ER Erik Rogne Subscribe

Sep 29, 2024

Making things happen, CGMs, Founder Mode, & More

Issue #71

  • newsletter
Read on Substack

Today at a Glance:

  • Quote: Make things happen

  • Thoughts: CGM for food tracking

  • Reading: Founder Mode

  • Podcast: Zuck on long-term product thinking

  • Tweet: Being a great conversationalist.

  • Product: Replit Agents—no-code app builder

#QUOTE

Quote I'm pondering...

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it." — Chinese Proverb

Ignore the noise from those who say something can’t be done. Focus on taking action, solve real problems, and let results speak for themselves. Execution is what sets you apart.

#THOUGHTS

What I'm thinking about...

  • I want to try a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) to understand how my body reacts to food; any recommendations? Thinking about getting Stelo

#READING

What I'm reading...

Founder Mode

//paulgraham

Not a great article, but what it does is label the term "Founder Mode". I have (and will likely continue) to call this "Owner Mentality", since that is much less cringe. What I do love about this article is that it validates that this thing is important and we need more of it in our lives.

Founder Mode is about:

  1. Zeroing in on the most important things

  2. Digging deeper than just the surface—we’re talking roots, not just weeds

  3. Micromanaging and pushing your team to excellence

  4. Ignoring standard hierarchies to get things done

How to succeed in MrBeast production

//mrbeast

This is a leaked new hire memo for the MrBeast (YouTuber) team. The grammar in this memo is terrible, but there is so much substance -- goes to show, grammar probably doesn't matter as much as you thought.

My favorite sections & takeaways (go read them!)

  • No does not mean no --> always get to yes

  • Don’t take anything at face value, always dig --> first principles

  • You should watch our videos --> be a user of our product

  • Critical components --> core functionality

  • Brand deals are content --> use everything to accelerate your core value proposition

  • Idc how traditional media does things --> know the game you’re playing

  • It’s your fault, track the contractor --> have an owner mentality

#LEARNING

Something I've learned...

#PODCASTS

My favorite listens...

The Mark Zuckerberg Interview

//acquired

Loved this interview with Mark and the Acquired team.

  • Meta's resilience stems from its focus on human connection rather than being tied to a specific type of app.

  • Rapid iteration and feedback are core to Meta's product development. Ship fast and get real-world feedback to improve the product.

  • Zuckerberg views the company in the very long-term, thinking about the company in decades rather than years.

#TWEET

Social media that made me stop and think...

How to be a great conversationalist conversational (link)

[

](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!C956!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7229816-f401-42c7-8458-7fb37913c2c2_583x402.png)

Self-driving bus in China (link). We are so behind.

[

](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eklv!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf6073d8-532b-4f72-afce-b742258f660d_583x744.png)

Clearest path to $10M liquid (link)

[

](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IoCp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc6dca86-5ec1-4616-bfbf-d4a13463685f_1454x1488.png)

#PRODUCT

A product that I've been loving...

Replit Agents

Replit Agents are a no-code way to write and deploy software projects. It uses natural language to create webapps from scratch. I haven't tried it yet, but I've been dying to build some ideas in my backlog.

This podcast from Marketing Against the Grain demos building a fitness app in 33m.