korrents

← People and their mental models

Pavel Durov's mental models

2 claims Pavel Durov made fit 2 mental models. Most often: Incentives, Less, but better. Everything they said here.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Incentives

Look at what people are rewarded for; it explains more behaviour than what they say, your own included.

Used by 84 others

Ask who benefits from you reading a piece of news, and you conclude that perhaps 95 percent of it was published to get you to buy, support, fight or donate.

  1. Pavel Durov Founder of Telegram, and before it of VK This is something I practice every day. I read some piece of news and I ask myself, "Who benefits from me reading this?" Then you can end up coming to this conclusion that maybe 95% of things we read in the news have been written and published because somebody wanted you to buy some product, support some political cause, fight some war, donate some money. Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com · 30 Sept 2025 · 0:37:19 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsThis is something I practice every day. I read some piece of news and I ask myself, "Who benefits from me reading this?" Then you can end up coming to this conclusion that maybe 95% of things we read in the news have been written and published because somebody wanted you to buy some product, support some political cause, fight some war, donate some money.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:37:19 plays here

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com

    30 Sept 2025 · video · 4h 34m · spoken · official transcript

Less, but better

Find the essence and cut the rest; simplicity is hard work, not the absence of effort.

Used by 59 others

Headcount does not translate into product quality, and often the opposite: too many people spend their time coordinating, and the idle ones demotivate the rest.

  1. Pavel Durov Founder of Telegram, and before it of VK Well, what we realized really early is that quantity of employees doesn't translate the quality of the product they produce. In many cases, it's the opposite. If you have too many people, they have to coordinate their efforts, constantly communicate, and 90% of their time will be spent on coordinating the small pieces of work they're responsible for between each other. Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com · 30 Sept 2025 · 0:42:10 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsWell, what we realized really early is that quantity of employees doesn't translate the quality of the product they produce. In many cases, it's the opposite. If you have too many people, they have to coordinate their efforts, constantly communicate, and 90% of their time will be spent on coordinating the small pieces of work they're responsible for between each other.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:42:10 plays here

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com

    30 Sept 2025 · video · 4h 34m · spoken · official transcript