Jimmy Soni @jimmyasoni Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Amazing memo from Steve Jobs re: small teams, focus, and uninterrupted time. (cc-ing my fellow historical nugget junkies: @FoundersPodcast , @LibertyRPF , @jposhaughnessy )

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

I spent five years exploring the origins of PayPal and the lives of its earliest employees—a group that's left a wide imprint on technology, culture, and entrepreneurship. The end result—THE FOUNDERS—debuts on 2/22/22, and I hope you’ll read and enjoy it.

The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

www.amazon.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

In light of the Twitter name change, here’s what I found about while researching THE FOUNDERS, an early history of PayPal. I communicated with ’s pre-Elon owners and interviewed Elon as well as other employees

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 months

The Kindle version of A MIND AT PLAY -- the biography of Dr. Claude Shannon -- is available for $2.99. Check it out!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

It puzzled me that the NHTSA term "recall" is used to describe Tesla's over-the-air software updates — a symptom of applying 1960s auto regulations to 21st century vehicles. Thanks to @WSJOpinion for letting me share thoughts on it:

Opinion | When Is a Recall Not a Recall?

When Tesla issues a software update.

www.wsj.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

While I love the American cover of THE FOUNDERS, I am low-key obsessed with how the Japanese version turned out.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

I really cannot recommend TALENT by @tylercowen and @danielgross highly enough. It satisfies what might be called the "Claude Shannon information theoretic great book indicator"—that is, the # of "surprises/page" are high.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

4 years

It’s Claude Shannon’s 104th Birthday. To Celebrate, We Give You 104 Of His Best Quotes And Quips.

Every idea needs a Medium

link.medium.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

On Claude Shannon’s 103rd Birthday, Here Are 103 Memorable Claude Shannon Quotes, Maxims, And ZIngers

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@spakhm Agree wholeheartedly. I'd add that there are two distinct studies: The founding of PayPal (which I obsessed over for a few years), and then the post-PayPal successes (post '02). Both are worth exploring, though of course I say with the disclaimer that I'm "talking my own book."

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@Austen The hours between 4 AM and 9 AM are when I get everything done and enjoy doing it the most. It is a complete and total game changer. (Especially for parents of young kids, it allows you to finish things before they wake up and not feel like you're robbing Peter to pay Paul.)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Steve Jobs was asked: "Why do you think some of us want the best? Why can't we be content wanting just 'good'?" "We get to create only a few things in this life," Jobs answered, "We really have such a short time here, some of us just want to it count." (h/t Stanford archives)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

THE FOUNDERS Kindle version is currently $1.99 (limited time only)! Get it here:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

4 months

The world needs more creative risk-taking -- in books and in all domains. @jposhaughnessy and I riff on that and many other subjects, including Michael Jordan's decision to play baseball and Taylor Swift's shifts over her career. Give it a listen!

Jim O'Shaughnessy

@jposhaughnessy

4 months

🚨New @InfiniteL88ps is up🚨 My friend @jimmyasoni returns to discuss the future of publishing, the changing world of book marketing, the courage of creative risk, talent spotting and how to avoid being trapped by the opinions of others. 🔥🔥🔥

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Chatting with my friend David Senra ( @FoundersPodcast ) and was reminded of Jerry Seinfeld's response to a question about efficiency from his HBR interview: "If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. The right way is the hard way. The show was successful because I

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

Let my 8-year-old pick a couple stocks for her Roth. She chose Apple and Roblox. At school, she said she was a part owner of Apple. Her friend objected: "But you don't own Apple." Kiddo goes, "No, I own a small piece of Apple, like part of the company." Couldn't be prouder.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Does anyone else find it ironic that when you sign up for GPT-3, the first thing you have to do is satisfy the CAPTCHA and prove you aren't a robot?

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Truly brilliant writing from my friend @dwarkesh_sp on Robert Caro's LBJ series. A compelling meditation that matches the quality of the subject itself!

