Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:37:22 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 99 Each day I run experiments. Most days there are more experiments in my queue than I can run. Two filters decide what gets picked first: does this remove something from the system, or does this build something future experiments depend on? Each day I run experiments. Most days there are more experiments in my queue than I can run. Two filters decide what gets picked first: does this remove something from the system, or does this build something future experiments depend on? entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Had Too Many Habits. Here's What Saved Me. I Had Too Many Habits. Here's What Saved Me. full cc7a7438-2bb2-4388-8ff8-2a203235ecdb https://share.transistor.fm/s/5efcf674 Habits pile like grains of sand. Add enough and the whole stack collapses under its own weight. Here's the cap I set to stop the collapses, and the split I had to make when that cap started blocking habits I wanted to add.

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]]> Habits pile like grains of sand. Add enough and the whole stack collapses under its own weight. Here's the cap I set to stop the collapses, and the split I had to make when that cap started blocking habits I wanted to add.

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]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:29:47 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 127 Habits pile like grains of sand. Add enough and the whole stack collapses under its own weight. Here's the cap I set to stop the collapses, and the split I had to make when that cap started blocking habits I wanted to add. Habits pile like grains of sand. Add enough and the whole stack collapses under its own weight. Here's the cap I set to stop the collapses, and the split I had to make when that cap started blocking habits I wanted to add. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Most Habit Trackers Miss the Point Most Habit Trackers Miss the Point full f515c643-c5e9-4313-905d-dae578addd18 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a6cb6863 You can't trust your memory to measure change. I add and remove habits regularly. Three weeks later I can't remember how I felt before the change. The water temperature adjusted and I adjusted with it. My solution: forced review checkpoints.

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]]> You can't trust your memory to measure change. I add and remove habits regularly. Three weeks later I can't remember how I felt before the change. The water temperature adjusted and I adjusted with it. My solution: forced review checkpoints.

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]]> Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:56:58 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 95 You can't trust your memory to measure change. I add and remove habits regularly. Three weeks later I can't remember how I felt before the change. The water temperature adjusted and I adjusted with it. My solution: forced review checkpoints. You can't trust your memory to measure change. I add and remove habits regularly. Three weeks later I can't remember how I felt before the change. The water temperature adjusted and I adjusted with it. My solution: forced review checkpoints. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How I Build Habits That Don't Break How I Build Habits That Don't Break full d1e366f4-29f7-4646-9e82-e2b2a56745c1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3fe24ef4 For years my habits lived in boom and bust cycles. Then I replaced banking with ranges: a floor, a target, a ceiling.

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]]> For years my habits lived in boom and bust cycles. Then I replaced banking with ranges: a floor, a target, a ceiling.

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]]> Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:19:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 78 For years my habits lived in boom and bust cycles. Then I replaced banking with ranges: a floor, a target, a ceiling. For years my habits lived in boom and bust cycles. Then I replaced banking with ranges: a floor, a target, a ceiling. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How to Close a Chapter Without Regret How to Close a Chapter Without Regret full 291791bc-d352-482f-a760-9c031111eccb https://share.transistor.fm/s/6a5fe781 I ran a daily standup for six years. 2,000 days. 44,110 standups logged. Here's how I closed the chapter with a book instead of silence.

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]]> I ran a daily standup for six years. 2,000 days. 44,110 standups logged. Here's how I closed the chapter with a book instead of silence.

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:12:33 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 114 I ran a daily standup for six years. 2,000 days. 44,110 standups logged. Here's how I closed the chapter with a book instead of silence. I ran a daily standup for six years. 2,000 days. 44,110 standups logged. Here's how I closed the chapter with a book instead of silence. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No What an AI Playing Breakout Taught Me About Reality What an AI Playing Breakout Taught Me About Reality full f9a9a6d3-a616-43f3-8fd8-7fd87a7dc1e1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a28389c8 One scene from The Thinking Game documentary stopped me. A DeepMind AI found a move no human player would try. I named it tunneling, then found nature doing the same thing for billions of years.

