Expensive lessons

It took me way too long to learn these lessons. They likely cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.

1. There is no career path that doesn’t involve sales. Learn to sell and tell stories. To sell your product, you need to tell a story that resonates with a customer. To get a promotion or a job, you need to craft a story about your life that is intriguing to your boss.
2. Pay to meet your friends. Conferences ( the right ones ) are massively underpriced if you navigate them effectively. Most people will still scoff at the price tag ( I did ). You can only connect the dots looking backwards.
3. Learn to make bets intelligently. Take bigger bets earlier on. Especially on yourself. The learnings compound.
4. Careers and 401ks are derivative bets that guarantee average returns.