This is my two-hundred-fourteenth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Audio blog – I launched an audio version of my blog last week on Apple and Spotify (see here and here). Hearing my own voice feels weird. But listening to these recordings is a great feedback loop. I can critique myself and make changes (or try to) rapidly. I still need to get in the habit of recording and posting. It feels unnatural now, and I’m not in a rhythm. Hopefully, it will be second nature by the end of the month.
• Written vs. audio – A written piece that communicates an idea clearly to a reader doesn’t communicate that same idea as clearly to someone who’s listening to a recording of it.
• Concision – Listening to my recordings highlights something I already knew: I’m not as concise as I’d like to be. I think I’ll improve over time if I work at it.
• John Malone – I enjoyed the book about John Malone. It was interesting to see how a non-founder built a massive company and how important the cable industry is to our ability to access the internet. Malone’s specialty is financial engineering, and it was also interesting to learn more about how he used that skillset to increase shareholder value.

Week two hundred fourteen was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

I’ve been thinking about sharing my daily posts in an audio format in addition to the written format. My self-imposed deadline was to get it done by Friday, April 26. I met that deadline and launched via Spotify. Apple Podcasts and Spotify are the two largest distribution platforms for podcasts, so I want to be on both.

Today, I finished setting up everything with Apple. My posts can now be heard on Apple Podcasts. I need to tidy things up a bit, but I’m live!

Feel free to check out my blog on Apple Podcasts.

This is my two-hundred-thirteenth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Audio blog – I launched an audio version of my blog this week. I still need to fine-tune things and expand to other platforms, such as Apple Podcast, but the first box is checked. I’m excited about what I’ll gain from this experience. It feels like the next evolution of my learning in public. You can check out the audio blog’s Spotify page here.
• Entrepreneurial groups – I spent time learning about groups like EO, YPO, Vistage, and Tiger 21 that are attractive to entrepreneurs. While doing so, I also learned about their business models. I was shocked at how much revenue these organizations generate. If revenue is a proxy for value, they’re bringing tremendous value to founders.
• Distilling – I’m still not where I want to be in distilling and documenting what I’m learning from the books I’m reading. I want to focus on this more next week.

Week two hundred thirteen was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my two-hundred-twelfth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Writing challenge: I challenged myself to consistently share my takeaways from books I read. It took more experimenting than I’d planned for. This week, I found a good groove. I wrote five posts inspired by two books. I’m posting one takeaway after every hundred pages or so. That means I’ll share three takeaways from a three-hundred-page book. That rhythm feels about right.
• Audio blog – I made a decision: I’m going to make it possible to consume my posts via audio. I did some test recordings this week. Listening to them confirmed that this is an area I want to work on.
• eBay – I enjoyed reading about eBay’s first few years. That story is an example of the impact the twin tailwinds of product–market fit in a rapidly growing market can have on a company. I learned more about the founder. I admire his approach to building the company.

Week two hundred twelve was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my two-hundred-eleventh weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Personal knowledge management (PKM) – The books I read this week outlined some useful concepts. I modified and started testing some of them, and I’m getting significantly more value from Apple Notes and other apps I’ve used for years. I’ll test more changes next week.
• Readwise – As the number of physical books I’ve read has increased, it’s been challenging to retain and consistently review highlights. I found the Readwise app and started testing it this week, and I think I’ve figured out a system for using it and physical books efficiently. More testing to come.
• Productivity – After reading about PKM, I started thinking about my approach to getting work done. I haven’t made material changes in a long time, and I want to be more efficient. I’ll begin looking at productivity frameworks next week.  
• Audio blog – The more I learn about audio, the more intrigued I am with the format as a tool for sharing information. I’ve been exploring the idea of sharing my daily posts via audio in addition to written form. A friend told me about some good options for doing this. I’m going to think about this more.

