Naval Ravikant and the philosophy of wealth creation.
A Introduction to Naval, his ideas, and how to be wealthy in the modern world.
A brief introduction to Naval Ravikant
Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, investor, and thought leader known for his profound insights on startups, investing, and personal development. Born in India and raised in New York, Naval co-founded AngelList, a platform that has revolutionized how startups raise capital and connect with investors.
Naval's investment portfolio includes early stakes in companies like Twitter, Uber, and Yammer. Beyond his business success, Naval is widely respected for his philosophical perspectives on life, wealth, and happiness, which he shares through his writings and talks.
His podcast, "Naval" and the popular tweetstorm "How to Get Rich (without getting lucky)" have garnered a large following, resonating with individuals seeking wisdom on achieving financial independence and personal fulfillment. Naval's ability to distill complex ideas into accessible and actionable advice has made him a prominent figure in the tech and self-improvement communities.
Life is not a zero sum game.
A zero-sum game is simple. In order for you to gain something, someone else has to lose it. The problem arises when people fail to realize that life is not a zero-sum game.
“Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.” - Naval
This is the first post in Naval’s famous tweet storm “How to Get Rich (without getting lucky).” All of these tweets deserve a much longer explanation (which is available on Naval’s podcast following the tweets). This post is merely an introduction to Naval and his ideas.
Wealth creation is the goal. There is no finite amount of wealth. The economy allows us to reward each other for discovering knowledge that enables us as individuals to provide something that the world wants.
“You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale.”
This is a core principle of the free market. Take this example:
I want a latte, and the coffee shop sells a latte for $5. I buy the latte.
I am happy because I value the latte over my $5.
The coffee shop owner is happy because he values $5 over the latte.
This is value creation in action. The coffee shop is able to value $5 over the latte because of the knowledge of how to make coffee cheaply and quickly. The free market allows for a positive-sum exchange where everybody wins.
“Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.”
Technology is the physical manifestation of knowledge. Selling technology is the result of a free market. When you sell technology, you benefit the customer by sharing the benefit of your specific knowledge. The customer benefits you due to the asymmetry between how the customer values your product over money, and how you value the money over your product.
“Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else and replace you.”
The problem with giving the world what it wants but does not yet know how to get is that you have to know something that the world does not. This will be your leverage.
“Building specific knowledge will feel like play to you but will look like work to others.”
“Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.”
Specific knowledge is a large theme in Naval’s writing. These quotes are important. You can never beat someone else at being them. The most successful people are not successful because they found the most lucrative opportunity. They are successful because they got addicted to what they do. If you love to do something and do it relentlessly from nothing other than an intrinsic desire to do it, you will become the best in the world, and it won’t even feel like work. There are people like this in every field and occupation. Don’t try to compete with them. Spend your effort searching for the thing that you love to do and can do with minimal effort and maximal curiosity.
“When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.”
“Specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative. It cannot be outsourced or automated.”
Leverage in the modern world.
Types of leverage can be split between several unequal groups.
Old forms of leverage:
Labor: Somebody has to work for you.
Capital: Somebody has to give you money and assets.
New forms of leverage:
Code and Media: Tiny robots work for free to perform tasks for you around the world instantly.
These new forms of leverage allow for near-zero marginal cost of replication for the next generation of products. We are living in an era of free, distributed communication, where individuals can impact millions through code and media.
“An army of robots is freely available - it's just packed in data centers for heat and space efficiency. Use it.”
A significant idea in Naval's teaching is that the advent of the internet has massively broadened the ways in which you can improve the world. We are quickly heading into a world of massive creative opportunity, with individuals at the center.
“Code and media are permissionless leverage. They're the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that work for you while you sleep.”
“The internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven't figured this out yet.”
Naval is not just a business guru. He realizes that money alone is useless if you are not happy. This is Naval’s unique quality. Typically, very successful founders and technologists end up miserable. In reality, a large percentage of the population ends up miserable as a result of misplaced values. If you are interested in Naval’s teachings, I encourage you to read his tweetstorm in full. Listen to the podcasts he has been in and read “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant”.
Also, Check out:
“The problem with giving the world what it wants but does not yet know how to get is that you have to know something that the world does not. This will be your leverage.”
It’s so true that we have a seed of potential in us that sparkles with life, and we never get bored when we do it. I like the convergence of happiness and wealth, because poise and vivid focus is everything