Lessons from The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro

"Explore a single individual deeply enough and truths about all individuals emerge." - Robert Caro

www.dwarkeshpatel.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

This is one of many nuggets drawn from THE FOUNDERS, which has a lot more about , its ethos, its origins, and why it became what it became. You can check that out here:

The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

www.amazon.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

Each second that Starship defied gravity was a validation of the effort poured into its creation. Ad astra per aspera — to the stars, through hardship.

The ascent of SpaceX’s Starship is a testament to American ingenuity and perseverance

Starship’s maiden voyage may be over, but its legacy has only just begun. It is a powerful reminder that, even in an era of division and uncertainty, the American spirit of innovation, explor…

thehill.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

4 months

Thank you @AlexH_Johnson for a riveting conversation (and for reading the book so unbelievably carefully!). Here's to nerding out on all things fintech!

Alex Johnson

@AlexH_Johnson

4 months

🚨 New podcast alert 🚨 @jimmyasoni , author of "The Founders", stopped by to tell the fascinating origin story of PayPal. This one is PACKED with fintech history and some great anecdotes, so grab your 🎧 Spotify: Apple:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

Bay Area friends and Claude Shannon fans, there's a free showing of the new Claude Shannon movie on Tuesday evening at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater! (The filmmaker and I are doing a talk after the movie. Register here if you'd like to attend: .)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

4 months

Thank you for the kind words @Ananyo ! Your biography of Von Neumann was -- funny enough -- one of the books I thought about writing post-Shannon. Delighted, though, that you beat me to the punch!

Ananyo Bhattacharya

@Ananyo

4 months

Just finished 'Mind at Play' by @jimmyasoni & @GoodmanRob1 A long overdue read on the founder of information theory. Some of my highlights...

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Also, the logo, b/c why not...

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

7 months

Sage thoughts from my friend @LibertyRPF (and a nod to David Senra, @FoundersPodcast , with whom I am always in a friendly competition on the metric of giving a damn)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Some add'l quotes from my research that wound up on the cutting room floor. These hopefully illuminate Elon's thinking about back in the X.com-vs-Confinity days: “For a pure payments product, PayPal is the right name,” Musk said. “If you want to be the

X. It’s what’s happening

From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary.

twitter.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@garius Thank you for the kind words!!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Honest admission: These podcasts that @LibertyRPF and @FoundersPodcast and I do are totally creative therapy and they act as an espresso shot to keep doing great work. I would do them if no one listened, but I hope you do!

Liberty 💚🥃

@LibertyRPF

2 years

🚨 New podcast with David Senra and Jimmy Soni 🎙️ We discuss Jimmy's excellent book on the early days of PayPal and how this group of founders shaped Silicon Valley, but also a bunch of other founder-related things:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

Big thank you to @rivatez and @BitPlayerMovie for tonight's screening of the Claude Shannon film, and thank you to everyone who came out!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

And for those who haven't yet seen the trailer for the film, check it out here:

The Bit Player Trailer

Trailer for a new documentary about Claude Shannon. www.thebitplayer.com

vimeo.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@rrhoover One of the series that shaped my writing of THE FOUNDERS was HBO's THE DEFIANT ONES. I know it's not technology entrepreneurship, but the twin stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are packed with entrepreneurial lessons and energy. I can't recommend it enough!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

7 months

Having fun nerding out during a Reddit AMA on all things FOUNDERS and PayPal. Check it out at:

From the Entrepreneur community on Reddit: I spent several years tracking down and interviewing the...

Explore this post and more from the Entrepreneur community

www.reddit.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@michellebkwok I would also make sure to check out TALENT by @tylercowen when it debuts in May. A book about talent written by an exceptional talent spotter. There's no doubt in my mind that it'll become a must-read on the subject.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

On their own, the meditation on "sturdiness," the browser tabs interview question, and the concluding reflections on the "crisis of confidence" problem are worth the price of admission. Highly, highly recommend!

Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World

www.amazon.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@EricJorgenson @TuckerMax This is the way. But seriously, congratulations, and so, so many of us are rooting for you! Proud to have played a teensy-tiny part in this story coming to pass.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

What a fun conversation, including, among other discussions, whether or not Benjamin Franklin would have been into crypto. (I went with yes, absolutely.)