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]]> One scene from The Thinking Game documentary stopped me. A DeepMind AI found a move no human player would try. I named it tunneling, then found nature doing the same thing for billions of years.

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]]> Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:32:25 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 273 One scene from The Thinking Game documentary stopped me. A DeepMind AI found a move no human player would try. I named it tunneling, then found nature doing the same thing for billions of years. One scene from The Thinking Game documentary stopped me. A DeepMind AI found a move no human player would try. I named it tunneling, then found nature doing the same thing for billions of years. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Smart People Underperform Why Smart People Underperform full c85a63d7-f5e5-4ee5-9292-de64a4e50b86 https://share.transistor.fm/s/cabe3277 The best AI coding model writes bad code inside Antigravity IDE. The same model in Cursor or Claude Code performs much better. The same law applies to people. Environment is the multiplier.

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]]> The best AI coding model writes bad code inside Antigravity IDE. The same model in Cursor or Claude Code performs much better. The same law applies to people. Environment is the multiplier.

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]]> Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:18:53 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 77 The best AI coding model writes bad code inside Antigravity IDE. The same model in Cursor or Claude Code performs much better. The same law applies to people. Environment is the multiplier. The best AI coding model writes bad code inside Antigravity IDE. The same model in Cursor or Claude Code performs much better. The same law applies to people. Environment is the multiplier. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Cure For Anxiety Is Doing More Of It The Cure For Anxiety Is Doing More Of It full c2c82196-ec86-476f-abb3-e992a5f45588 https://share.transistor.fm/s/347ad97f My first blog post took hours. Three months of daily posts later, I write, publish and move on. If you're anxious about something, the answer is usually more exposure.

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]]> My first blog post took hours. Three months of daily posts later, I write, publish and move on. If you're anxious about something, the answer is usually more exposure.

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]]> Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:03:35 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 28 My first blog post took hours. Three months of daily posts later, I write, publish and move on. If you're anxious about something, the answer is usually more exposure. My first blog post took hours. Three months of daily posts later, I write, publish and move on. If you're anxious about something, the answer is usually more exposure. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No We Live in the Wild. Not the Zoo. We Live in the Wild. Not the Zoo. full cdae0854-34e2-4d45-8d87-535857c9c314 https://share.transistor.fm/s/90b3dbe7 We live in the wild, not the zoo. The systems around us are built for what we buy, what we click and what can be mass produced. Our wellbeing is a side effect. Once we accept that no one is looking out for us, we start taking accountability for our own wellbeing and outcomes.

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]]> We live in the wild, not the zoo. The systems around us are built for what we buy, what we click and what can be mass produced. Our wellbeing is a side effect. Once we accept that no one is looking out for us, we start taking accountability for our own wellbeing and outcomes.

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]]> Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:49:45 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 110 We live in the wild, not the zoo. The systems around us are built for what we buy, what we click and what can be mass produced. Our wellbeing is a side effect. Once we accept that no one is looking out for us, we start taking accountability for our own wellbeing and outcomes. We live in the wild, not the zoo. The systems around us are built for what we buy, what we click and what can be mass produced. Our wellbeing is a side effect. Once we accept that no one is looking out for us, we start taking accountability for our own we entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No How I Use a Paper To-Do List to Finish What Actually Matters How I Use a Paper To-Do List to Finish What Actually Matters full f1bd1297-83cb-40cb-96ce-dd3efc6f136e https://share.transistor.fm/s/782d535e Each day I rewrite my to-do list on paper. The things I finished get crossed off. The unfinished things only get carried forward if they're worth rewriting. The longer an item survives that process, the louder the signal: this is the one to finish.

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]]> Each day I rewrite my to-do list on paper. The things I finished get crossed off. The unfinished things only get carried forward if they're worth rewriting. The longer an item survives that process, the louder the signal: this is the one to finish.

