Juan David's Newsletter - February 21, 2021

Have Fun, Sales Advice, and Meme.

Greetings from the cozy lands of Illinois,

The second semester of college is 1/4 done, and classes are getting difficult, and my research demanding. While also finding a summer internship or research (know of one? let me know).

Having fun changes from time to time, who you’re with, and what you think fun is. College engineering life can be tiring after countless hours of focus and studying. But “having fun,” the real fun (not what you’re thinking) is scarce.

So I got together with a friend to start weekly conversations/discussions with our friends. Yesterday, we had our first discussion, and it was vitalizing to talk about deeper thoughtful topics, and not just about the weather, or classes. We explored many topics such as the carbon tax, legalization of drugs, and determinism vs. free will.

This is one of the things people want and like but don’t even know existed. This isn’t a club nor I’m trying to put this in my resume but it’s fun. And having fun is something we all need more of.

Going forward, we’ll be doing more thought-experiments where background information isn’t needed but more thinking and providing convincing reasoning is required.

Do you any suggestions or topic ideas to improve these conversations?

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Curiosities 🗺🛍🤑

1. Changing World Order

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard/experienced the stock trading euphoria, the rising waves of conflict, and the pandemic backlashes.

Guess what? They're all related.

A common pattern has been the negligence of history and long-term cycles.

To provide perspectives and get closer to the “truth,” I often recommend reading Ray Dalio’s latest book about long-term cycles.

The book isn't out yet. But he's published the chapters for free HERE.

2. Two Ways To See Retailers

There are two types of retailers: 

• Those who figure out how to sell something for as little as possible.

• Those who figure out how to sell something for as much as possible. 

3. How We Got Better At Making Things

First, we discovered how to make and use better materials—first through trial and error, later through the science of chemistry. 

Second, we improved our processes, especially through automation: we invented machines to do the manufacturing for us.

4. Sales Advice

To keep in mind, and understand:

5. Make Stuff, Make Stuff, Make Stuff

Sometimes, you just have to build and make things. All the other stuff you learn in business school can be used later (or never).

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There's an interesting correlation between what we consider "hard" and how we breathe when we're performing.

If you breathe well, there will be very few hard things in life.

Breathe well,

Juan David Campolargo