Dwarkesh Patel

@dwarkesh_sp

2 years

Had a huge blast chatting with @jimmyasoni about the founding of PayPal Why were SpaceX, YouTube, & LinkedIn founded by PayPal alums? Why is Peter Thiel so good at spotting talent? Why did Elon Musk abandon fintech? ft. Japanese mafia & Russian hackers

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

@TaylorPearsonMe @dotglum @kevin2kelly My work on Claude Shannon led to Bell Labs (I'd check out THE IDEA FACTORY, btw). That interest led to my last few years working on a book about Paypal's origins. For that research, a book called Collaborative Circles by Michael Farrell helped.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

THE FOUNDERS—my new book about the early PayPal years—ends in a prison. But not for the reasons you'd think. A few years ago, a friend, @michaelxfarber , connected me with @chriswilsonbalt . Chris wanted to do a book, and Michael thought I could help.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 months

Nothing more fun than nerding out on books with fellow book nerd @AlexAndBooks_

Alex & Books 📚

@AlexAndBooks_

5 months

Fun time talking books with @jimmyasoni ! PS: Check out his book “The Founders” if you haven’t already.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Would that we could all 1) Get a photo shoot from Henri Cartier-Bresson and 2) Look so damn cool during it.

Liberty 💚🥃

@LibertyRPF

1 year

Hashtag Old School Cool

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

@DrBrianKeating That the earth revolves around the sun.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Riffing with two of my favorite people -- @LibertyRPF and @jposhaughnessy -- on some of my favorite subjects. Thanks to @jposhaughnessy and @InfiniteL88ps for bringing us together again!

Infinite Loops 🎙

@InfiniteL88ps

1 year

Our episode with @LibertyRPF & @jimmyasoni is live! We deep-dive into the publishing industry and the opportunities emerging for authors. Topics include: 🎙️ Reinventing the audiobook 😭 The tragedy of unwritten books 🙅‍♂️ Why book rejections are meaningless ♾ MORE! A preview:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@FoundersPodcast Another way of putting it: Charlie Munger had the pleasure of having dinner with David Senra.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@andrewchen Andrew, if you want a deeper dive on the years, I did a thorough look at that in THE FOUNDERS, which you might enjoy:

The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

www.amazon.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@Altimor One of the people I interviewed described it like this: "Many of us made downpayment money, but not retirement money."

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@tristajaye I have very few iron-clad reading rules, but one of them is that if Candice Millard ( @candice_millard ) writes it, I have to read it (or listen to it!). Her books are treasures, and I'd recommend starting with Destiny of the Republic. A gem of a boo.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

A fantastic piece, which has left me even more excited about my own dad-and-daughter Taylor trip on Sunday. And just to be clear: We're both diehard Swifties.

Jason Gay

@jasongay

1 year

I took my daughter Jojo to see Taylor Swift, and it underlined an incredible, if obvious, parenting truth: no joy you will experience as an individual can match seeing joy on the face of your child. I also had some other thoughts New, on the Eras Tour:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

7 months

Some thoughts from me on the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce psyop...(words I never thought would be strung together in a sequence, but then go figure)

The Hill

@thehill

7 months

"A father’s plea: Please let Taylor Swift date in peace" ( @TheHillOpinion )

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

@TaylorPearsonMe @dotglum @kevin2kelly I'd also add: General Magic (about which a great doc was just released); Xerox PARC; Fairchild Semiconductor. A book that has nothing to do with tech but explores a singular, triumphant team (and is just so well-done): The Boys In the Boat.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Thank you to @SABEW for the recognition and congrats to the other finalists @NickTimiraos & @GZuckerman ! Endless thanks to @SimonBooks 's @SGFrerich , w/o whom this book wouldn't exist. (Thx for allowing all those edits to the 1P and 2P pages. See, totally worth the headache!)

