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hi
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More Emails to the World
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wise career advice
Some bits of wisdom on career navigation from a former Google Director who is now the CFO of a public company:
(a) "Try to keep your options open for a reasonable amount of time. If possible, through your 30's."
(b) "Make sure to have a diversity of experiences. Have the courage to do a variety of different things, even if you feel that some of those experiences are 'beneath you.'...If you want to be a senior leader in any function, you have to have a variety of experiences."
(c) On taking a new job: "Remember the Warren Buffett quote: 'Give me a choice between a great management team or a great industry and I'll pick a great industry every time.'...You want to be really comfortable with the industry you might join and not solely focused on the team that you might work with."
(d) On advice he would give his 22-year-old self: "Go faster and have even more diversity of experiences."
What advice would you give to someone in the first half of their career?
(a) "Try to keep your options open for a reasonable amount of time. If possible, through your 30's."
(b) "Make sure to have a diversity of experiences. Have the courage to do a variety of different things, even if you feel that some of those experiences are 'beneath you.'...If you want to be a senior leader in any function, you have to have a variety of experiences."
(c) On taking a new job: "Remember the Warren Buffett quote: 'Give me a choice between a great management team or a great industry and I'll pick a great industry every time.'...You want to be really comfortable with the industry you might join and not solely focused on the team that you might work with."
(d) On advice he would give his 22-year-old self: "Go faster and have even more diversity of experiences."
What advice would you give to someone in the first half of their career?
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The #1 ChatGPT hack nobody's talking about
It has /commands like Slack.
75 of them and 20 are must-knows.
The other 55 are the ones that feel like cheating.
(Only really for advanced users)
Commands that make ChatGPT question its own logic.
Commands that build entire systems in minutes.
Commands most people stumble on by accident— if they find them at all.
But let's start with the 20 essentials.
They turn ChatGPT from a search engine into a collaborative thinking partner.
No more:
→ 10-message back-and-forth
→ "Not quite what I meant" responses
→ Rewriting the same prompt 5 times
The difference: Hours saved every week.
Here they are:
→ QUICK WINS (use these today)
✅ /ELI5 — Explain like I'm five (no jargon, simple analogies)
✅ /BRIEFLY — Forces a 1-2 sentence answer (no fluff)
✅ /STEP-BY-STEP — Numbers each step (no hand-waving)
✅ /CHECKLIST — Converts any response to checkboxes
✅ /EXEC SUMMARY — C-suite brief: headline + 3 bullets
→ WORK SMARTER
✅ /SCOPE-FIRST — Asks clarifying questions before solving
✅ /PARETO-PLAN — Gives you the 80/20 actions ranked by impact
✅ /MVP-FIRST — Smallest working version + upgrade path
✅ /SANITY-CHECK — Flags obvious errors and missing steps
✅ /EVIDENCE-PLAN — Shows what to measure and how to validate
→ THINK BETTER
✅ /RED-TEAM — Stress-tests your plan with failure modes
✅ /DEVIL'S-ADVOCATE — Argues the opposing case, then reconciles
✅ /FIRST PRINCIPLES — Rebuilds from fundamentals
✅ /ASSUMPTIONS-LIST — Surfaces all assumptions so you can edit them
✅ /DECISION-MATRIX — Builds a weighted scorecard with tie-breakers
→ WRITE BETTER
✅ /TEACH-BACK — Explains, then quizzes you to confirm understanding
✅ /REWRITE AS — Rephrases in any style you want
✅ /TONE — Changes the tone (formal, playful, urgent, etc.)
✅ /HOOKS-NOW — Generates high-conversion openers
✅ /CITATIONS-REQUIRED — Includes sources and confidence levels
These commands turn every ChatGPT session into a power tool.
Not just answers— actual thinking acceleration.
Screenshot of all 75 commands attached
Each one includes:
• Workflow stage (when to use it)
• What it saves you from
• Real examples
• The exact command syntax
75 of them and 20 are must-knows.
The other 55 are the ones that feel like cheating.
(Only really for advanced users)
Commands that make ChatGPT question its own logic.
Commands that build entire systems in minutes.
Commands most people stumble on by accident— if they find them at all.
But let's start with the 20 essentials.
They turn ChatGPT from a search engine into a collaborative thinking partner.
