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. 

If you enjoy this, feel free to forward it along to a friend or colleague who might too. First time reading? Sign up here.

Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

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

Stories of Excellence

Person: Emily Weiss

Emily Weiss, the founder and CEO of Glossier, has revolutionized the beauty industry with her customer-centric approach and commitment to inclusivity. Born in 1985, Weiss's passion for beauty and entrepreneurship led her to launch the successful blog "Into The Gloss" in 2010, which later evolved into the direct-to-consumer beauty brand Glossier. "We're not trying to be everything to everyone, but we want everyone to feel welcome," Weiss emphasizes, championing a more inclusive and authentic definition of beauty. With a focus on simplicity, transparency, and community engagement, Glossier has cultivated a devoted following and disrupted traditional beauty standards. Weiss's innovative leadership and ability to anticipate consumer needs have earned her recognition as one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2019. "The future of beauty is about more than how you look - it's about how you feel."

Key Lessons from Emily Weiss:

• On customer-centricity: "We're not just selling products, we're selling a feeling."

• On transparency: "We believe in being transparent with our customers about our products, our process, and our values."

• On leadership: "Leadership is about having a vision and the ability to inspire others to join you in bringing that vision to life."

Read More.

Company: GoPro

GoPro, the action camera giant, was born from the passion of Nick Woodman, a surfing enthusiast searching for a better way to film himself and his friends riding the waves. In 2002, armed with a 35mm camera and a wrist strap, Woodman embarked on a surfing trip that would change his life. Dissatisfied with the available options, he set out to create a camera that could capture the intensity of his adventures. Woodman's vision took shape in 2004 when GoPro sold its first camera system using 35mm film. Two years later, the company made the leap to digital, launching the Digital Hero, its first video-ready product. GoPro's journey from a startup in a VW van to a multi-billion dollar enterprise had begun.

Key Lessons from GoPro:

• On passion: “One thing I always tell entrepreneurs is if you can out-passion and out-commit and out-determine your competition,” then you will be successful. “For some reason, most humans give up. They just do."

• On perseverance: “I think the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who tell themselves, ‘I am going to die before I give up on this effort.’”

• On innovation: Identify a gap in the market and fill it. GoPro created a product category that didn't exist before.

Read More.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Arc Browser

Every few weeks, I’ll share a tool or hack I’ve been trying that’s improved some aspect of my life. I have no affiliation with these and will always clearly share when that’s false.

This week, it’s the Arc Browser. Arc has been recommended to me by several friends and I've finally folded. It's a less crowded and more personalised way of browsing.

I'm enjoying the 'fluid' feeling of using Arc, and the shortcuts make jumping around faster than Chrome.

A trend I’m watching

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Imagine a future where your doctor tailors your treatment plan based on your unique genetic makeup, lifestyle factors, and even a virtual "avatar" that simulates how different therapies would work for you. That's the promise of precision medicine, and it's getting closer to reality every day. By leveraging advances in genomic sequencing, AI algorithms, and computational biology, healthcare is moving from one-size-fits-all to ultra-personalized therapies designed for an "N of 1."

Startups and researchers are already making strides in this space:

• Dosis uses AI to optimize drug dosing, enabling doctors to use dramatically less medication while achieving equal or better outcomes. Their Strategic Anemia Advisor is used in clinics across the US.

• The CURATE.AI platform creates personalized "digital avatars" of patients to simulate responses and identify optimal treatment doses. Early studies show it can reduce chemo doses by 20% while maintaining effectiveness.

• GE Healthcare envisions AI integrating medical records, imaging, genetic data and more to predict disease risk, detect abnormalities earlier, and enable targeted therapies like theranostics for cancer.

The opportunities are immense - from AI-assisted treatment planning tools for doctors, to virtual clinical trials that speed up drug development, to at-home diagnostic and monitoring devices that feed data into precision medicine algorithms. While hurdles remain around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and integration into clinical workflows, precision medicine ultimately promises to make healthcare more proactive, personalized, and powerfully effective for each individual patient. The age of "N=1 medicine" is on the horizon.

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 manage your psychology
What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology (Read it here)

> When evaluating risk
The Three Sides of Risk (Read it here)

> When you need to become your most energised self
Marc Andreessen Guide to Personal Productivity (Read it here)

> When thinking about robotics
A deep dive into the past and future of robotics (Read it here)

> When needing to reduce spending
A Few Thoughts on Spending Money (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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Not many founders grow from 0 to over 10 million users—let alone do it in 9 months.

But Grant Lee and Co. did it with Gamma.

This video lays out exactly how they did it—a goldmine.

My takeaways: 

1. Find a problem or space you’re passionate about because you’ll be committed for 5-10+ years

2. Solve pre-existing problems with new technology rather than applying new technology to problems that don’t exist

3. Don’t listen to your early customers; observe your retention metrics

4. Use your MVP inside your Company to accelerate product development

5. Leveraging generative AI in product onboarding workflows allows you to accelerate ‘time-to-value’ for new customers

Check out Gamma here.

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.

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