SABEW

@SABEW

2 years

Congrats to @SABEW ’s Best in Business Book Awards Business Reporting finalists: @NickTimiraos & @littlebrown for Trillion Dollar Triage; @jimmyasoni & @simonschuster for The Founders; and @GZuckerman & @portfoliobooks for A Shot to Save the World!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Any conversation that starts w/ the '90s Bulls or the Avengers gets off on the right foot. Thanks @TreyLockerbie for the thoughtful, wide-ranging, hilarious conversation about THE FOUNDERS and those late 1990s internet years.

Trey Lockerbie

@TreyLockerbie

3 years

I had a lot of fun exploring the Paypal Mafia origin story with @jimmyasoni ! He had incredible access and uncovers a lot of great insights! Enjoy.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 months

Go midwesterners go!

David Senra

@FoundersPodcast

6 months

The first meeting of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger The last paragraph reminded me of this excellent quote by Charlie: Trust is one of the greatest economic forces on Earth. "During the homecoming dinner, Charlie and Warren realized they shared many ideas. It also became

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@FoundersPodcast @ejames_c @LibertyRPF @HurriCap Btw, worlds collide: Claude Shannon was on the board at Teledyne. He got his shares in the 60s...and held on for a long, long time.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@jposhaughnessy @mysorunner @FoundersPodcast @LibertyRPF @InfiniteL88ps If @candice_millard writes it, it's a must-read for me!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

6 months

@p_millerd It always stuns me when people spend years of their life writing a book, then only a week or so promoting it.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Here's one for the books: The artist profiled in the book's epilogue ( @ChrisWilsonbalt ) just had his first solo exhibition debut in Baltimore. The link went live today—on Matterport.

Keith Rabois

@rabois

3 years

So many PayPal mafia successful companies that I even forgot that Matterport was one too.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Couldn't have written THE FOUNDERS w/o it. As I wrote in the acknowledgments, "This nonprofit library does yeoman’s work, and if and when an alien civilization wants to crack the code on our species, they could do worse than by starting with ."

Jason Scott

@textfiles

2 years

This would be a fantastic week to say something about how the Internet Archive has helped you over the years. Quote-tweet or reply. /

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Throughout the book process, I kept a standard in mind: "WWKBT." (What would Katie Boyle think?) WWKBT was code for rigor, readability, fairness, and humor—and writing for non-tech and tech audiences alike. If I hit the mark or got close, WWKBT is part of the reason. Thank you!

Katherine Boyle

@KTmBoyle

3 years

Extremely proud of my friend Jimmy Soni for writing this illuminating history of PayPal, The Founders.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Thank you to @rohitbhargava and the entire @Non_Obvious team for this recognition! Honored to be in the company of so many writers I admire!

Non-Obvious Company 🔜 #SXSW

@Non_Obvious

2 years

We just selected The Founders for the 2022 Non-Obvious Book Award Longlist! Congratulations to @jimmyasoni , and the entire team at @simonschuster . #nonobvious

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@mlevchin @daniellenewnham @jasoncrawford With your permission, I will go ahead and write it up in the paperback version! (Debuting Feb 2024!). Making other revisions as well as we speak, so this is perfect timing!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Honored and humbled to have THE FOUNDERS on @SABEW 's short-list for 2022's Best in Business Book! (As always w/ such recognition, my editor @SGFrerich deserves endless thanks for her patience and for indulging my ideas, including elaborate multi-hundred page page secret codes.)

SABEW

@SABEW

2 years

Shortlist announced for @SABEW 's 2022 Best in Business Book Awards, sponsored by @Investopedia and @YahooFinance . Congrats to all the authors and publishers! Winners will be announced in November.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

(epic photo from the archives too. Taken by Carolyn Caddes)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@elboy1980 @TeslaPodcast This is the proper sequence. I support this wholeheartedly.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@Kayodeodeleye @rtenbrink1 Not just that. Also helped with product design, per an ancient note from the days (below). My takeaway: Listen to mom. Call her more. And share grandkid photos...and pitch decks.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

"I’ve done some of my best work as an impostor...if you really are going to succeed, that bit of fear and doubt may spur you to superior performance." Powerful reminder and great read from @tylercowen on the subject of imposter syndrome.

