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Andrew Wilkinson: a reading list for founders in their 20s
In an interview about how he would get rich in his 20s, Wilkinson named several resources:
- Founders podcast (David Senra). He says he "always" tells young people to listen. In each episode, Senra summarizes a biography in about an hour. Listeners learn about hundreds of great entrepreneurs and can find the archetype that fits them.
- Influence by Robert Cialdini. If he could recommend only one strategy or tactics book, it would be this one. He describes it as an overview of how psychology is used to persuade people and calls it "probably the most powerful book I've ever read." He uses ideas from it every day.
- Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath. He recommends it for learning to write so that people pay attention and remember what you say.
- How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis. He calls it "absolutely incredible." Dennis started out selling Bruce Lee posters and went on to build a publishing empire. After reading about "super genius" figures like Steve Jobs, Wilkinson found it encouraging to read about "a normal dude."
- Getting Everything You Can Out of What You've Got by Jay Abraham. He recommends it for building customer loyalty, especially the small details that keep customers coming back.
- The Defining Decade by Meg Jay. He calls it a great book on how small choices in your 20s can lead to very different places later in life.
Martin Casado and Aaron Levie: AI arms defenders
Casado endorsed Eric S. Raymond's post. He wrote that "ESR gets it" and said he was glad to see legends from past tech shifts offer "a reasonable voice" now. ESR argues against locking down public access to frontier models after a wave of vulnerabilities found with LLMs: "when lockpicks are outlawed, only outlaws will have lockpicks." In his view, the defects in human code are finite, and defenders can fix them now by red-teaming their own software.
Levie called EnclaveAI's Node2Shell post "a good argument" for spreading AI models that can be used for cyber defense. He expects new agent swarms to scan for and detect enterprise risks, and he expects 1,000X more tokens flowing through these agents in the future. The post describes a memory bug in Brotli, a compression library bundled into Node.js, Python and other software. It is promoting Enclave's own scanning agents, so treat it as vendor material.
Andrew Chen: Ben Horowitz on betting on yourself
Chen shared an a16z clip of his speedrun conversation with Horowitz, adding "Bet on yourself." Horowitz's message to founders is to ignore self-doubt and make the bet pay off. He says the worst doubts are the ones you put on yourself. On fear, he says: "If your guts aren't boiling, you're not even trying at this thing."
Tim Ferriss: Elad Gil's High Growth Handbook
On his show, Ferriss called Gil's book (subtitled Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People) "an outstanding book" that people "should really check it out," especially in the venture-backed world. Gil said he meant it as a tactical companion: when an M&A or hiring question comes up, you jump to that chapter. He added that he is now writing a "zero to one version."
Shorter mentions
- Ryan Hoover called Block's Dessa demo, shared by Jack, "the best voice demo I've heard." He said human-level voice conversations will open up many more consumer use cases. Block describes Dessa as a full-duplex speech model.
- Elon Musk endorsed @ObjectZero's list of limits on building supercomputers as "a fuller list," saying that if any item is missing, "the compute doesn't work." The list ranges from permits and grid access to transformers and large lathes. It adds that the best sites are already taken.
- Tobi Lütke called Moritz Kremb's video, which Kremb made by asking Claude for a video about being European, "criminally overlooked." Without comment, he also shared the EFF's article opposing Canada's C-22 surveillance bill.
- High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People — Elad Gil is the author. Tim Ferriss calls it an “outstanding book” and explicitly says people should check it out, especially those in the venture-backed game. Gil describes it as a tactical handbook and companion for founders, with practical guidance to consult when specific needs arise, such as M&A or hiring.
- Board-specific resource caveat: Gil names no particular book or other content for learning about boards; he says the best approach is to contact founders who have added board members and learn how they approached it.
During a discussion questioning VC jargon around AI-enabled services, the interviewer calls a piece about the “trillion dollar services” idea “brilliant” and credits its creator only as Julian; the transcript gives no title or outlet.
