Meet the investor that loves having nothing on his schedule

Hey,

Welcome back to Stay Curious — a newsletter I write once per week on a few things keeping me curious in the world of startups, VC and day to day life.

Before we dive in, wanted to hold space for my fellow Vancouver Cannucks fans. That was a tough game 7 loss, but here’s to hoping next year we come back faster and stronger.

Now, onto the goods.

On deck this week?

• how writing in public refines your thinking

• the rejection message I got from the Indian warren buffet

• DHL’s #1 service rep

• coffee invite for Toronto locals

1) Teaching in public refines your thinking

Been chewing on this quote from Shane Parish this week:

“Reasoning in public forces discipline of thought.

It's like doing math on the chalkboard in front of the class. Every step must be clear and correct, or someone will point out the mistake. There's no room for fuzzy thinking or skipped steps.

If your reasoning is correct, you have nothing to fear. If it's wrong, you have everything to learn.”

2) MFM’s deep dive with Mohnish Pabrai (India’s Warren Buffett) is a great podcast for your next commute

The episode goes into:

• how Mohnish built his first product with maxed-out credit cards at 24

• how he turned $1M of savings into $1B+ through stock investing

• how he won a lunch with Warren Buffet and then became lifelong friends with Charlie Munger

Wanna know what’s even funnier?

I messaged Mohnish last month when he was in town for TED 2024 and got this reply. Even his rejections are packed with wisdom:

3) Changing your environment, change your creativity

I’m amazed at how much a change of place can breathe new creativity into a work struggle I’m facing.

90% of them, when I switch from typing in my home office to a coffee shop or a comfy co-working space, it drums up new juices for deep work

My challenge to you: if you’re in a rut, shake up your space.

4) A couple days ago, I met an outstanding service rep at DHL. Ever got a package from them? Well, take a swing at guesssing how many staff they have. 

The answer is 600,000.

One of them is a lovely lady in Vancouver named Laurel. She’s been with the company for 21 years and is so valued that in 2021 when she almost quit b/c of COVID issues, the CEO (of this $50B company) went out of his way to:

• call her

• hear her problems out 

• share some encouragement / how much she meant to the company 

• and give her some overdue bonuses for her loyalty to the company

That ended up resolving her work problem and her re-falling in love with her role more and now she seems like the happiest clam under the sun.

My takeaway? When you hear a problem going on in your personal or work world, pick up the phone. It matters.

5) I’m in Toronto for Collision June 17-20. If you’re in the area and wanna join a morning coffee I’m putting together, reply and drop me a line.

Food is my #1 love language, feedback is my 2nd.

If you liked today’s deep dive, drop me a note or forward it to a friend.

Stay curious,

Joel

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