Organizing Principles
A question I don’t have an answer to yet, plus some other stuff
Welcome back. I hope this newsletter finds you well and you are staying warm out there - let’s get to it.
You’ve probably noticed there’s been a real “self-improvement” theme going on here with the newsletter lately. That’s because around this time of the year I like to do some self reflection, which leads me down a rabbit hole of books and podcasts that talk about this kinda stuff. I mentioned some themes from a couple of books in my last post, and this week I want to talk about a concept from venture capitalist and podcaster Patrick O’Shaughnessy that really stuck with me.
He calls it an “organizing principle.” The idea is simple but deep: what’s the single guiding principle that shapes how you make decisions, build relationships, and spend your time?
For Patrick it took nearly a decade to land on his. When he was 28 and about to become a father, he tried to write a letter to his son explaining what mattered most to him. This forced him to get honest about what drives him. What he arrived at was this: identifying unrealized potential in others and feeling a responsibility to help bring it into the world.
Not helping people in a vague or transactional way. But deliberately spotting talent that others haven’t fully seen yet and doing whatever he can to amplify it, regardless of whether there’s anything in it for him.
He emphasizes that its different from setting a goal. It’s more like a lens. Patrick doesn’t start his day thinking, “I need to find five talented people.” He just goes through the world paying attention to unrealized potential, and when he spots it, he leans in. Everything else - his podcast, his writing, his investment portfolio - naturally flows from that mindset.
I’ve never thought to about what my organizing principle might be. I just kind of stumble through life making decisions based on what feels right in the moment. I’m sure most of us do. Which is fine, I guess. But there’s something powerful about being able to name the thing that drives you. I’m not putting a deadline on figuring mine out, but it’s something I plan to keep coming back to.
An Observation and Quick Substack Plug
While I was writing my recent Goals post, I noticed a recurring theme in my group chats and across the internet: people are tired of social media.
It just feels like we have reached a tipping point. Last month, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16. People are even buying $60 bricks to physically keep themselves off their phones.
Ben Affleck put it really well on Joe Rogan’s podcast a few weeks back while he and Matt Damon were promoting their new movie The Rip (which was great by the way): In a world dominated by mindless short-form videos, AI slop, misinformation, and deepfakes, people are gravitating back toward long-form content from authentic voices they actually trust.
He was mostly talking about podcasts, but I think Substack is positioned really well for this same shift. When you subscribe to a podcast or a Substack newsletter, you’re basically saying, “I trust you enough to let you into my daily routine.” That’s very different from social media platforms that optimize for attention.
If your brain is cooked from nonstop TikTok, Instagram, or X scrolling, but you still want to stay informed and learn some stuff, I’d recommend downloading the Substack app and poking around. I’ve gotten a lot more active on here since starting this newsletter and it’s been a nice upgrade to my media diet without melting my brain.
Some of my favorite Substacks:
Derek Thompson - Science, technology, media, and culture
New Economies - Tech news and trends
Marc Randolph - Netflix co-founder writing about entrepreneurship, careers, and family
The Stein Line - the OG NBA insider with trade rumors, analysis and predictions
Quick Hits
A few other things on my radar:
Industry (HBO) - Season 4 started two weeks ago and if you’ve never watched, give it a shot. Think Succession meets Billions meets Euphoria.
The Beast in Me (Netflix) - we’re a few episodes in. Pretty solid murder mystery so far.
Super Bowl - Have really enjoyed the playoffs but I think the Super Bowl will be a snoozer. Seattle in a blowout. Darnold, Walker, Smith-Ngiba and that nasty defense will be too much for Drake Maye and the Pats. But I’ve been wrong before … we’ll see.
Claude AI is basically my second brain now. Massive part of my daily operations.
The Airbnb Story - Currently reading and enjoying. Don’t have anything else queued up right now, so if you have book recs, send them my way.
That’s all for this week. Thinking about organizing principles, enjoying Substack, and hunkering down with a few shows and playoff football.
Thanks for reading. See you soon.
Thoughtful piece on organizing principles. The distinction between having a lens versus chasing goals is something most ppl miss when they dive into self-improvement stuff. What really landed for me was how Patrick's principle naturally shapes his daily decisions without being some forced metric he's constantly measuring against. Been thinking alot about htis myself lately.