Every week, I share content that I consumed and learned from during the previous week.

This week, I consumed less content than usual, and none of it is worth sharing. Hopefully next week will be more normal and I’ll have insights worth sharing in this space.

Current Project: Reading books about entrepreneurs and investors and sharing what I learned from them

Mission: Create a library of wisdom from notable entrepreneurs that current entrepreneurs can leverage to increase their chances of success

Cumulative metrics (since 4/1/24):

• Total books read: 129
• Total blog posts published: 868

This week’s metrics:

• Books read: 1
• Blog posts published: 7

What I completed in the week ending 8/23/26 (link to the previous week’s commitments):

• Read The Heart of Innovation by Matt Chanoff, Merrick Furst, Daniel Sabbah, and Mark Wegman, a framework book on finding authentic demand in potential customers. Two of the authors, Furst and Chanoff, founded Flashpoint, Georgia Tech’s start-up engineering studio.

What I’ll do next week:

• Read a biography, autobiography, or framework book

Week three hundred thirty-four was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

Below, I share content I consumed and learned from last week. I spent time doing general learning about a variety of topics.

What I consumed last week and what I learned from it:

• Turning risk appetite to entrepreneurship – YouTube interview with finance technology entrepreneur Tom Sosnoff. His appetite for taking risks and his parlaying of his risk appetite into starting financial technology companies caught my attention. Sosnoff is 69 years old but doesn’t look it. He attributes his youthfulness to not believing in retirement (he loves building stuff) and to hanging around young people and continually learning. His belief that your decision-making speed and the speed at which your brain processes information are key to creating wealth resonated with me. Sosnoff sold his first company for $600 million and then sold his second company for $1.1 billion.

That’s what I learned from what I consumed last week.

Current Project: Reading books about entrepreneurs and investors and sharing what I learned from them

Mission: Create a library of wisdom from notable entrepreneurs that current entrepreneurs can leverage to increase their chances of success

Cumulative metrics (since 4/1/24):

• Total books read: 128
• Total blog posts published: 861

This week’s metrics:

• Books read: 1
• Blog posts published: 7

What I completed in the week ending 8/16/26 (link to the previous week’s commitments):

• Read Afro Sheen, an autobiography by George E. Johnson about his life as an entrepreneur. Johnson founded Johnson Products Company, which transformed the Black hair care market in the 1950s–1970s. Johnson was also a 50% owner in the wildly popular TV show Soul Train.

What I’ll do next week:

• Read a biography, autobiography, or framework book

Asks:

• No ask this week

Week three hundred thirty-three was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

Below, I share content I consumed and learned from last week. I spent time doing general learning about a variety of topics.

What I consumed last week and what I learned from it:

• Investing in space companies and thematic ETFs – YouTube interview with Andrew Chanin, e‑commerce entrepreneur and founder of ProcureAm and PureFunds. I learned a lot about how theme-focused ETFs come about. Chanin’s thinking around space-industry companies helped me realize how behind I am in understanding the potential of this sector. What he said about understanding what longer-term investing themes exist, versus trends or fads, was helpful.
• Mastering volatility helps you master money – YouTube interview with finance entrepreneur Tom Sosnoff. His idea about thinking in terms of volatility for investing and life stuck with me. Establish a price range for an asset. If its price is outside that range, the asset’s volatility is likely high. His example, buying a house, was useful. And high volatility can be an indicator that the price of an asset is far disconnected from its intrinsic value. When price and value are highly disconnected, an opportunity to achieve outsize returns likely exists. Lastly, his comment that volatility is mean-reverting and contracts twice as often as it expands is something I want to dig into more so I can understand it better.  

That’s what I learned from what I consumed last week.

Current Project: Reading books about entrepreneurs and investors and sharing what I learned from them

Mission: Create a library of wisdom from notable entrepreneurs that current entrepreneurs can leverage to increase their chances of success

Cumulative metrics (since 4/1/24):

• Total books read: 127
• Total blog posts published: 854

This week’s metrics:

• Books read: 1
• Blog posts published: 7

What I completed in the week ending 8/9/26 (link to the previous week’s commitments):

• Read The Bond King, a biography about Bill Gross and the bond empire he built at PIMCO with a behind-the-scenes perspective on how his personality contributed to his downfall at PIMCO

What I’ll do next week:

• Read a biography, autobiography, or framework book

Asks:

• No ask this week

Week three hundred thirty-two was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

Continuing with my new protocol, here I’m going to share content I consumed and learned from. Last week, I spent time doing general learning about a variety of topics.

What I consumed last week and what I learned from it:

• Withdrawing profits from a $200 million e-commerce portfolio – YouTube interview with e-commerce entrepreneur and investor Roman Khan. He runs a portfolio of eight- and nine-figure e-commerce brands, and his strategy for withdrawing distributions from his portfolio companies for owners was interesting. January through October, he does a monthly distribution that’s a fixed dollar amount of about one-third of the EBITDA. Every quarter, he does a large distribution that he uses to make investments outside his company. His experience of almost going bankrupt by over-ordering inventory taught him lessons around focusing on generating and withdrawing profits from his e-commerce companies.
• Building a $250m empire through franchising – YouTube interview with entrepreneur Onyi Odunukew. I don’t know much about franchising, but this interview made me curious to learn more. Odunukew’s business as a franchisor of Glo Tanning led to his creating related businesses and ultimately an empire.

That’s what I learned from what I consumed last week.

Current Project: Reading books about entrepreneurs and investors and sharing what I learned from them

Mission: Create a library of wisdom from notable entrepreneurs that current entrepreneurs can leverage to increase their chances of success

Cumulative metrics (since 4/1/24):

• Total books read: 126
• Total blog posts published: 847

This week’s metrics:

• Books read: 1
• Blog posts published: 7

What I completed in the week ending 8/2/26 (link to the previous week’s commitments):

• Read Sol Price, a biography about the man who helped create the discount retail and membership warehouse clubs so many shoppers love today

What I’ll do next week:

• Read a biography, autobiography, or framework book

Asks:

• No ask this week

Week three hundred thirty-one was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

Continuing with my new protocol, here I’m going to share content I consumed and learned from. Last week, I spent time doing general learning about a variety of topics.

What I consumed last week and what I learned from it:

• Test packaging and product names before you create the product – YouTube interview with performance marketer Jason Kutasi. Very interesting. Good take on performance marketing from someone who’s been in the trenches for over a decade. I enjoyed learning the history of performance marketing on platforms like Yahoo and Meta. The most interesting thing in this interview was Jason’s framework for testing new ideas, like packaging and product names, using cheap Facebook ads before the product is created. Saves a ton of time and can be done for a tiny amount of money. The winner is the packaging/name with the lowest cost per lead. The other thing that stood out to me was the importance of getting the timing right on new advertising platforms.

That’s what I learned from what I consumed last week.

Current Project: Reading books about entrepreneurs and investors and sharing what I learned from them

Mission: Create a library of wisdom from notable entrepreneurs that current entrepreneurs can leverage to increase their chances of success

Cumulative metrics (since 4/1/24):

• Total books read: 125
• Total blog posts published: 840

This week’s metrics:

• Books read: 1
• Blog posts published: 7

What I completed in the week ending 7/26/26 (link to the previous week’s commitments):

• Read The Thinker’s Toolkit by former CIA analyst Morgan D. Jones, a framework book for solving complex problems by using structured thinking and breaking down problems into their component parts

What I’ll do next week:

• Read a biography, autobiography, or framework book

Asks:

• No ask this week

Week three hundred thirty was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!