TFTLR: 1) Next Warren Buffet, 2) Product-Market Fit, 3) Great Founders, and 4) Recruiting

Thoughts for the Long Run, 10/22/22

Welcome back to TFTLR! I am working on a way to combine all of the articles from the archives into a single knowledge base - more exciting developments to come soon :)

Mental Model 1 - The Next Warren Buffet (Neckar): In a post previously shared on TFTLR, it was noted that there are no new Warren Buffets for the same reason there are no new Ted Williams, as competition erased alpha. I loved this piece's optimism in flipping the coin - the next warren Buffet won't copy Ben Graham (or Buffet or Munger, though they'll learn from them) and instead will set on their own path being "spectacularly unusual."

Mental Model 2 - How to Know if You've Got Product Market Fit (Lenny): I know, another post on PMF. This one I consider to be the master file with several definitions enabling a good triangulation of exactly when you have it and when you don't. One definition they missed, PMF is when growth isn't the biggest problem.

Mental Model 3 - How to Be a Great Founder (Y Combinator): The YC archives are so deep and rich. In this one, Reid Hoffman describes what's necessary to be a great founder: 1) Have co-founders, 2) Be contrarian (and right), 3) Be flexible and persistent (based on de-risking the investment thesis), 4) Be solving short-term problems while maintaining a long-term vision, 5) Have great product sense, leadership, networks, persuasion, and tracking ability (am I tracking against my investment thesis?), and 6) Ability to learn and adapt.

Personal Development: Great Leaders Spend 50% of their Time Recruiting (Me!): As recruiting is a core component of every leader's job, I wanted to find a fantastic mental model on how to source talent. I found a number of great pieces and stitched them together into what I think is a powerful model for anyone building their team.

Have a great week!
Aimun