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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: Miki Agrawal

Miki Agrawal, the serial entrepreneur and author, has built a career on challenging societal taboos and creating innovative products that improve people's lives. Born in 1979 in Montreal, Canada, Agrawal's journey began with the founding of the farm-to-table pizza concept WILD in 2005. She later co-founded THINX, a company that produces period-proof underwear, sparking a global conversation about menstrual equity and sustainability.

Key Lessons from Miki Agrawal:

• On purpose: "When you have a purpose that is bigger than yourself, you can overcome any obstacle."

• On empathy: "The most important thing in business is to really understand your customer and their needs."

• On failure: "Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success."

Read more.

Company: Basecamp

Basecamp, founded in 1999 by Jason Fried, Carlos Segura, and Ernest Kim, started as a web design firm called 37signals. Struggling to manage projects, they built their own tool - which became Basecamp. Launched in 2004, it was an instant hit. Tens of thousands of companies needed exactly what they had created to solve their own problems. A year later, Basecamp was generating more revenue than their web design business. So they shifted focus to what has now become one of the most popular project management tools, used by millions worldwide.

Key Lessons from Basecamp

• On solving your own problems: "We built Basecamp out of desperate necessity. We needed it bad. Without it, we were embarrassing ourselves." - Jason Fried. Build something you need yourself.

• On focusing on the basics: Basecamp succeeded by providing "a simple, straightforward collection of tools" to help teams manage projects. Avoid feature bloat and nail the essentials.

• On building for the long-term: 23 years in, Basecamp is still going strong. "We feel a deep sense of responsibility to continue to make the best product we can for companies who desperately seek a better way to work." - Jason Fried. Think decades, not months.

• On remote work: Basecamp has been remote since day one, decades before it was common. "Remote is Basecamp. We wrote the book on it, literally."

• On rejecting outside capital: Basecamp has remained independent and self-funded. "Once you let in the VC's or the private equity folks, there are only three options: Implosion, acquisition, or IPO. That's a sadly narrow band and I believe the world is poorer for it." - David Heinemeier Hansson.

Read more.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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G.R.O.W.S — A framework for running experiments

The GROWS process is a framework designed for running experiments. Similar to Jim Collins' "Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs" approach, the GROWS framework provides a structured approach to idea validation, ensuring that valuable resources are not allocated without confidence.

It looks like this:

Gather: Generate as many ideas as possible through ideation sessions, drawing inspiration from various sources.

Rank: Score the ideas based on impact, confidence, and ease using a numerical scale (e.g., 1-10). Calculate the total score by adding the three scores and dividing by 3. Sort the ideas based on their total scores.

Outline: Document the experiment details, including what needs to be done, who is responsible, timelines, and required resources.

Work: Execute the top 1-3 highest-scoring experiments concurrently.

Study: Analyze the results once the experiments have run for a sufficient duration or reached statistical significance. Use the learnings to decide on the next steps (start, stop, or continue).

A trend I’m watching

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Imagine controlling your smartphone, typing an email, or even moving a robotic arm - all with just your thoughts. This sci-fi scenario is rapidly becoming reality thanks to major advances in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Tech giants like Neuralink are racing to develop seamless BCIs, with a recent breakthrough allowing a monkey to play Pong using only its mind. Meanwhile, NextMind (acquired by Snap) has created a headset that can translate visual imagination into digital images. BCIs are even entering the consumer market, with startups like Neurable developing "everyday" brain-sensing headphones that auto-adjust music based on your focus levels.

Some exciting business opportunities in the BCI space:

• A Neuralink app store where developers can build mind-controlled apps and games

• B2B tools that use BCIs to optimize worker focus and productivity

• Wireless earbuds that detect stress and play calming music/sounds

• Mind-controlled smart home devices and appliances

With the global BCI market projected to hit $5.3B by 2030, forward-thinking companies should start exploring how this game-changing tech could transform their industries. While hurdles remain around cost, invasiveness and privacy, those who figure out ethical, accessible BCIs could unlock tremendous value. The race is on to bring humanity into the era of "thought-controlled" everything.

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 need to complete reference calls
Add More Rigor to Your Reference Calls With These 25 Questions (Read it here)

> When multidisciplinary learning
Morgan Housel on What Other Industries Teach Us About Investing (Read it here)

> When you need to ask better questions
11 questions from Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss (Read it here)

> When thinking about alternative lending
The rise of alternative lending — diving into revenue-based-finance (RBF) (Read it here)

> When thinking about wealth building strategy
Consider ROH in your wealth building strategy (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

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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).

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