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Suggested reading:

First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge⁠

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⛰️ Impact areas: self, community, environment

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American novelist Jack London once wrote in 1916,

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

Our time is precious. We should strive to make an impact across three dimensions: ourselves, our communities, and our environment.

Self

Any progress we want to make begins with personal accountability and growth.

Critical thinking: our mind is a great gift and a greater responsibility

Longevity: Healthier habits for longer productive years. (I witnessed firsthand Parkinson’s effect on my mother and our family for the last twenty-plus years.)

Purpose: Lead more purposeful and less distracted lives

Wealth: financial literacy → responsibility → security → strength → freedom

Antifragility: Thrive in the face of adversities

Community

It’s easy to exist in a silo, but to thrive, we must invest in our communities.

Families: If first principles were the building blocks of knowledge, families are the building blocks of our society. Our relationship with our family sets the baseline for how we perceive and interact with others. As a father of three mixed kids in a multigenerational household, this is a lifelong journey.

Work: How can we be better coworkers and leaders at work in this remote-first world? What tools and best practices can we adopt at work to minimize unnecessary friction?

Culture: As a first-generation Asian American, what can I do to support the AAPI community?

Environment

Lead a more self-reliant lifestyle to build a more sustainable future through our everyday decisions: what we eat, what we wear, how we travel, our energy use, etc.

Quote to ponder on (emphasis is mine):

We can do things for ourselves or we can pay others to do them for us. There are the two “systems” that support us; we might call them the “self-reliance” system and the “organization system.” The former tends to produce self-reliant men and women; the latter tends to produce organization men.

In the modern world ... there has been an enormous and historically unique shift: away from self-reliance and toward organization. As a result, people are becoming less self-reliant and more dependent ... They may claim to be more highly educated than any generation before them; but the fact remains that they cannot really do anything for themselves.

It is in the essence of self-reliance that you start now and don’t wait for something to turn up.

Dr. E.E. Schumacher, CBE (1976)

Suggested readings:

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Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

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Nassim Taleb⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self

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Michael Easter⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

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James Clear⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-to-Basics Guide

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John Seymour⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions

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Johann Hari⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life

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Ozan Varol⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy.

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Bob Goff⁠

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amazon.com⁠

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🎙️ “Work-In-Progress” Podcast

Wisdom > hustle

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Media tends to either glorify or castigate individuals. People are put on pedestals on their way up, and torn down when they inevitably prove to be flawed humans after all—from heroes to villains.

I believe most of us are neither heroes or villains. We are all work in progress—living out our purposes and honing our gifts as best as we can.

The “work-in-progress” podcast distills and source wisdom from successful-yet-under-the-radar makers: many of them are operators at private companies, and many of them local in our own communities.

“Success” in this case is not defined by outsized revenue or wealth. Instead, it’s defined by individuals’ impact in their respective communities, and their thoughtful approach to life.

This podcast is not about sensational headlines; it’s about curiosity and wisdom. Its voice is casual, heartwarming, and insightful.

It does not make you feel bad about wherever you are in life, but instead it challenges and sharpens your perspective, your mindset, and hopefully nudges you to take the next right step.

👉 Notify me when podcast launches!

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🚀 Companies I Actively Advise

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Coa⁠

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Online therapist-led emotional fitness classes and one-on-one therapy.

Health

advise

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Dev⁠

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Community of software developers getting together to help one another out.

Community

invest + advise

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EarlyBird⁠

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Invest in the children you love.

Finance

invest + advise

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Mindr⁠

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Belonging in the world's leading workplaces.

Education

advise

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The Rounds⁠

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More good. Less stuff.

Consumer Goods

invest + advise

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🚀 Companies I Invest In

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*Alphabetical & selective list

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Albedo⁠

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Aerial quality imagery - from space.

Space

invest

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Arber⁠

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All great gardens start with Arber.

Environment

invest

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AtoB⁠

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Stripe for trucking.

Money

invest

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Autio⁠

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Every place has a story. Now every story has a place.

Media

invest

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Copy.ai⁠

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AI powered digital ad and marketing copy.

invest

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CoScreen (acq. by Datadog)⁠

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Remote collaboration, specifically designed for engineering teams.

Enterprise

invest

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Genus AI⁠

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Artificial Intelligence that Makes Your Ads Work.

invest

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Ideaflow⁠

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The intelligence augmentation company.

invest

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Monte Carlo⁠

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Data reliability delivered.

Data

invest

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Peel Insights⁠

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Supercharge Your Retention Efforts.

Data

invest

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Prodigy (acq. by Upstart)⁠

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The future of automotive retailing.

Commerce

invest

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Rara⁠

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Handcrafted fine jewelry with genuine ethnically sourced natural stones.

Consumer Goods

invest

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Reforge⁠

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Leading career development platform.

Education

invest

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Rhetoric⁠

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Asynchronous discussions at work.

Enterprise

invest

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Sayspring (acq. by Adobe)⁠

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Prototype and build voice interfaces.

Enterprise

invest

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ShadowBreak⁠

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Democratising geospatial intelligence

Space

invest

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Startchy⁠

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Natural, organic, and edible coating that extends the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Food

invest

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Tags⁠

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The world is your store

Commerce

invest

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The Juggernaut⁠

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Smart journalism for the South Asian diaspora and South Asia-curious.

Media

invest

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Therma⁠

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Building safety & sustainability tools to protect our food and our planet.

Food

invest

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TrueFoundry⁠

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MLOps Co-pilot for post model development pipeline with monitoring & observability.

MLOps

invest

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Visually (acq. by Rock Content)⁠

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Visual content for modern marketers.

Enterprise

invest

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Contact

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peter@fp.ventures⁠

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Twitter⁠

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LinkedIn⁠

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Sneak peak ... My work-in-progress mascot:

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Gallery

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