🗓️ 2022 Reflections: lessons from writing online and mentors that I've never met

Web3, online community, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and Kevin Owocki

Illustration by DALL.E using the article’s title as a prompt

I went from being a bad writer to a good writer after taking a one-day course in “business writing. That’s not me, that is the opening of Scott Dilbert’s article “The Day You Became A Better Writer”. One that is recommended by many.

Unlike Scott, who is famous for creating the Dilbert comic. I am not yet a good writer, nor famous. But I have learned a lot in my short time of writing. 

In this 1st article of the year, I’d like to take a step back and write something outside Climate & Web3. This is about reflections on what I learned from writing online and the mentors that I’ve found along the way.

✍️ 3 lessons learned from writing online (and in public)

I started writing online at the end of 2020. Thanks to the combination of Germany’s long Covid lockdowns and 28 vacation days that I need to spend in a small apartment. I wrote the first couple of articles about my own learnings throughout the week, from podcasts to books. Inspired by Tim Ferris's 5 bullets Fridays and Farnam Street’s brain food.

Since then, I have written almost 50 articles and made the habit to write every Sunday afternoon in my favorite cafe. Putting down all my thoughts accompanied by a slice of amazing banana bread. What started as a way to kill time, has led me to various learnings.

First is learning new topics like crypto and Web3. Which I would have never learned just by investing in random coins and listening to Bankless. Writing about it has pushed me to go deep and learn how the technology actually works. Looking behind the noise of the market.

Second is joining an online community. From a community such as 1729 writers, I have received feedback, gained inspiration, and most importantly became friends with other aspiring writers. It also opened the door for me to join other communities such as ReFi DAO and ECOTA (European Carbon Offset Tokenization Association).

IRL meetup in Lisbon with Camellia Yang from 1729 writers. A blogger, book author & podcaster that I learned a lot from.

The third is to have something to look for on the weekend. Other than drinking beers and sleeping. This sounds simple, but it has changed how I value my free time. Writing is now one of my favorite hobby and raison d'être (reason for being).

But all these would never happen without the mentors that I have found online. The shoulder of giants that I am writing on.

🤖 Mentors that I’ve never met

Tim Ferris once said:

“Do not assume that you can't find the best teachers, they are out there”

The internet has opened a new world of borderless knowledge. We can now learn from people who are the best in the world at what they are doing. Why settle with the average teacher in your local area, if you can learn from the best.

From my experience, we can learn more from a person’s tweet, podcast conversation, or blog articles, than from an hour of mentorship lunch. Here are some of the mentors that I have learned from and inspired me to write:

Naval Ravikant: Wealth, health, and happiness

If there is someone other than my Dad who has taught me a lot about life, it’s Naval Ravikant. I first learned about Naval from a podcast with Tim Ferris, and it has changed my perspective on life forever.

Naval is mostly known as the founder of Angellist and serial tech investor. But he is also a philosopher, writing his thought in his blog and famous tweets. He repeatedly mentioned that writing is the best way to clear our thoughts and also learn about something. 

Naval lives his life with 3 main principles: a wealthy, healthy, and happy life. These principles are laid out in detail in an e-book called “the Almanack of Naval Ravikant” by Eric Jorgenson. Which is free to read for anyone that is willing to learn. 

Balaji Srinivasan: Immutable money, infinite frontier, eternal life

I learned about the past and future of our world, in technology and human society, from a guy called Balaji. He formerly taught at Stanford, a serial entrepreneur (sold his startup to Coinbase and worked there as CTO), a successful investor (former partner at A16Z), and is now a thought leader on immutable money (cryptocurrencies and it’s use cases), infinite frontier (Web3 and startup society), and eternal life (life extension technology).

He also initiated the 1729 community which I am a part of. A shelling point for critical thinkers, with activities such as lectures and community meetup (frequently presented by Balaji), proof of learnings, proof of workouts, and the writers' group which I mentioned before. 

Balaji is very critical of the status quo. He recently published a book called “The Network State”, on how to use technology not only to start new companies, new communities, and new currencies, but also new cities, or even new countries. The book is also free to read for curious minds out there.

Since 10 years ago Balaji already talked about technological changes that we are seeing now

Kevin Owocki: crypto for good

I initially learn about crypto for the greed but stayed for the hope. Hope for the planet and humanity, thanks to Kevin Owocki. Kevin is the founder of Gitcoin, which started as a platform where people can get paid to work on open-source software, and has now become a place for impactful Web3 projects to raise funds.

Kevin is a builder, currently working on supermodular, a venture studio that builds regenerative Web3 projects. And also a thought leader, writing blogs and hosting podcast to educate and inspire more people about the potential of Web3 for the good of all.

Kevin also wrote a book to share his ideas, called “Green Pilled, how crypto can regenerate the world”. This is actually how I learned about Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement, using blockchain, decentralized ledger, and tokenomics to create positive environmental and social impact. 

Naval, Balaji, and Kevin are just some examples. There are many more people that I’ve found online and look up to. Ryan Holiday on stoicism. Packy McCormick on tech writing. Nassim Taleb on not being a fool. And many more.

☀️ Conclusion

Marcus Aurelius, the emperor and philosopher of Rome once said:

”In reading and writing, you cannot lay down rules until you have learnt to obey them. Much more so in life.” 

There are many ways to learn and many people to learn from. For me, writing online in public and permissionless learning from great mentors have expanded my horizons. Both intellectually and spiritually. 

I wish you a healthy, happy, and prosperous year. LFG.

Thanks for reading this article and enjoy the weather ☀️