In my last story I talked about a new way to handle information overload. In it, I talked about the 3 parts of the information process I deal with most:

1. Input
2. Processing
3. Output

Over time, I’ve started to refine what feels like the “right” amount in terms of each of these categories. Today, I’m going to do a deep dive into what kind of inputs I want to take in and why.

Information is Unlimited

The fact that information is unlimited is the bedrock of my last article and the starting off point for this one. If information is infinite and I am…

Monday Musings #1

I’m on my fourth attempt to read the Innovators by Walter Isaacson. By now, I have the first few chapters, all about the early computing theory of Ada Lovelace and the 1800s, all but committed to memory.

Back in those days, information was scant. Books were not new, but not old either. They were still expensive as fuck and reserved for the upper crust.

We live in a profoundly different world. …

We all fall into folly from time to time. A few years ago I thought I could handle a startup better than Neil. Driven by this unconscious idea I drove Neil away from decision making and slowly took over our company, since defunct. In return for my folly, I went years without groundbreaking startup ideas. I never made the connection, the loss of Neil as a business partner and the fleeing of my ideas.

It wasn’t until he left again, this time on good terms, that I recognized the power of two and the weakness of one. It’s been almost…

Recap

This month continued our trend of pushing the boundaries of what we mean by “product”. This time, instead of encouraging people to use calendars to track their spending, we used randomization to pick IPOs in hopes of finding a new, better way to choose early stage companies (and reap the rewards that come with them).

In this experiment, we are breaking tradition yet again in that this project will run until the end of 2021. …

Year of Money | Month #4 | Update 2

If you are new to this experiment, please check out our first article of this month, which gives a little background.

Preface

Before we dig into this month, I want to provide a quick update on one of the critical assumptions of this experiment:

Buying IPOs gives you access to lower prices

While tooling around the internet this week, I found evidence that this assumption does not hold. The wealth management firm Citrine Capital wrote the following in a paper about IPO investing:

New Dimensional research reveals the fundamental challenges IPO investors face. They may not be able to trade during…

Preface

As many of our things tend to, our philosophy has a structure. Part of our philosophy is based on themes and ideas that fascinate us and define our work. The other part of our philosophy is set on stable, yet open to change principles that give us good boundaries.

The backdrop to our philosophy was forged in tough moments that almost tore us apart. Back in college, we spent 3 years running a startup that didn’t end well. The failure of our company was painful and forced both of us to reconsider what we wanted to do next. …

Year of Money | Month #4 | Update 1

If you are new to this experiment, please check out our first article of this month, which gives a little background.

Preface

Before we dig into this month, I want to provide a quick update on one of the critical assumptions of this experiment:

Buying IPOs gives you access to lower prices

While tooling around the internet this week, I found evidence that this assumption does not hold. The wealth management firm Citrine Capital wrote the following in a paper about IPO investing:

New Dimensional research reveals the fundamental challenges IPO investors face. They may not be able to trade during…

Year of Money | Month #4 | The Drop

Introduction

Here at Jimmy & Neil Have Problems, we always start with problems. We believe that ideas are cheap and people pay for problems.

Our belief in problems results in a problem first structure, which is mirrored in our articles. Every “drop” will follow the same structure.

A quick version with the elevator pitch of problem, solution, and drop details.

Then a longer version with the backstory and helpful resources related to the problem and solution.

**DISCLAIMER**

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice.

The Quick Version

Problem

Finding companies to invest in early is hard.

Solution

Randomize the selection process…