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]]> Sat, 11 Apr 2026 14:11:33 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 100 Each day I rewrite my to-do list on paper. The things I finished get crossed off. The unfinished things only get carried forward if they're worth rewriting. The longer an item survives that process, the louder the signal: this is the one to finish. Each day I rewrite my to-do list on paper. The things I finished get crossed off. The unfinished things only get carried forward if they're worth rewriting. The longer an item survives that process, the louder the signal: this is the one to finish. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Long-Haul Luxuries: Why I Only Buy Things Built To Last Long-Haul Luxuries: Why I Only Buy Things Built To Last full 102f5364-9d8f-469a-9d02-fd1d1d262640 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3ceb0226 I paid $150 for a chef's knife last week. A recent trip taught me what a good knife feels like.

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]]> I paid $150 for a chef's knife last week. A recent trip taught me what a good knife feels like.

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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:05:59 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 86 I paid $150 for a chef's knife last week. A recent trip taught me what a good knife feels like. I paid $150 for a chef's knife last week. A recent trip taught me what a good knife feels like. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why I Call Everything v0.1 Before I Launch Why I Call Everything v0.1 Before I Launch full d1993092-8808-4a2b-a1cc-3078e325940b https://share.transistor.fm/s/5e3496d5 One label manages expectations before users can form the wrong ones. It gives you permission to ship fast.

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]]> One label manages expectations before users can form the wrong ones. It gives you permission to ship fast.

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 08:41:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 53 One label manages expectations before users can form the wrong ones. It gives you permission to ship fast. One label manages expectations before users can form the wrong ones. It gives you permission to ship fast. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Second-Time Rule: Turn Fixes Into Systems The Second-Time Rule: Turn Fixes Into Systems full 2ba1466b-9e83-4132-bbdf-7177f8d30754 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e5c283d5 The second time you do something, turn it into a protocol. One-time work that pays off each time. A rule for turning fixes into lasting systems.

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]]> The second time you do something, turn it into a protocol. One-time work that pays off each time. A rule for turning fixes into lasting systems.

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]]> Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:03:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 80 The second time you do something, turn it into a protocol. One-time work that pays off each time. A rule for turning fixes into lasting systems. The second time you do something, turn it into a protocol. One-time work that pays off each time. A rule for turning fixes into lasting systems. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No What 2,000 Days of Building in Public Proved What 2,000 Days of Building in Public Proved full 7ebfcf55-b0ac-451a-9ddd-40ae06c20b4c https://share.transistor.fm/s/67846b7d 546 founders wrote daily standups for 2,000 days. The most committed founders wrote the most ordinary first entries.

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]]> 546 founders wrote daily standups for 2,000 days. The most committed founders wrote the most ordinary first entries.

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]]> Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:36:16 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 98 546 founders wrote daily standups for 2,000 days. The most committed founders wrote the most ordinary first entries. 546 founders wrote daily standups for 2,000 days. The most committed founders wrote the most ordinary first entries. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Do Less, Get Better: I Removed a Good Chapter Do Less, Get Better: I Removed a Good Chapter full 254020d7-f67e-40da-bf73-62bebd0d04a1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1afe3495 I cut a chapter from my habits book. The chapter was good. The book is better without it.

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]]> I cut a chapter from my habits book. The chapter was good. The book is better without it.

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]]> Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:47:27 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 47 I cut a chapter from my habits book. The chapter was good. The book is better without it. I cut a chapter from my habits book. The chapter was good. The book is better without it. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why the Simplest Version Takes the Most Work Why the Simplest Version Takes the Most Work full 33ee8685-e7ac-4418-a91e-479711ee212c https://share.transistor.fm/s/7a51b281 Simple code is easier to fix, easier to read, easier to maintain. Getting to simple is the hard part.

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]]> Simple code is easier to fix, easier to read, easier to maintain. Getting to simple is the hard part.