Jason Lemkin promoted the new SaaStr-linked item “The Agent-Led Growth Playbook | The Agents #017,” previewing an inbound booked in 10 minutes, a 46/50 AEO score, and the takeaway that first-party data beats every signal tool (link).
Jack, who says he built and sold an AI startup and is now building another, recommends his Claude Code course. He says it takes beginners toward building websites and using his motion-graphics skills, and includes his system for making video shots on autopilot and the Agoge operating system.
- Andrew Wilkinson recommends the Founders podcast for young people: David Sra reads and summarizes entrepreneurs’ biographies, helping listeners learn from many founders and identify an entrepreneurial archetype that fits them.
- Wilkinson recommends Influence by Robert as a strategy and tactics book; he says its overview of how psychology persuades people is powerful and that he applies its ideas regularly. He also recommends Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath for learning to write in ways that hold attention and are remembered.
- Wilkinson calls Felix Dennis’s How to Get Rich “absolutely incredible” and says its account of an ordinary person building a publishing empire was impactful because it made entrepreneurial success feel attainable.
- Wilkinson recommends Jay Abraham’s Getting Everything You Can Out of What You’ve Got for ideas on customer loyalty and the small details that bring customers back and help grow a business.
- Wilkinson cites Meg Jay’s The Defining Decade as a great book about how decisions in your 20s can shape where your life leads.
Elon Musk gave a brief positive signal to @Texas_Twins_Dad’s iPhone tutorial, replying “Cool” and linking the post. The tutorial shows how to use iOS Shortcuts and Accessibility Vocal Shortcuts to launch Grok voice chat with “Hey Grok”; it notes that a locked phone may still require one tap.
Elon Musk endorsed @Object_Zero_’s post as “a fuller list” of supercomputer-buildout constraints, saying that if anything is missing—even something seemingly trivial—the compute doesn’t work . The post lists constraints including land, permits, grid access and electrical equipment, noise, clean air, supply chains, fuel security, manufacturing equipment, residential priority and community political power; it adds that the best sites are taken and marginal development sites worsen each year .
Tobi Lütke called the linked video/song “criminally overlooked” . Moritz Kremb said he asked Claude to make a video about what it’s like to be European, and introduced the result as arriving one day later . Kremb’s post
Tobi Lutke shared EFF’s article, “Canadians Are Running Out Of Time To Oppose The Dangerous C-22 Surveillance Bill”; the post gives no reason for sharing it.
Aaron Levie links EnclaveAI’s Node2Shell post—about a Brotli memory bug and Enclave’s exposure-scanning service—as a “good argument” for diffusing AI models for cyber defense . He argues AI agents could arm defenders and scan, detect, protect, and process enterprise risks . EnclaveAI post .
Aravind Srinivas promoted /impeccable, an open-source skill by @pbakaus now in Computer, with the stated aim of helping users build interfaces that avoid “AI-generated slop.” The skill reviews interfaces and fixes designer-flagged issues, including layout, type, contrast, and accessibility; Srinivas offered 5,000 credits per user to try it.
Andrew Chen recommended Ben Horowitz’s advice to early-stage founders on betting on yourself, sharing an a16z video. Horowitz’s takeaway: ignore self-doubt, make your bet pay off, and treat fear as a sign you’re taking on something challenging.
Ryan Hoover called the Dessa voice demo shared by Jack the best voice demo he had heard; Jack’s post describes Dessa as a full-duplex speech model . Hoover said human-level voice conversations could unlock many more consumer use cases .
Martin Casado endorsed ESR’s X post, praising him for offering a “reasonable voice” amid major change; the post argues that broad access to LLM tools can let people proactively red-team software and fix defects before attackers exploit them. Recommended post: https://x.com/esrtweet/status/2113954429883801742
Alexandr Wang recommends “chill lofi muse beats” for relaxing or studying , with an embedded video .
