Julian Shapiro

It's done! I read 3,000 startup pitch decks. I wanted to find what the incredible pitches had in common. Was there a "secret ingredient" unifying them? YES. The 4 best (that VCs wanted intros to) had the same talking point:

Know what stops all my friends from writing? Not a lack of ideas, but fear of judgment If you need to, just hedge with a disclaimer: “These are early thoughts” ← State you're not claiming to know everything Thinking in public isn't shamelessness. It's necessary to grow.

What would you say to someone who wants a kid but isn't having one only because they're worried about the state of the world? One answer seems to be: You could've made this same argument at *any* point in history. Are there better responses?

People don't have short attention spans: • They finish 3 hour Joe Rogan episodes • They binge 14 hour shows They have short *consideration spans:* they must be hooked quickly. Point: Don't fear making great, in-depth content. But, ensure your first minute is incredible.

For aspiring writers: Your ultimate goal isn't building a writing habit. It's falling so in love with interesting ideas that you can’t help but tell the world about them. Writing is the medium—not the objective.

Working hard for a long time without asking "what are the better things to be working on" is a hidden form of laziness.

You slipped into a coma 10 years ago and just woke up. Which of these events would be the most surprising to you? Take a moment to try rewinding the clock before answering.