This edition is brought to you by Shortform

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world’s most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

If you enjoy this, feel free to forward it along to a friend or colleague who might too. First time reading? Sign up here.

Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

People who went Faster Than Normal

Melanie Perkins

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Melanie Perkins, the tenacious CEO and co-founder of Canva, has steadily navigated the tech world with her user-friendly graphic design platform. Born on May 13, 1987, in Perth, Australia, Perkins' entrepreneurial journey began early with a scarf business at age 14. She attended the University of Western Australia but left at 19 to focus on Fusion Books, a precursor to Canva, which she started with Cliff Obrecht in 2007. Canva, launched in 2013, democratized design and reached a $1 billion valuation by 2018, making Perkins one of the youngest female tech unicorn founders. As of 2023, Canva is valued at $40 billion, and Perkins, with a net worth of $6.5 billion, commits to philanthropy, pledging 30% of her Canva shares to charitable causes. Her leadership has earned Canva accolades like the “Overall Design Collaboration Company of the Year” at the 2021 RemoteTech Breakthrough Awards and a spot on Forbes' Billionaires list. Perkins' strategic vision continues to shape Canva as it introduces AI tools and expands globally. (Canva)

Palmer Luckey

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Palmer Luckey, the mind behind virtual reality trailblazer Oculus VR, has carved an incredible path in technology over the last 10 years. At just 19, he created the Oculus Rift, a head-mounted VR display that catalyzed the industry's growth. His company, Oculus VR, attracted Facebook's attention, leading to a $2.3 billion acquisition in 2014. Not resting on his laurels, Luckey launched Anduril Industries in 2017, a defense technology firm that integrates AI with cutting-edge hardware. Anduril quickly made its mark with huge contracts with the U.S. government for AI-powered sentry towers and a billion-dollar military deal for a drone-led defense system. By 2023, Anduril's valuation soared to $8.5 billion! Watch this space. (The Joe Walker Podcast).

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Get Shortform's free trial and a special discount for FTN readers at Shortform.com/alexbrogan.

Accelerants

Insights on world building

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“The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."
— Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook

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"It's impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case, you fail by default"
— J.K. Rowling, Creator of The Harry Potter Series

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"A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It's only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hears, who doubt and overthink and hesitate"
— Steven Pressfield, Author of The War of Art

Fuel for high performance

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13 ways to help someone

1. Share knowledge (how-to) to reduce suffering

2. Share recommendations (skills, books, tools, resources) to reduce suffering

3. Connect others

4. Share humour to reduce suffering

5. Offer support and friendship

6. Celebrate/remember milestones (birthdays, achievements, anniversaries) 

7. Offer gratitude & interest to make people feel valued

8. Experienced-based knowledge

9. Bring people together in person (and relieve loneliness in the world)

10. Help people think 10x

11. Build wonderful products, services, and cultures

12. Investing in wonderful people, companies, and initiatives

13. Coaching & mentoring people

What else would you add to this list? Send me an email.

Tactical reads

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> When you need a playbook for running a company
Matt Mochary, Silicon Valley’s leading CEO coach (Reddit, Postmates, Plaid, Brex, Coinbase, OpenAI, etc.) on how to build a category-killing company from the ground up (Read it here)

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> When you need to set and hold expectations
Julie Gurner, Fortune 500 Executive Coach and Dr. of psychology, on 8 of the most practical ways to hold a high bar & expectations within a company (Read it here)

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> When you need to leverage your network
Sam Corcos, Founder of A16z-backed Levels Health on how to leverage your network (Read it here)

What’s The Best Way To Find Better Books?

If you struggle to choose your next book, using a tool to get the ‘cliff’ notes before investing your full time and energy is a great idea. If not done thoughtfully, it’s easy to be disappointed when you dive in to your next read and don’t get what you expect. Check out this book guide on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for an example of how Shortform can help with this.

Recently I read Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life after reading a Shortform summary and the context helped me retain the core concepts more readily. Start getting your own summaries today. (FTN readers also get a 20% discount).

Recommended

Media

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> How to hire low experience, high potential people​. 

> Secrets of public speaking and oral communication from a renowned speaking coach.

> Peter’s (Peter Diamandis) Laws: the creed of the persistent and passionate mind.

> ​Growth without goals by Patrick O’Shaughnessy.​ 

> Setting the table: the transforming power of hospitality in business by Danny Meyer.

Question for reflection

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Cheers,

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Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

Faster Than Normal is a ‘state' of being’ rather than an outcome. Outlier performance requires continuous, compounded improvement. We’re your partner on this journey.

Send us your feedback and help us continuously improve our content and achieve our mission. We want to hear from you and respond to everyone.

Interested in reaching Founders, Operators, and Investors like you? To become a Faster Than Normal partner, apply here.