Today I listened to a podcast on which the guest talked about her research on focus. The gist was that it’s getting hard for people to focus for more than one minute (yes, one minute!) while we’re working because of all the distractions we’re inundated with. That one-minute figure was based on a study she’d done over a few years. I knew focus was a problem, but the one-minute stat was surprising.

My college had a Center for Academic Success. Sadly, most students never used it. Honestly, I don’t think many people even knew it existed. Serendipitously, I met the center’s director my first semester, and she impressed me. I told her about my heavy course load that semester, and she urged me to visit her center. When I took her up on her offer, I learned study techniques that proved invaluable. A lot of it was about habits that help you focus. I’ve always been able to focus on things I’m interested in, but the things I learned at that center turbocharged my ability and taught me how to focus on things that are less interesting to me (which a lot of early college classes were).

My ability to focus has played a big part in the wins I’ve had in life. Learning techniques for focusing and practicing them took my natural abilities and habits to the next level. As I think about the one-minute attention statistic, I’m concerned about people’s diminishing ability to focus. If you’re aiming for outsize success, focus is something to consider learning about (just as you would any other critical topic) and practicing so you can develop or enhance your ability to focus. Being able to focus won’t guarantee you outsize success, but not being able to all but guarantees you won’t achieve success.

My learning survey is ongoing and I’ve learned some interesting things. One of them I shared in a post a few days ago. Today I had a good chat with a VC investor. I’ve known him for a few years and think highly of him, so I was curious about his learning habits. The best investors and entrepreneurs are frequently trying to figure things out that others haven’t, so they tend to make learning a priority.

Our conversation was helpful, and he mentioned one big thing in several different ways: he wants to learn more but doesn’t feel like he has enough time.

I hadn’t thought about this, but it makes sense. Investors are busy people with jam-packed calendars. Squeezing in time to find material that contains the knowledge you want and then consuming it is difficult.

Now I’m wondering if feeling like time limits the ability to satisfy a desire to learn is common.

I caught up with an entrepreneur friend this week. I’m doing my learning survey, so I asked him about his learning habits. That led to an interesting comment from him that stuck with me:

How I learned and how my kids will learn will be drastically different. I had to go to college to learn from people who possessed knowledge about jobs I wanted. My kids likely won’t need to go to college. The knowledge is more accessible now.

He went on to say this:

The jobs that my kids will have as young adults don’t even exist now. What people do for work will be so different from what prior generations did for work. How we learn and work is changing faster than people realize.

I’ve been thinking about this conversation because of my newfound curiosity about how people learn. The more I think about it, the more I believe my friend is right. If he is, then we’re likely to see disruption in education, which will create opportunity. These are early thoughts, and they’re subject to change. I want to think about this more and discuss it with other smart people.

I have a personal goal to learn something daily and a personal system for doing so. I recently shared my system with a friend, who told me my habits are abnormal (in a good way). He doesn’t believe the majority of people are learning daily, or even weekly for that matter. If they are, it’s because it was pushed on them.

This got me thinking. I wonder how people are approaching learning (if at all). How do they figure out how to solve unfamiliar problems? What tools are their default for learning? Are they proactive about what they learn or reactive to information pushed to them via social media?

I decided there’s only one way to find out: start asking people. I’m going to spend time casually asking friends and family about their learning habits over the next few weeks. I’m curious and excited to see what responses I get.

I heard someone reference a stat today about reading. Reading an hour or two a day puts you in the top 0.00001% of people. I did some digging and found the interview where this statement originated. It was from Naval Ravikant, an investor and entrepreneur who founded AngelList.

Here’s the full quote from Ravikant:

The reality is very few people actually read and actually finish books . . . . The reality is, I don’t actually read that much compared to what people think. I probably read one to two hours a day. That puts me in the top 0.00001%. I think that alone accounts for any material success that I’ve had in my life and any intelligence that I might have because real people don’t read an hour a day . . . .

He went on to say that establishing a daily reading habit is key.

Assuming that Ravikant’s stat is accurate, it’s interesting to ponder how far ahead of everyone else in society reading for an hour a day puts you when the compounding nature of knowledge is factored in. It’s even more interesting to think about the effect that reading the right books for an hour a day can have on an entrepreneur’s chances of success.

Amazingly, reading books is the superpower that’s accessible to all, but most people don’t take advantage of it.

To hear this section of the interview, take a listen here.

You may have heard this proverb:

If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

This makes sense to me. Sometimes people ask for your help with a problem, but they really want you to solve it for them. If you do, you’ve satisfied their immediate need but not set them up for future success. You’ve just taught them to call you whenever they encounter that problem.

I don’t believe in leaving people hanging when they ask for your help. Instead, I believe in supporting them. I won’t solve the problem for them, but I’ll be there to help them think and navigate through the problem. I make it a point to not lead; instead, to follow their direction. I try to support, nudge, and encourage along the way. When the problem is solved, they’ve solved it—I haven’t. The process of figuring out the solution sticks with them, and they can comfortably solve problems like it in the future on their own. And you’ve helped them become more confident. When someone succeeds in doing something they thought was impossible, they become surer of themselves and their abilities. They start to look at other problems not as insurmountable but as puzzles they can solve if they focus and put forth the effort.

