Ben Wilson

So they journey northward, making more important observations and measurements. For example, they demonstrate that New Guinea, this big island, is not connected to Australia. It's important geographic discovery for Europe. And almost everywhere they go, Cook makes important geographic discoveries and measurements, almost as like a matter of habit. He can't help himself.

So they journey northward, making more important observations and measurements. For example, they demonstrate that New Guinea, this big island, is not connected to Australia. It's important geographic discovery for Europe. And almost everywhere they go, Cook makes important geographic discoveries and measurements, almost as like a matter of habit. He can't help himself.

He's just constantly observing, putting things together, making maps, taking measurements everywhere he goes. It reminds me of a Paul Graham essay. Paul Graham is this great venture capitalist, early figure in Silicon Valley. He wrote an essay called Start. And he's writing about rules for starting a startup. And he talks about who you should hire.

He's just constantly observing, putting things together, making maps, taking measurements everywhere he goes. It reminds me of a Paul Graham essay. Paul Graham is this great venture capitalist, early figure in Silicon Valley. He wrote an essay called Start. And he's writing about rules for starting a startup. And he talks about who you should hire.

And he writes, one of the best tricks I learned during our startup was a rule for deciding who to hire. Could you describe the person as an animal? It might be hard to translate that into another language, but I think everyone in the US knows what it means. It means someone who takes their work a little too seriously.

And he writes, one of the best tricks I learned during our startup was a rule for deciding who to hire. Could you describe the person as an animal? It might be hard to translate that into another language, but I think everyone in the US knows what it means. It means someone who takes their work a little too seriously.

Someone who does what they do so well that they pass right through professional and cross over into obsessive. If you think about people you know, you'll find the animal test is easy to apply. Call the person's image to your mind and imagine the sentence, so-and-so is an animal. If you laugh, they're not.

Someone who does what they do so well that they pass right through professional and cross over into obsessive. If you think about people you know, you'll find the animal test is easy to apply. Call the person's image to your mind and imagine the sentence, so-and-so is an animal. If you laugh, they're not.

you don't need or perhaps even want this quality in big companies but you need it in a startup okay so i like that right could you describe this person as an animal and i would just add one corollary okay one slight modification which is um i wouldn't say that you would apply the word animal to james cook but what i would say you could call him is he's a machine

you don't need or perhaps even want this quality in big companies but you need it in a startup okay so i like that right could you describe this person as an animal and i would just add one corollary okay one slight modification which is um i wouldn't say that you would apply the word animal to james cook but what i would say you could call him is he's a machine

I think that's another good question. Can you describe this person as a machine without laughing? And absolutely, you can describe James Cook as a machine, right? The force of habit, the consistency, the single-mindedness. When it came to making discoveries at sea, Captain Cook was absolutely a machine. I mean, just imagine.

I think that's another good question. Can you describe this person as a machine without laughing? And absolutely, you can describe James Cook as a machine, right? The force of habit, the consistency, the single-mindedness. When it came to making discoveries at sea, Captain Cook was absolutely a machine. I mean, just imagine.

You have done this year-long grueling journey exploring all these foreign lands. A half dozen people have died. Your ship was recently carved up by a coral reef. You're just limping along. Provisions are low. And now for the first time, you are entering more or less what is the known world to Europeans, okay? There are especially Dutch trading posts in New Guinea, okay?

You have done this year-long grueling journey exploring all these foreign lands. A half dozen people have died. Your ship was recently carved up by a coral reef. You're just limping along. Provisions are low. And now for the first time, you are entering more or less what is the known world to Europeans, okay? There are especially Dutch trading posts in New Guinea, okay?

And so for the first time, like maybe if you want to, you could let your hair down a little bit. You could relax. The hard stuff is over. But no, James Cook is charting the southern coast of New Guinea. He is just reflexively. measuring, charting, making more discoveries, making more observations. So he's a machine. And that's a good piece of advice. Be a machine.

And so for the first time, like maybe if you want to, you could let your hair down a little bit. You could relax. The hard stuff is over. But no, James Cook is charting the southern coast of New Guinea. He is just reflexively. measuring, charting, making more discoveries, making more observations. So he's a machine. And that's a good piece of advice. Be a machine.

Find something that you can do so habitually, so reflexively that no one else can compete. It reminds me, I think I've told this story before, but it reminds me of Brandon Flowers of The Killers. Killers, one of the greatest rock bands of the 21st century. And there's this book called Meet Me in the Bathroom, Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001 to 2011.

Find something that you can do so habitually, so reflexively that no one else can compete. It reminds me, I think I've told this story before, but it reminds me of Brandon Flowers of The Killers. Killers, one of the greatest rock bands of the 21st century. And there's this book called Meet Me in the Bathroom, Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001 to 2011.

And they talk about all these bands that came through New York City and revived the rock scene in the early 2000s. And the Killers were kind of the greatest, at least the biggest of those bands. And so in this book, they're talking about the killers and how the killers didn't really party like other bands did.

And they talk about all these bands that came through New York City and revived the rock scene in the early 2000s. And the Killers were kind of the greatest, at least the biggest of those bands. And so in this book, they're talking about the killers and how the killers didn't really party like other bands did.