This edition is brought to you by Dex

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

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

Stories of Excellence

Person: Chung Ju-Yung

Chung Ju-yung, the founder of Hyundai Group, rose from poverty to become one of South Korea's most influential businessmen. Born in 1915 to a poor farming family, Chung's entrepreneurial spirit emerged early. He left home at 16, working odd jobs before starting a small auto repair shop. This led to founding Hyundai in 1947. Chung's tenacity and vision drove Hyundai's expansion into construction, shipbuilding, and automobiles. "Do it until nothing more can be done. Give it your all until the very end," he often said. His leadership transformed Hyundai into a global conglomerate. Chung also played a key role in South Korea's rapid economic development. He died in 2001, leaving a legacy of innovation and perseverance.

Key Lessons from Chung Ju-yung:

• On perseverance: "Whatever I did, I never slacked off. Compared to farming, the workload at the shop was nothing yet. I threw myself into the job just as my father did on his farm."

• On self-education: "Even though my education stopped after the 6th grade, I've always enjoyed reading great books."

• On optimism: "I was born with the ability to accentuate the positive rather than the negative."

Read More.

Company: Cost Plus Drug Company

Cost Plus Drug Company was founded in January 2022 by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Dr. Alex Oshmyansky. The company's mission is to provide affordable medications by cutting out middlemen and operating on a fixed 15% markup model. Cuban, known for his role on "Shark Tank" and ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, provided the initial funding and business acumen. Oshmyansky, a radiologist by training, serves as CEO and brought pharmaceutical industry expertise. Within its first year, the company offered over 1,000 generic drugs and partnered with over 1,000 independent pharmacies. By 2024, it had served more than 2 million customers and was reportedly in talks to raise $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation.

Key Lessons from Cost Plus Drug Company:

• On transparency: Make it your core differentiator. Cost Plus Drug Company's entire model is built on radical transparency. They show exactly how much they pay for drugs and what their markup is. No secrets. No hidden fees. It's refreshing in an industry known for its opacity.

• On market entry: Start with the low-hanging fruit. They began with generic drugs - easier to source, less regulatory hurdles. Smart. They're tackling more complex medications now, but they built momentum with the easy wins first.

Read More.

Be the kind of friend, colleague, or founder who remembers the little things

Dex helps you keep track of the people in your life—with smart reminders, notes, and one timeline across all your interactions. No more forgetting birthdays, follow-ups, or that great idea someone mentioned last time you talked.

I’ve been using Dex to organise my network and it’s been a total game-changer. I can take quick notes right after a call, and Dex reminds me to check in at just the right time.

Features I love:

• Gentle nudges for job changes, birthdays, and regular follow-ups

• Quick note-taking on desktop or mobile—with voice input supported

• A single timeline that tracks every email, message, meeting, and note

• Automatic contact syncing from LinkedIn, iMessage, Gmail, WhatsApp, and more

• Chrome extension to add contacts from LinkedIn (even if we’re not connected)

Relationships don’t thrive on autopilot. Dex makes it easier to show up consistently—for the people who matter.

Check out Dex today.

Accelerants

High-performance tool

⎯

Agenda-Setting Theory

Agenda-Setting Theory

Mainstream media sets the agenda of public discourse.

The more attention the media gives to certain issues, the more likely the public is to consider them important.

Don’t pay blind attention to what’s on the “agenda” and forget what’s not being said.

Insights

Tactical reads

⎯

> When examining cognitive fluctuations
How the old and the new make the mind ebb and flow (Read it here)

> When reflecting on technology's impact on humanity
I Used to Be a Human Being: My Distraction Sickness — and Yours (Read it here)

1 question

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.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

Be the kind of friend, colleague, or founder who remembers the little things

Dex helps you keep track of the people in your life—with smart reminders, notes, and one timeline across all your interactions. No more forgetting birthdays, follow-ups, or that great idea someone mentioned last time you talked.

I’ve been using Dex to organise my network and it’s been a total game-changer. I can take quick notes right after a call, and Dex reminds me to check in at just the right time.

Features I love:

• Gentle nudges for job changes, birthdays, and regular follow-ups

• Quick note-taking on desktop or mobile—with voice input supported

• A single timeline that tracks every email, message, meeting, and note

• Automatic contact syncing from LinkedIn, iMessage, Gmail, WhatsApp, and more

• Chrome extension to add contacts from LinkedIn (even if we’re not connected)

Relationships don’t thrive on autopilot. Dex makes it easier to show up consistently—for the people who matter.

Check out Dex today.

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.

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