Wherein lies the difference between the genius inventor and the eventual conman?

The temptation to keep engineering? Are you breaking through or are you changing nothing that matters?

The temptation to grow the team? Are you building the manhattan project or are you binding weights to your ankles?

The temptation to tell a grand story? Are you the visionary or the painter of facades?

Luck. Intuition. Discipline. Megalomania.

Mix them, then play the game.

On The Tube

Sitting on the tube at 4 a.m. before the rest of the city wakes up. It’s a fairly good place to study your own psychology. Much later, the day has begun in earnest, and it’s rather your psychology in action. And once the day ends, it seems we are much more inclined to study the psychology of others.

Psychology

The great inventors, the great builders, their great psychology. The great frauds, the great failures, and their great psychology. Wherein do they differ? Is there a line that clearly separates them?

For instance, take Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Holmes. Or look at Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried. Take an evening, or maybe a few, to study their stories. And if you learn something, let us know.

But don’t forget to wake up early sometimes, too. And take the tube, and then ride it back home.