58: Notes To Self

Yo, it’s Luke!

I’ve been on a professional rollercoaster over the last few weeks. Now that the dust has settled, I’m excited to say I run sales at Origami Agents.

They were the fastest growing company of Y Combinator’s last batch. Naturally, I’m getting a ton of sales reps (+ get to build out the entire sales process). It’s really fun. Sorry in advance if I become even worse at responding to texts. I will eventually get to them, and it will always be thoughtful!

That said, you know I’m still gonna find you good stuff for this fine Friday morning 🤩 

Here is your weekly dose of 5 noteworthy ideas & things I learned about last week. Click on each link to dive further on that topic.

1. Shower Thoughts (Tim Urban)

2. Higher Prices Make Your Product More Valuable ($100M Offers)

It’s counter-intuitive at first. But then it makes sense.

• The higher the price, the more allure your product or service has.

• People want to buy expensive things. They just need a reason.

• And the goal isn't just to be slightly above the market price — the goal is to be so much higher that a consumer thinks to themselves, “This is so much more expensive, there must be something entirely different going on here."

• That is how you create a category of one…and how you make a lot of money!

3. Inspiration Comes From Anywhere

The most popular video game mode in the world is Battle Royale. Think Fortnite, PubG, etc.

Want to know where it was inspired?

The Hunger Games.

Who would’ve thought that movie would lead to that outcome??

Funny how things work that way.

4. Fastest Growing Occupations in US

Every high schooler in the country should know about these jobs before signing up for college (and the debt that usually comes with it).

Lift people up by showing them what’s available.

And showing them what will still be available in the future.

5. Everyone Is Numbing Out (Catherine Shannon)

This might’ve been the best article I read in 2024. Highly highly recommend. The writing is so good. It’s fun. And the subject is very releveant to society and our current lives.

Here’s the TL;DR

Everyone is overstimulated with bullshit + overwhelmed by an increasingly chaotic society + saddened by the current state of affairs, so they take an ironic detachment to protect themselves.

But when you take an ironic, negative, or numb attitude to everything, you are by definition not on the line for solutions, and when you stop looking for solutions, you lose all agency and will in your life. Lack of meaning = lack of any real identity formation.

Some possible antidotes (since you can’t put the genie back in the bottle):

• Make honesty your foundation. Stop hiding from the sad truths and start seeking the transcendent truths that will address the sadness.

• Embrace reality—our real lives, right now—and don’t cling to an abstract idea of how our lives should be.

• Once we have that, take responsibility for actually pushing society forward.

• To shock yourself out of a numb state, to restore your life force and vitality, you will need to work hard and to submit to something bigger than your own desires.

In the end:

• Meaning does not just appear. You have to cultivate it. You need to do till the soil and nurture the seeds.

Thanks for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday! If you liked this edition, send it over to a friend who would like it too 🤝 

Cheers,

Luke

PS: you can find more rabbit holes here & my writing here.