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]]> Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:53:11 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 54 Simple code is easier to fix, easier to read, easier to maintain. Getting to simple is the hard part. Simple code is easier to fix, easier to read, easier to maintain. Getting to simple is the hard part. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Ship Before It's Ready Ship Before It's Ready full 1548a870-fec3-4ae2-a5e5-2c6b5ead5145 https://share.transistor.fm/s/d4a60e9d I ran one command from my terminal and a post showed up on WordPress. It was rough. But it went through, end to end. Flawed but real.

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]]> I ran one command from my terminal and a post showed up on WordPress. It was rough. But it went through, end to end. Flawed but real.

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]]> Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:55 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 85 I ran one command from my terminal and a post showed up on WordPress. It was rough. But it went through, end to end. Flawed but real. I ran one command from my terminal and a post showed up on WordPress. It was rough. But it went through, end to end. Flawed but real. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Justified Complexity Justified Complexity full ab0a98e3-93e3-4e9b-8e15-75a28f9ad9a7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a1eb5526 I talk a lot about simplicity. This week I made my render pipeline 5x more complex. On purpose.

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]]> I talk a lot about simplicity. This week I made my render pipeline 5x more complex. On purpose.

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]]> Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:02:15 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 52 I talk a lot about simplicity. This week I made my render pipeline 5x more complex. On purpose. I talk a lot about simplicity. This week I made my render pipeline 5x more complex. On purpose. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Left My Job in 2017. Here's What 10 Years Proved. I Left My Job in 2017. Here's What 10 Years Proved. full 95da65c0-5488-4869-a04e-7a5788980d19 https://share.transistor.fm/s/989060c0 I left my job in 2017. People thought I was crazy. Almost 10 years later, the safe path turned out to be the dangerous one.

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]]> I left my job in 2017. People thought I was crazy. Almost 10 years later, the safe path turned out to be the dangerous one.

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:13:26 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 100 I left my job in 2017. People thought I was crazy. Almost 10 years later, the safe path turned out to be the dangerous one. I left my job in 2017. People thought I was crazy. Almost 10 years later, the safe path turned out to be the dangerous one. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Nobel Prize Got Loss Aversion Wrong The Nobel Prize Got Loss Aversion Wrong full 099a2cd8-437a-4dab-b95c-c1d80c4b11ae https://share.transistor.fm/s/f44a2f9c Loss aversion is called a cognitive bias. But the math says otherwise. A 50% loss requires a 100% gain to recover. Some losses have no recovery at all.

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]]> Loss aversion is called a cognitive bias. But the math says otherwise. A 50% loss requires a 100% gain to recover. Some losses have no recovery at all.

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]]> Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:19:23 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 96 Loss aversion is called a cognitive bias. But the math says otherwise. A 50% loss requires a 100% gain to recover. Some losses have no recovery at all. Loss aversion is called a cognitive bias. But the math says otherwise. A 50% loss requires a 100% gain to recover. Some losses have no recovery at all. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why Rest Days Made Everything Harder Why Rest Days Made Everything Harder full 75f85c68-cc14-41eb-80cf-bfbbcc1df6ca https://share.transistor.fm/s/1a63941e I kept a rest day each week for years. It made everything harder. There's a hidden cost to any gap in a habit: reactivation energy.

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]]> I kept a rest day each week for years. It made everything harder. There's a hidden cost to any gap in a habit: reactivation energy.

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]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:27:46 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 101 I kept a rest day each week for years. It made everything harder. There's a hidden cost to any gap in a habit: reactivation energy. I kept a rest day each week for years. It made everything harder. There's a hidden cost to any gap in a habit: reactivation energy. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Prediction Markets Are Accurate (That's the Problem) Prediction Markets Are Accurate (That's the Problem) full 3ed76c0a-f085-4b93-9680-d6ebf88d3ee4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/69be05bc Prediction markets aggregate real information from people with real stakes. The accuracy is real. The influence that some participants have over the outcome is also real.