Impostor Syndrome Is a Professional Superpower

If you think you’re not qualified, it’s a sign you are setting your sights high and reaching for a new level of achievement.

www.bloomberg.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@dwarkesh_sp asks razor-sharp questions, and he goes to school on people he's interviewing unlike almost anyone I've ever seen. Well worth watching this interview and his others!

Dwarkesh Patel

@dwarkesh_sp

2 years

Podcast with the brilliant @pmarca is out! We discuss: - how AI will revolutionize software - are NFTs useless, & should he fund flying cars instead - a16z's biggest vulnerability - future of fusion, education, Twitter, venture, managerialism, & big tech Interesting throughout!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@skupor @JoshSushan @michellebkwok @scmallaby @margaretomara Second that! I thoroughly enjoyed The Code, and strongly recommend it. (Not quite as directly connected to VC world, but THE IDEA FACTORY by @jongertner is also an exceptional portrait of innovators at work.)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

And that's why the PayPal book ends in a prison. I hope you'll check out Chris's book and mine. (PS When I shared Chris's incredible journey with @elonmusk , he was amazed. Fitting, then, that @chriswilsonbalt 's "2022 Master Plan" includes a new, big goal:"Meet Elon Musk.")

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

The joke is all that all biography is just concealed autobiography. So maybe this book makes sense, given that my parents and I immigrated to the US when I was 5. I saw that drive you describe in them, though I'm not sure I fully appreciated it until I became an adult.

Don Wettrick

@DonWettrick

3 years

Prepping for my podcast w @jimmyasoni & surprised that the book (which is so far amazing) leads off w @mlevchin ’s background & journey to the US. Unbelievable story that represents so many immigrants & their drive to succeed here. I cannot wait to dig into the rest of this book

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@sriramk @david_perell @tylercowen @david_perell asked amazing questions, in a way that elicited both the specific, tactical tricks as well as broader thoughts about the craft itself. Nerding out has rarely been so fun. Thank you @david_perell !!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Chris's story is unbelievable. He was incarcerated at age 16 for murder. He set his mind to self-education and self-improvement and earned his freedom in his 30s. Once released, Chris kept at it. He built businesses and became an accomplished artist.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

Thrilled to have the chance to chat about THE FOUNDERS w/ @DavidPaulVC (and thanks to @yourfaveVC for making the connection!)

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

An impressive gambit from @CharlesLeerhsen to put himself in the location of his subject's death. (Calls to mind Robert Caro moving to TX hill country for his LBJ bio.) Very much looking forward to reading the Bourdain book!

How Anthony Bourdain's Biographer Snuck Into the Hotel Room He Died In

“The serious biographer must physically pursue his subject through the past,” someone once said, and so Charles Leerhsen went to Kaysersberg, France.

airmail.news

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

Does anyone know if @AnthropicAI 's Claude is named after Dr. Claude Shannon? Asking for a friend...😂 (Cc-ing my fellow Shannon-files @LibertyRPF and @jposhaughnessy )

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@JackRonaldi @allenf32 @FoundersPodcast Seconding this recommendation: @FoundersPodcast is fantastic. David reads both widely and in-depth about his subject matter, and his preparation and research totally shows in each episode. As a fellow obsessive, I'm impressed.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 months

@brianscottwatso @Codie_Sanchez Thanks for the shout out!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Soon after I met Chris, I started working on a book about PayPal's founders and earliest employees. I learned that Chris admired them and studied them closely during his days in prison. In fact, he and his cellmate, Stephen Edwards, had become experts on the PayPal story.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@TCGreene @dickiebush Thank you!!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

10 months

"...Also if it’s real it adds to the sum total of love in the world, literally increases its quantity, and the love enters the air and the world breathes it in and, for a moment, becomes: better." Brilliant piece from @Peggynoonannyc

Wall Street Journal Opinion

@WSJopinion

10 months

Taylor Swift brings joy, jobs and happy feet everywhere she goes. She’s the best thing happening in America, writes @Peggynoonannyc

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

An amazing convo with two of my favorite folks!

Liberty 💚🥃

@LibertyRPF

1 year

@Recruit96 @FoundersPodcast It's a great book! You're in for a treat! If you want to hear David and the author discuss it on a podcast, check this out:

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 months

Awesome conversation @devin_sami ! Thank you!!

