This edition is brought to you by Athyna

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

Stories of Excellence

Person: Marc Benioff

Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, didn't just climb the corporate ladder—he reimagined it. Starting Salesforce in 1999, he championed the then-radical idea of cloud computing, effectively democratizing software for businesses of all sizes. "The business of business is improving the state of the world," Benioff declares, highlighting his vision of integrated philanthropy where giving back is baked into the business model. His approach challenges traditional business paradigms, making him a pioneer in both technology and corporate social responsibility.

Key Lessons from Marc Benioff:

• On service: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

• On culture: "Our culture is based on the Hawaiian concept of Ohana, which means family. We support each other, have fun together, and work toward a common goal."

• On purpose: "The business of business is improving the state of the world."

Read More.

Company: Stripe

Stripe, the online payments powerhouse, was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison - then just 22 and 19 years old. The pair, who had already built and sold their first company Auctomatic, were frustrated with the clunky process of accepting payments online. So they set out to make it simpler. After joining Y Combinator and raising a $2 million seed round, they launched Stripe's first product in late 2011. Growth was rapid; by 2014 Stripe was processing billions annually for companies like Lyft and Shopify. With a laser-focus on making developers' lives easier and a knack for attracting top Silicon Valley talent, Stripe has become an indispensable part of the internet's economic infrastructure.

Key Lessons from Stripe:

• On hiring: "You can't wait until you desperately need to hire someone, because you won't be able to." - Patrick Collison. Hire proactively and always be on the lookout for exceptional talent.

• On customer acquisition: In the early days, the Collison brothers would manually onboard customers, even writing code for their websites. Do things that don't scale to win your first customers.

• On competition: While the payments space is crowded, Stripe differentiated through its developer-centric approach and by abstracting away complexity.

Read More.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs

The "Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs" framework was developed by Jim Collins, the renowned author and researcher behind the business classics Good to Great and Built to Last. It's a disciplined approach to innovation and growth that emphasizes empirical validation before making big bets. As Collins puts it, "The right big things are the things you've empirically validated. So, you fire bullets, you validate, then you go big — bullets, then cannonballs — it's both."

This framework makes sense because it mitigates risk and maximizes the chances of success. By firing "bullets" (low-cost, low-risk experiments), you can test ideas and gather data before committing significant resources. Only after empirically validating an idea's potential should you fire the "cannonball" (a major initiative or investment). Successful companies like Amazon and Apple have employed this approach — the iPod started as a "bullet" before becoming a "cannonball." As venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said, "The idea is to basically start really small with a low amount of risk and money involved, and basically get a series of positive data points."

Are you firing enough bullets? Or are you recklessly launching uncalibrated cannonballs without validation? Reflect on your process — are you gathering empirical data through disciplined experimentation before scaling? The great companies don't rely on gut instinct or visionary genius alone. They fire bullets, then cannonballs.

A trend I’m watching

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As the elderly population grows and the shortage of caregivers worsens, nursing homes are turning to robots to fill the gaps. Companies like Aeolus Robotics are developing social robots that can interact with residents, disinfect surfaces, deliver items, and alert staff if someone falls. Panasonic has even created robotic exoskeletons to help seniors move around more easily.

A few promising opportunities in this space:

• Developing therapeutic robots like Paro that provide the benefits of pet therapy without the challenges of live animals. These could help combat loneliness and provide cognitive stimulation.

• Creating robots that lead group activities like exercise classes, karaoke, or games. The Stevie robot has already been piloted for this purpose.

• Designing modular robotic systems that can be customized for each facility's needs, with add-ons for different functions like cleaning, patient lifting, vital sign monitoring, and more.

The key will be making robots that are friendly, safe, and easy for seniors and staff to interact with. But if done well, robotics could be a huge boon for overwhelmed nursing homes, and a big market opportunity for innovative startups and major tech players alike. With the global nursing care market projected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2027, there's certainly room for growth.

Read More.

If you’re interested in more trends and business ideas, check out Capital Ideas—Faster Than Normal’s paid sister publication (Subscribe with one click).

Tactical reads

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> When you're preparing for investment
The red flags and magic numbers that investors look for (Read it here)

> When making final investment decisions
Final Decision Checklist (Read it here)

> When you need to track your time
You Need To Start Tracking Your Time by Nick Crocker (Read it here)

> When understanding talent flows
What's the secret to Switzerland's status as a global talent hub? (Read it here)

> When thinking about personal finance
The Most Overrated Things in Personal Finance (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.

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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.

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