Week two hundred eleven was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my two-hundred-tenth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Storytelling – This week I made good progress on my storytelling project. The thing I’m most excited about is my new practice habit. I began practicing my storytelling every day, recording those sessions, and reviewing them to identify areas for improvement. It’s been painful! I have a lot of work to do, but I’m excited about what could be if I can get really good at storytelling.
• Learning survey – In late January, I began casually surveying friends and family about learning habits. This week I started doing discovery with founders I don’t know. I had two meetings this week, which were helpful. I need to refine my questions a bit. I’ll repeat this next week.

Week two hundred ten was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my two-hundred-ninth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Superpower – I finished a good book about a dynasty family of investor entrepreneurs. The patriarch was adamant about writing weekly. It became an advantage for him and the two generations after him. His articulation of the value derived from that activity got me thinking about how it can be a superpower for entrepreneurs.
• Learning survey – I began casually surveying friends and family about learning habits in late January. Those conversations morphed into customer discovery but were still sporadic and among people close to me. This week, I tested having discovery meetings with entrepreneurs I don’t know (or don’t know well). The insights this week were valuable. I’m considering committing to doing a few discovery meetings one day a week for a few weeks with entrepreneurs and investors I don’t know.

Week two hundred nine was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

This is my two-hundred-eighth weekly reflection. Here are my takeaways from this week:

• Entrepreneurship – Some of the most successful companies are built by people who experience a problem firsthand and set out to solve it. Living the pain of the problem gives them unique insights and passion that increase their chances of success.
• Investing – Just because something is cheap, that doesn’t make it a good buy. Quality still matters more.
• Reddit – This IPO was completed yesterday. I’m curious to see how the stock performs in the next week or so. Its performance will likely have a significant impact on technology companies’ decisions about whether to pursue an IPO this year.

Week two hundred eight was another week of learning. Looking forward to next week!

A few weeks back, I shared that I want to practice storytelling publicly. My storytelling is something I’ve always wanted to improve, but I’ve never taken consistent steps toward this goal. Since that post, I’ve been working on a project that I hope will move the needle.

Today I had some downtime to work on this project. I had to get some equipment to make this storytelling project work as I envisioned it. Today I set up some of it and tested it by recording samples, which were fictitious stories. I realized that I have a long way to go with my storytelling and just how hard it is. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Even though this storytelling goal will be a lot harder than I planned, I’m looking forward to the challenge and to improving my skills.

This month I challenged myself to start writing about my reading. My goal was to write down—after I finished reading a book—the main concepts and new insights I formed. I’ve completed three books and started a fourth since that post. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• Waiting until I’ve finished a book to begin writing posts isn’t optimal. The books are usually in the range of 200–400 pages, and I read them in multiple sessions. Waiting until the end to write a post increases the likelihood that I’ll miss something valuable. That didn’t feel like the right rhythm. It felt more organic for me to reflect more frequently on a smaller amount of content. I naturally ended up doing this with the books on Ken Langone (here and here) and Bernie Marcus (here and here). I wrote more than one post on each book. Every 100 or so pages felt like a good reflection rhythm. I think I’ll replicate and refine this rhythm going forward.
• Some books I read are a historical recount of a period or business event. With this type of book, which is an author’s interpretation of what happened and why, I’m looking to understand what happened and whether similar things are occurring today. I read a book about the dot-com bubble and shared a post about a similarity I noticed between that period and today. Biographies and historical books are different. What I seek from each type of book is different. My expectations for my posts should reflect these differences.
• Now, I’m reading the autobiography of a well-known, seasoned entrepreneur. So far, no concepts have caught my attention, and it hasn’t sparked me to form any new insights. Hopefully, this will change by the time I finish the book. I failed to consider that some books I read may not provide much value to me and hadn’t thought about how I’d handle posts in this situation. I’ve decided that I want my posts to be positive and bring value to others. If I don’t get value from a book, I won’t write a post about it.
• I need to take notes and highlight important concepts as I read. Reviewing these is a key step in the process of reflecting and writing.

I’m enjoying the challenge so far. Looking forward to continuing next week and iterating as I learn more.