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DHH recommends a Stoicism primer to founders; Brian Armstrong points to a Hester Peirce speech
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Recommendations from tech founders and investors: DHH's pick for coping with founder stress, Brian Armstrong on Hester Peirce's case against overcautious regulation, and short endorsements from Elon Musk, Marc Benioff, Jack Dorsey and Listen Labs' CEO.

Top pick: DHH on The Guide to the Good Life

David Heinemeier Hansson was asked for his "single best piece of advice" at the end of a long-form video interview. His answer was a book: The Guide to the Good Life, which he called "the introductory text to stoicism." He said many of the ideas he had covered in the interview come "straight out of stoicism," including negative visualization and separating what you can control from what you can't . The interview doesn't name the book's author.

His reason is personal. Looking back, he says "97% of" the time he spent stressing was "a complete waste," and taking Stoic principles to heart is what helped him move on. He describes them as "mental tools" that make the same situation easier to handle. In his view anyone would benefit, "but particularly the people who willfully put themselves in stressful, high stakes situations like entrepreneurs" .

Brian Armstrong: Hester Peirce's SEC speech

The Coinbase CEO posted a thread arguing that "one of the biggest killers of innovation is being blinded by hypothetical downsides." He said the thread was "inspired by" SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's recent speech at SIFMA's digital assets conference. Armstrong uses the "de facto ban" on nuclear power as his example and lists ways regulation fails :

  • "asymmetric error costs"
  • "process as a veto"
  • "worst-case models treated as fact"
  • "rules written for the last accident"

Shorter endorsements

  • Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) on Starship reaching orbit, endorsed by Elon Musk. Musk called the post an "Accurate analysis" . The post argues that reaching orbit on Flight 14 was "completely arbitrary in terms of performance." It says the burn added only about 91 m/s of velocity, and the delay should be applauded as a choice for "SAFETY." In its view, the hard part has been the "downhill" side: deorbit, reentry and splashdown . Musk runs SpaceX, so this is praise for coverage of his own company.
  • "Full teardown: How SaaStr AI actually runs inbound renewals" by Jason Lemkin, shared by Marc Benioff. Benioff gave no reason beyond calling Lemkin and SaaStr a "Legend" .
  • A YouTube video tagged to DHH, recommended by Jack Dorsey. Jack called it "really excellent" and didn't say why . Neither the post nor the link shows the video's title or creator.
  • Behind the Cloud by Marc Benioff, credited by Listen Labs CEO Alfred Wahlforss (@itsalfredw). He said he has "taken countless ideas from Behind the Cloud" . Treat this as courtesy rather than a neutral endorsement: he wrote it in the post announcing that Salesforce, Benioff's company, is acquiring Listen Labs .
DHH recommends a Stoicism primer to founders; Brian Armstrong points to a Hester Peirce speech