No more:
→ 10-message back-and-forth
→ "Not quite what I meant" responses
→ Rewriting the same prompt 5 times
The difference: Hours saved every week.
Here they are:
→ QUICK WINS (use these today)
✅ /ELI5 — Explain like I'm five (no jargon, simple analogies)
✅ /BRIEFLY — Forces a 1-2 sentence answer (no fluff)
✅ /STEP-BY-STEP — Numbers each step (no hand-waving)
✅ /CHECKLIST — Converts any response to checkboxes
✅ /EXEC SUMMARY — C-suite brief: headline + 3 bullets
→ WORK SMARTER
✅ /SCOPE-FIRST — Asks clarifying questions before solving
✅ /PARETO-PLAN — Gives you the 80/20 actions ranked by impact
✅ /MVP-FIRST — Smallest working version + upgrade path
✅ /SANITY-CHECK — Flags obvious errors and missing steps
✅ /EVIDENCE-PLAN — Shows what to measure and how to validate
→ THINK BETTER
✅ /RED-TEAM — Stress-tests your plan with failure modes
✅ /DEVIL'S-ADVOCATE — Argues the opposing case, then reconciles
✅ /FIRST PRINCIPLES — Rebuilds from fundamentals
✅ /ASSUMPTIONS-LIST — Surfaces all assumptions so you can edit them
✅ /DECISION-MATRIX — Builds a weighted scorecard with tie-breakers
→ WRITE BETTER
✅ /TEACH-BACK — Explains, then quizzes you to confirm understanding
✅ /REWRITE AS — Rephrases in any style you want
✅ /TONE — Changes the tone (formal, playful, urgent, etc.)
✅ /HOOKS-NOW — Generates high-conversion openers
✅ /CITATIONS-REQUIRED — Includes sources and confidence levels
These commands turn every ChatGPT session into a power tool.
Not just answers— actual thinking acceleration.
Screenshot of all 75 commands attached
Each one includes:
• Workflow stage (when to use it)
• What it saves you from
• Real examples
• The exact command syntax
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YC buys into the team, more than the idea!
This is one of the most overlooked questions in the YC application:
“How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet?”
Don’t fall into the trap of just saying “6 months” and moving on to the idea, “the more important part”.
Here’s what I noticed during the YC batch: almost every company I knew either completely pivoted or made big adjustments to their idea.
But if the idea is the criterion for acceptance and it changes so often… aren’t these companies just toast?
No. Because a lot of times, YC isn’t buying into the idea at all.
They’re buying into the team. The FOUNDERS.
They want to make sure that you are an exceptional team. That you won’t give up. That you can stick together when you’re stressed and crammed in a room for 16+ hours a day for years (and maybe even living together).
When put like that, can you think of even one person you would want to do that with? If so, maybe it’s time to start a startup lol.
Founder conflict is one of the top causes of startup failure. YC is screening for that.
Some startups pivot 5+ times before landing on their breakout idea. Successful companies will change ideas and directions in weeks. What they won’t change is their founding team.
That’s why this isn’t a throwaway question. It’s your chance to prove you’re the kind of team that will still be standing when the idea inevitably changes. Don’t waste it.
“How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet?”
Don’t fall into the trap of just saying “6 months” and moving on to the idea, “the more important part”.
Here’s what I noticed during the YC batch: almost every company I knew either completely pivoted or made big adjustments to their idea.
But if the idea is the criterion for acceptance and it changes so often… aren’t these companies just toast?
No. Because a lot of times, YC isn’t buying into the idea at all.
They’re buying into the team. The FOUNDERS.
They want to make sure that you are an exceptional team. That you won’t give up. That you can stick together when you’re stressed and crammed in a room for 16+ hours a day for years (and maybe even living together).
When put like that, can you think of even one person you would want to do that with? If so, maybe it’s time to start a startup lol.
Founder conflict is one of the top causes of startup failure. YC is screening for that.
Some startups pivot 5+ times before landing on their breakout idea. Successful companies will change ideas and directions in weeks. What they won’t change is their founding team.
That’s why this isn’t a throwaway question. It’s your chance to prove you’re the kind of team that will still be standing when the idea inevitably changes. Don’t waste it.
express, not stress