I call the umbrella for my various efforts Sustained Ventures. I mean this in the general term of "daring undertaking." To put it a different way, I am in the business of taking risks.
These risks take several forms, but all are about me doing hard things. Some of these hard things are hard for me specifically - perhaps easy for others. These essays are one such venture. Words flow from me like water, but that shipping them is a difficulty. Maintaining a pace of generating monographs and distributing them is a challenge that I am facing every day.
Second, I wish to learn new, challenging topics. I have written elsewhere about my approach to accreting wisdom. Reading, shipping, and conversing with others grow the data and mental models in my brain.
One area I have not written about, however, is the use of capital toward this end. I consider gaining market knowledge to be valuable and worthy of purchase. When an equity investment gives me the chance to learn from or through a founder, this can be an inexpensive way to gain knowledge. If they succeed, I profit. If they fail, I get a front-row seat to understand the pathways. I am shocked that more investors do not take the opportunity to hoover up this information.
Third, I focus on creating value in the world. Every day I hope to leave the world better than I have found it. Minor, daily cadences help me guarantee tortoise-like progress. Ideally, these returns increase on a per-day basis over time. And I mean them to compound through shipping valuable products on a steady basis. As someone once said to me, "slow and steady won that race, but fast and steady will win the next one."
I apply a few different efforts in this regard. First, I participate in communities to help improve people and their lives through service. I want to think these essays are part of that effort. Second, I build products that I think would make the world better using the talents I can apply to the world. And I make some investments in other founders who are doing worthy work.
Fourth, I mean to create wealth for my family. I am not shy about this financial goal. I believe there is a moral component to capitalism in which those who do good may do well. Of course, it may be that I am not successful in this last. Such is the nature of risk baked into the word "venture."
My theory is that these will combine to form a flywheel. Shipping exposes me psychologically, which opens me to learn more, enabling me to make wiser decisions about allocating time and money for worthy projects that do good and generate wealth.
Phrased a different way, I see all of these initiatives as mutually supportive investments. These are ways I can generate high returns on my time in domains about which I care.
It's important to note that my focus on these domains comes from believing that they make the most meaning. The meaning is my goal - that is mostly constant. However, I revisit the areas in which I invest to see if they continue to do the job. And I review the investments to see which are succeeding at the mission.
I am not looking to work as hard as I can at everything I do. Fundamentally, I am lazy. I am a fan of lined-up dominoes, where tipping over just the first will have a massive effect that creates art.
Instigating is fun. Seeing people I have helped succeed is rewarding. And when the products or services create meaning for others that they pay me for, I have found success.