Naval Ravikant

Principles are our summary of their public statements.

• Look for nonobvious edges

  Strategy

  Smart and aggressive people find success in subversive or weird niches before they become professionalized and mainstream.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Vitalik, 2022  (opens in a new tab)

• Leverage Information for Control

  Negotiation

  Founders can reduce investor control by using standardized documents and educating themselves on market norms.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source The Unbundling of the Venture Capital Industry, 2010  (opens in a new tab)

• Avoid Arbitrary Enforcement

  Management

  Platforms lose trust when they punish some developers while rewarding others based on shifting business models.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Right now, the only true open platforms for any startup are email and the web. Android is a close third.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Set an absurdly high hourly rate

  Wealth

  Establish a personal hourly rate that feels unrealistic and use it to decide whether to outsource tasks or do them yourself.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Prioritize and Focus, 2020  (opens in a new tab)

• Seek the Intellectual Frontier

  Creativity

  Innovation happens at the edges where there is less regulation and more freedom to be 'weird' or different without being canceled.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Decentralization, 2021  (opens in a new tab)

• Remove Emotion from Conflict

  Negotiation

  Address business disputes by stating facts and intentions clearly without letting anger or angst cloud the process.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Choosing to Build Yourself, 2020  (opens in a new tab)

• Transparency as a Competitive Edge

  Strategy

  In industries where opacity is the norm, being transparent about pricing, processes, and terms creates an immediate market opening.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source A Venture Sla, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

• Apply a risk discount rate

  Risk

  One must account for the massive risk of failure by applying a high discount rate to any promised future income.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Npv, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

• Wealth is Positive Sum

  Wealth

  Wealth is not a finite pie to be divided; it is created through productivity and technology, meaning one person's gain does not require another's loss.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Ethical Wealth, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

• Reduce desires to find presence

  Focus

  Happiness is the default state when the mind stops moving toward the past or future; reducing external desires allows one to accept the present.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Maybe happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal skill that can be learned, like fitness or nutrition.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Escape Competition Through Authenticity

  Strategy

  Avoid copying others; instead, build a business or career that is a direct expression of your unique personality to eliminate competitors.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Find and Build Specific Knowledge, 2020  (opens in a new tab)

• Pragmatic moderation over purity

  Decisions

  Sticking to principles with infinite weight can lead to failure in extreme scenarios; it is better to be transparent about pragmatic compromises.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Vitalik 2, 2022  (opens in a new tab)

• Build Factories Not Just Products

  Leadership

  Modern high-leverage engineers focus on building the systems and 'factories' that produce multiplicative outputs rather than just shipping individual features.

  Supporting quotes

  • “No matter how expensive these models might seem, they're still way cheaper than a human.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Acknowledge Internal Control

  Mindset

  While genetics play a role, internal states like temperament and outlook are much more within an individual's control than physical traits.

  Supporting quotes

  • “The first step to increasing your level of happiness is realizing you can. This is where a lot of people get tripped up.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Diversify When Data Is Scarce

  Capital allocation

  When making decisions with very little data, such as seed investing, one should build a broad portfolio to hedge against the lack of specific knowledge.

  Supporting quotes

  • “When you have less data, you need a more diversified portfolio. In some sense, diversification is a hedge against the lack of knowledge.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Build Gut Instinct Through Preparation

  Learning

  Judgment is developed by studying markets and people in advance so that the subconscious can make fast, accurate decisions when an opportunity appears.

  Supporting quotes

  • “When you have less data, you need a more diversified portfolio. In some sense, diversification is a hedge against the lack of knowledge.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Prioritize People Over Products During Pivots

  Hiring

  Since early-stage startups often change their product, investors should focus on the founder's credibility and ability to execute within a broad market.

  Supporting quotes

  • “When you have less data, you need a more diversified portfolio. In some sense, diversification is a hedge against the lack of knowledge.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Master the core base theories

  Learning

  A founder should focus on understanding the underlying theories that drive reality to make better sense of the world.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source Theory, 2021  (opens in a new tab)

• Strong Opinions Loosely Held

  Mindset

  Maintain strong convictions based on current data but be willing to discard them immediately when proven wrong or when circumstances change.

  Supporting quotes

  • “You can do it remotely, but the odds are stacked against you. You won't have the trust networks; you won't see enough of the dealflow.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Design for Pattern Completion

  Product

  People find joy in predicting and completing patterns, so products or art should offer recursive depth to stay engaging.

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Natural Beauty, 2005  (opens in a new tab)