The Warrior's Mentality.⚔
TL;DR -> Making scalable nuclear reactors with Atherma, starting a podcast, and leveraging the warrior's mentality.
Buckle up - a lot went down this month!
From creating a company in 3 weeks to writing articles and leveraging discipline, this was easily the most productive month I’ve ever had.
And, I learned a lot about managing teams, 10-xed my AI skills, and (as David Goggins would say) calloused my mind in the process.
Atherma - Solving Global Warming, with Nuclear. ⚛
Global warming sucks.
It’s kind of obvious - but, we might have less than 30 years left before the damage becomes irreversible.
Energy is by far the biggest culprit - 73.2% of all CO2 emissions were from the industry in 2016 alone!
And unfortunately, renewables just don’t cut it. You would need 1000 renewable plants to generate the same electricity as one natural gas plant, not to mention their high reliance on mining + resource extraction.
So…what do we do?
The answer is nuclear - emissions free and power dense. But the nuclear industry was suffering from size, complexity, and scale.
That’s where Atherma comes in - we’re pioneering next generation, scalable reactors using thermoelectricity.
Basically, we convert the heat from fission directly into electricity - eliminating steam and turbines, drastically simplifying the reactor design.
And, after weeks of research and outreach, here’s Atherma’s nuclear reactor prototype - Fermi! Credits to Jake Adler for putting this together:
After pitching our idea to insanely qualified judges, we ended up wining the “Best Overall” and “People’s Choice” award! Thanks to Jake Adler, Kevin Liu, and Shahmeer Ali for making this possible :D
Find out more at our website below:
This was a phenomenal experience, and as PM, taught me so much more on effectively leading people to a common goal. Here are three lessons I learned:
Lead by example.
As leaders, we often want everyone to perform at 100% of their capabilities. But, words can only do so much - you have to demonstrate what high-standards looks like by executing on it yourself. Oftentimes, putting in 100% yourself creates an environment so others can do the same.
Push boundaries.
Teams allow you to combine the unique experiences of multiple people into one consolidated medium. To really extract the most value out of each experience, pushing what you think is possible is important. Consistently pursuing that higher level of quality, rather than simply accepting the status quo, is what breeds success.
Be proactive.
If you know a team issue needs to be resolved, or if there’s a problem that needs to be solved, don’t run away from it. Immediately work to eradicate the problem from existence, and let your team know that you’re doing so.
In the immortal words of Jocko Willink - get after it.
The 3 Bucket Podcast. 🔑
Inspired by people like Naval Ravikant, I decided to start The 3 Bucket Podcast - a podcast about philosophy, emerging technologies, and self improvement.
So far, we’ve recorded two episodes - with Kevin Liu and Sri Anumakonda.
And, it’s been a phenomenal experience! If you’re interested in the above topics, check it out wherever you get your podcasts.
Next - an article breaking down a chess playing AI. This was an insanely fun project to undertake (not to mention getting beaten by my own creation), and simplifying complicated concepts is a skill that’s valuable beyond measure.
Here’s the full article!
Overall, this month was FANTASTIC in terms of content creation. Stay tuned for episode 3 coming out later this week :D
The 40% Rule. 👀
We’re only living at 40% of our full capabilities.
I know, it sounds insane - but its true. Whenever we think we’ve given it our all, that we simply can’t do more or push ourselves further…we’ve only reached 40%. Our mind, stops us from ever harnessing the rest of that 60%
It’s this principle that David Goggins, ex-SEAL and ultra-marathon runner, breaks down in his book, “Can’t Hurt Me.”
For the readers who don’t know - he managed to run 100 miles in <24 hours with no training, almost dying at mile 70.
At that critical mile, he had a choice to make - quit, or push forward. With every muscle in his body screaming at him to stop, he moved forward. Little by little. Step by step.
3 hours later, he finished the race.
But wait - wasn’t he “maxxed out” at mile 70? How did he continue on? What?
This is where the 40% rule comes in. And no, it’s not exact science - it’s a reminder, that no matter how much we’ve put forth, there’s more.
There’s yet another ocean of our capabilities, that we’re leaving on the table.
Over the last month, I’ve worked to start leveraging this rule - both during workouts, and in my craft. The crazy thing? It actually works - pushing past your percieved resistance and temporary roadblocks gets rid of them.
As a result, I found myself improving rapidly, both physically and mentally - doing more reps, producing higher-quality content, and just generally feeling more satisfied.
I’m releasing a video on this concept later this month, with some tips overcoming this limitation - so, if you’re interested in breaking past your barriers, stick around.
So…what are you leaving on the table? Where do you feel like you can’t do more? Find those areas, and attack them - the barrier is usually mental, rather than physical.
As Goggins would say - Stay hard.
GOALS 🎯
This is what I want to accomplish in the next month:
Publish “The Warrior’s Mentality.”
Release 2-3 more podcasts.
Finish deploying a healthcare diagnosis chatbot - and, write an article.
Finish reading Homo Deus!
Let’s do this 🔥
And, that’s the end of this month’s newsletter! If you like what you see, like and subscribe to get this delivered directly to your inbox for more progress updates!