I’m not sure who wrote this proverb, but it’s spot on. I prefer to teach someone how to fish.

I want to improve how efficiently I learn—specifically, how efficiently I read. To answer the question of how I can improve my ability to learn through reading, I sought out a few books and experts on the topic. From these sources, I’ve learned a few ways to read faster with better comprehension. One suggestion that I heard consistently was simple but effective: underline the words you’re reading with something (e.g., your finger or a pen).

A few observations on why this technique works:

• Speed – The pointer acts as a visual pacer: your eyes will move as fast as it does. If you want to increase your reading speed, you can move the pointer faster. This is a good way to practice improving your reading speed.  
• Comprehension – Your eyes focus on what you’re pointing to. You’re less likely to daydream or be distracted by things happening around you. With the power of focus, your understanding of what you’re reading improves.

I’ve tried this hack, and I must admit, it works when it’s applied consistently. If you want to improve your reading speed and comprehension, consider following your finger.

I like to keep my finger on the pulse of new technologies and emerging trends, but it’s easier said than done. One of the ways I do it is by catching up with early-stage founders who are building in that space. The founders in the early days of launching a company are typically as close to ground level as you can get. They’re usually hands on keyboard and in the weeds of everything. Hearing how they’re applying new technologies and what positives and negatives they’ve experienced helps me understand things from a practical perspective. I also try to make sure these conversations are bidirectional by providing feedback on anything that’s on the top of their mind (that I can help with).

I’ve found that this is a great approach to staying abreast of new things and maintaining relationships with and giving back to early founders.

A few months back, I purchased a book that was recommended by several investors who’ve had outsize success over a long period of time. I typically buy a book only if credible people recommend it and the Amazon reviews are 4.5 stars are higher. This book fit both criteria, so I quickly ordered it.

When I received the book, I realized two things. It’s 800 pages long, and it was first published almost a century ago. Both facts made me cringe. I generally read books of 300 pages or less. In my experience, the longer the book, the more fluff it contains. I enjoy books that get their points across succinctly. With verbose books, my attention wanders. I also personally don’t enjoy books written long ago because the writing style is so different. It can be a struggle for me to grasp the authors’ points because I’m not used to that way of writing. I put the book on the shelf to read later. That was months ago, and I haven’t touched it.

This book is so well regarded that I don’t want to keep putting it off or, worse, never read it. Today I set a goal: read this book by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. That means I need to read all 800 pages by November 26. Setting this challenge for myself reenergized me in relation to this book. I can’t wait to hit this goal and learn the insights in it.

Early in 2023, I challenged myself to read more SEC filings of publicly traded technology companies. I’ve been reading S-1 initial registration reports for companies preparing to go public for several years. This year I’ve incorporated 10Q quarterly reports and 10K annual reports into my reading. I wasn’t sure when I began whether it would be worth the time and energy, but I figured I had more to gain than lose by trying it. 

Here are my takeaways:

• Financials – The company’s financial performance is laid bare in these reports. The good, the bad, and the ugly are there for everyone to see. Some company financials are complex; others, simple. Interpreting what the numbers mean sometimes requires work. It isn’t always fun, but once I figure it out, I’ve usually learned something useful.
• Business model – Companies detail their inner workings and how they generate revenue. They share all kinds of interesting tidbits, such as plans for future revenue sources and concerns about the stickiness of current revenue. I usually got lots of ideas after reading the specifics of a company’s business model.
• Risks – Companies detail all risks associated with the business. This is basically a list of what keeps the CEO up at night. Sometimes the risks listed surprise me.
• Competitors – Most companies list their top competitors.
• Trends – After I’ve read multiple reports from a company, I start to see trends and patterns (good and bad).
• Executive compensation – Executive compensation usually has its own section, with compensation plans described in detail. Large stock option grants based on hitting lofty stock price or market cap objectives seem common in CEO incentive packages.
• Ownership – The S-1, and sometimes other reports, detail how much of the company executives and investors own. Very interesting. Especially if it was VC backed.
• Stock-based compensation – A good number of technology companies have high stock-based-compensation expenses. This is essentially the expense the company incurs for paying employees with RSUs, stock options, etc. I’m curious whether this practice will continue at the levels seen in the last fifteen years, given how much it dilutes the holdings of other shareholders.
• Perception – After reading these reports, I sometimes reach a conclusion about a company that differs from popular opinion in the financial media.
• Dense – These reports are typically long. I can read them only when I’ve got an uninterrupted block of time when I can focus.

The filings of public companies are full of information that entrepreneurs and investors will find helpful. I wish I’d read public filings from companies in my industry when I was building my company. I’m sure it would have positively influenced my thinking and decision making. Anyone interested in reading these reports for their favorite company can search for them on the SEC Edgar website here.