​

To the obsessed,

I'm addicted to contrast.

Art and business.

City and ocean.

Noise and silence.

For me, the extremes are home.

That's why, when I post pictures of NY, I always try to do it in black and white.

Because that's what it is.

Build or die.

Create or crumble.

Color was a bug in the simulation that is New York.

Okay, maybe that's too far.

But, the part I love- is the intangible, irresistible ambition in the air. That part is remarkably simple. You don't see it, you feel it.

And, it's hard to find anywhere else.

​

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PS: I was just interviewed by my friend Tommy Clark- for his newsletter Social Files.

He asked me all about:

- How I got started with content

- How I found 'obsession,' and making animations

- How I gained 1.6M followers (across IG+TikTok) in under 6 months. (kind of insane to read that stat)

​Click here to read the profile, and subscribe to Tommy's great newsletter.​

Now, let's get into the bullets.

1. On waking up early:

"A great piece of advice I got from one of my medical school professors - 'An hour before 9 is worth 2 after 5'" - Ali Abdaal​

Getting up early is a cheat-code for life.

2. On compounding:

Do the thing only you can do.

Do it to the extreme.

Do it for a decade.

3. On branding, from Naval:

“Good product branding is good art - a little subversive and a little radical. Can’t be done by committees.”

“The best brands are simple from afar, but sophisticated up close.”

“The hardest part is the initial branding. You can do it by bringing an existing brand from the outside, addressing a new vertical, an audacious new approach, or by creating unique content.”

“The more the product is a commodity, the more the brand matters.”

- Naval Ravikant​

4. On owning a word:

If you want to ‘own’ a word, you have to make it common enough that it’s in culture and people recognize it.

But, it has to be rare enough that you still have a chance to own it.

There’s a thin line.

I think 'obsession' lands perfectly in this gap. Read more in my interview with Tommy- on Social Files.

5. On design-languages:

"We looked at the entire industry, we saw there were very few brands that tried to build a family of devices, that had a coherent design language. Apple is one of the companies that still does it. Some of the most respected tech companies of the past stay true to this. That was one of the first principles we decided we had to pursue- when we have more products in the market, in different categories, even when the customer doesn't see our logo, they should still know it's a product made by Nothing. Then we started taking inspiration from different creative fields- from architecture design, fashion design, movies, technology."- Carl Pied, a16z Podcast​

Nothing's transparent design is pure eye-candy. And, their Ear(2) headphones are amazing. Don't tell (casey) I stole these.

6. On building communities:

"Start with mission, design the rituals, build the brand, create scarcity, iterate." - Greg Isenberg​

7. On making friends:

How to make new friends:

Treat strangers like you’ve been friends forever.

8. On the montage we call life:

"If you want to be happy, find something you love doing and pour your heart into it — then go do some fun things with your family and friends. Happiness is a collection of memories and stories that flash by in a montage we call life — create more meaningful memories." - Jason Calacanis​

9. On Napoleon:

"I sometimes think "The Young Napoleon Bonaparte Studying At The Military Academy" is the hardest painting of all time." - Jash Dholani​

10. On which path to take:

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Barra

I’d love to know what you thought of this edition. Reply to this email, or tweet me at @zachpogrob.

My mission is to spread obsession to 1B lives.

One quick favor- if you enjoy this newsletter, forward it to an obsessed friend and tell them which bullet they'd love.

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To read past editions, click here.

​Click here to recommend Ten Bullets on Twitter.

Stay obsessed,

Zach

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