No. 691 – July 26, 2026
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Tiny Thoughts
The work is the reward.
When you don’t have the track record to sell people on your past, sell them on your future.
Acceptance is not surrender. It is the moment you stop wasting energy on what is already true and start using that energy to decide what to do next.
Insights
Coach Bobby Knight on what few people have:
“The key is not the will to win. Everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.”
The Dalai Lama on listening:
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”
Mary Kay Ash on the relationship between responsibility and authority:
“People also feel important when they’re given responsibility. But responsibility without authority can destroy a person’s self-esteem.”
The Knowledge Project
No company decides to fail. It drifts there one comfortable lie at a time. Kaz Nejatian took over Opendoor when it was just weeks away from bankruptcy. What happened next shocked everyone.
Most turnaround stories are told years later, by the winner, after the ending is already known. That’s why they always sound clean and polished. This one doesn’t have an ending yet, and it’s anything but clean and polished. Kaz takes us inside while it’s still happening.
One of the key things I learned in this conversation is that the comfortable lies that sink a company are the same ones that sink a career.
When I think about why this conversation resonates so much with me right now, it’s because it offers a mental tune-up. And that’s just what I needed.
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+ This episode is brought to you by AppLovin.
Thanks for reading,
— Shane Parrish
P.S. I wondered how this was made.