Nat Friedman
Investor and engineer; CEO of GitHub from 2018 to 2021, co-founder of Ximian and Xamarin, and funder of the Vesuvius Challenge to read the Herculaneum Papyri.
Nat Friedman did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
It is our right, and maybe our moral duty, to reshape the universe to our preferences
Their wordsAs human beings it is our right (maybe our moral duty) to reshape the universe to our preferences Technology, which is really knowledge, enables this
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Our reading
You should work on raising the ceiling, not the floor
Their wordsYou should probably work on raising the ceiling, not the floor Enthusiasm matters! It's much easier to work on things that are exciting to you
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Our reading
Doing things fast is important because you make contact with reality more often
Their wordsIt's important to do things fast You learn more per unit time because you make contact with reality more frequently Going fast makes you focus on what's important; there's no time for bullshit
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Our reading
The efficient market hypothesis is at best a very lossy heuristic
Their wordsThe efficient market hypothesis is a lie At best it is a very lossy heuristic The best things in life occur where EMH is wrong
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Our reading
The replication crisis is not an aberration; many of the things we believe are wrong
Their wordsWe know less than we think The replication crisis is not an aberration Many of the things we believe are wrong We are often not even asking the right questions
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Our reading
The cultural prohibition on micromanagement is harmful
Their wordsThe cultural prohibition on micromanagement is harmful Great individuals should be fully empowered to exercise their judgment
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Our reading
Their wordsSmaller teams are better Faster decisions, fewer meetings, more fun No need to chop up work for political reasons
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Our reading
Their wordsLarge-scale engineering projects are more soluble in IQ than they appear Many tech companies are 2-10x overstaffed
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Our reading
Where you get your dopamine predicts your behavior
Their wordsWhere do you get your dopamine? The answer is predictive of your behavior Better to get your dopamine from improving your ideas than from having them validated