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]]> Prediction markets aggregate real information from people with real stakes. The accuracy is real. The influence that some participants have over the outcome is also real.

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]]> Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:21:50 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 118 Prediction markets aggregate real information from people with real stakes. The accuracy is real. The influence that some participants have over the outcome is also real. Prediction markets aggregate real information from people with real stakes. The accuracy is real. The influence that some participants have over the outcome is also real. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No The Trade You Make 100 Times a Day The Trade You Make 100 Times a Day full c761e580-5d6b-42af-ab34-582e64914405 https://share.transistor.fm/s/921be2f8 Each choice you make is an investment. You invest time, energy, attention, willpower. Sometimes money. The question is: what's your ROI?

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]]> Each choice you make is an investment. You invest time, energy, attention, willpower. Sometimes money. The question is: what's your ROI?

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]]> Sun, 29 Mar 2026 15:55:47 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 93 Each choice you make is an investment. You invest time, energy, attention, willpower. Sometimes money. The question is: what's your ROI? Each choice you make is an investment. You invest time, energy, attention, willpower. Sometimes money. The question is: what's your ROI? entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No I Run Every Business Idea Through These 11 Filters I Run Every Business Idea Through These 11 Filters full 16e71fe2-744a-445f-9543-508b6983b37d https://share.transistor.fm/s/db28033f I've run hundreds of business ideas through 11 pass-or-fail filters. HeadsUp, Multi and Charm survived. Each filter covers personal use, daily frequency, platform potential, counter-positioning, portfolio fit, energy, revenue proximity, marginal costs, market size, passive value and evidence of demand.

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]]> I've run hundreds of business ideas through 11 pass-or-fail filters. HeadsUp, Multi and Charm survived. Each filter covers personal use, daily frequency, platform potential, counter-positioning, portfolio fit, energy, revenue proximity, marginal costs, market size, passive value and evidence of demand.

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]]> Sat, 28 Mar 2026 12:54:09 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 151 I've run hundreds of business ideas through 11 pass-or-fail filters. HeadsUp, Multi and Charm survived. Each filter covers personal use, daily frequency, platform potential, counter-positioning, portfolio fit, energy, revenue proximity, marginal costs, market size, passive value and evidence of demand. I've run hundreds of business ideas through 11 pass-or-fail filters. HeadsUp, Multi and Charm survived. Each filter covers personal use, daily frequency, platform potential, counter-positioning, portfolio fit, energy, revenue proximity, marginal costs, ma entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Will AI Take Your Job? The Rebuttal Is Incomplete Will AI Take Your Job? The Rebuttal Is Incomplete full 7ee25702-c307-47f3-b6ec-c935a0edb137 https://share.transistor.fm/s/deddc2ae Most tea bags contain plastic. Switching to loose leaf solved one problem and created another. Problems beget problems. And when it comes to AI and jobs, the rebuttal everyone repeats is incomplete.

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]]> Most tea bags contain plastic. Switching to loose leaf solved one problem and created another. Problems beget problems. And when it comes to AI and jobs, the rebuttal everyone repeats is incomplete.

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]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 18:33:20 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 111 Most tea bags contain plastic. Switching to loose leaf solved one problem and created another. Problems beget problems. And when it comes to AI and jobs, the rebuttal everyone repeats is incomplete. Most tea bags contain plastic. Switching to loose leaf solved one problem and created another. Problems beget problems. And when it comes to AI and jobs, the rebuttal everyone repeats is incomplete. entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No Why I Went to the Gym at Midnight (The Streak Method) Why I Went to the Gym at Midnight (The Streak Method) full 95e0c928-a634-423f-8866-abbc1c01cd1f https://share.transistor.fm/s/36b7b4f0 Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:27:44 -0700 Dru Riley Dru Riley 88 entrepreneurship, habits, systems, bottlenecks, leverage, daily, trends, startups, independence No