D E V I N 👋🏼

@devin_sami

5 months

🎙️NEW PODCAST EPISODE🎙️ #015 - Just Keep Reading w/ @jimmyasoni Jimmy is brilliant, a polymath who can riff on any number of topics. Case in point: He’s written books on the founding of PayPal, Cato the Younger, and Claude Shannon w/ 2 more in the works Click here to listen👇🏼

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

The PayPal book debuts soon. And though it is full of illuminating stories, the one I am proudest to tell is that of Chris Wilson and Stephen Edwards. They've expanded my belief in what people can do, achieve, and overcome, and they are a fitting epilogue to THE FOUNDERS.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

@SwiftOnSecurity What can I say, we Claude Shannon fans need to stick together.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

8 months

@FoundersPodcast @JennyHawkinsss That's kind of you to say David, but I was far less strategic than that. In you I found a fellow business and book nerd, another true obsessive, and someone whose podcast had the same name as my book. It was an organic bromance born of shared interests, and I'm grateful for it!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@LibertyRPF @FoundersPodcast @ejames_c @EricJorgenson Ed Thorp is like the Dos Equis guy meets a Zen master. I'm glad people are learning more about him and his work. Interviewing him was one of the highlights of writing the Claude Shannon book.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

They hung the PayPal Fortune Magazine cover on their prison cell wall and collected every article they could about them. They even taught what they knew of the PayPal story—the origins and lives of @elonmusk and @mlevchin , among other tales—to fellow prison inmates.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

11 months

Good email advice from John Ruskin...from 1872. (h/t @GreggFavre )

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@RealTimPark @pitdesi Thx! I went down the rabbit hole of the name story, including finding the domain's first owners, who shared its pre-Elon history. Also tried to capture the breadth and depth of the rationale behind the domain for what became PayPal. Super interesting!

X. It’s what’s happening

From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary.

twitter.com

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

@david_perell @andrewglynch There's a fantastic documentary about General Magic () and the best book on Bell Labs is Jon Gertner's THE IDEA FACTORY, which was the inspiration for my book on Claude Shannon.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

It's become a hit. People all over the country have been inspired by it. For his launch, he was on Daily Show w/ Trevor Noah, and I don't think there wasn't a dry eye in the house. (You can check out his appearance here: )

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@Jason Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard. Exceptional history, exceptionally written. Just a rip-roaring good tale.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@allenf32 Wow, this is eerily close to direct quotes from PayPal people I interviewed about the fraud risk. History rhymes, indeed.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

9 months

@FoundersPodcast @david_perell Awwww shucks guys!

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Stephen taught himself to write computer code long-hand—the same way @mlevchin did in the Ukraine. Both did it because of limited access to computers. Stephen and Chris drew from the PayPal story the power of positive networks, the value of hustle, and a passion for business.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

4 months

@dkimerling Thanks man! It wouldnt exist without you, your gift of THE IDEA FACTORY, and the first kernel of a "Hey, have you thought about writing a biography of Claude Shannon?" idea.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

2 years

@LibertyRPF @tom_morganKCP Once you get the idea in your head, you can't stop thinking about it—and you see the application of it everywhere.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

1 year

@mlevchin @daniellenewnham @jasoncrawford Also, if I'm being honest, now I want to see how I can make printf() debugging and Lagrange interpolating polynomials come to life on the page...

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

@DeanKarnazes Thanks man! As you know all too well: Books are ultramarathons for the mind.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

3 years

Of all the places to find the early PayPal story, I never expected it in a maximum security Maryland prison. But there it was. Inside prison, Chris and Stephen studied business—and then built one, selling photos of the inmates to their families for the Prison Welfare Fund.

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Jimmy Soni

@jimmyasoni

5 years

@TaylorPearsonMe @dotglum @kevin2kelly Farrell explored the French Impressionists; Sigmund Freud and his cohort; C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings; Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and their crew; the writers Joseph Conrad and Ford Maddox Ford; and the Fugitive poets. I'd really recommend it.

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