Question 1

Data is for Nerds

Accepted Answer

TL;DR 
Data’s comfortable but overrated. Instinct beats analytics. Trust human nature, not Excel sheets.

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Data is overrated.

Yes, I said it. Data is nice. It’s comforting, it’s safe, and it’s neatly organized. But the truth is, most people misuse data, misunderstand it, or flat-out manipulate it. Running reports won’t change human behavior, and if you think it will, congratulations: you’ve fooled yourself into a dangerous illusion of control.

Let me explain.

Data is inherently retroactive and derivative. It tells you what already happened, and from there you guess (sorry, you “project”) what might happen next, assuming everything remains constant. But nothing ever stays constant. The world is chaos. Markets shift, human nature is unpredictable, and the only real constant is change itself. Relying solely on data is a great way to get trapped in a false sense of certainty.

Most data, especially data logged by people, is inaccurate at best and deliberately deceptive at worst. People enter data late, inconsistently, or conveniently shape it to tell the story they want you to see. Ever noticed how data always seems to neatly justify whatever decision someone already wanted to make?

The best-run businesses in the world don’t need elaborate metrics or spreadsheets. The best-run businesses (and yes, I’m talking about cartels) know exactly where every penny is without running endless reports. They operate by instinct, intuition, and human nature. Data is a secondary fail-safe, a double-check mechanism, not the main driver.

When Jeff Bezos notices the anecdotes and data disagreeing, do you know what he does? He looks harder at the data because anecdotes almost always tell the truth. Data can mislead, but human behavior, intuition, and gut instinct rarely do.

People obsess over data because it’s safe. It’s conventional. You won’t get fired for doing what the data suggests, even if it fails spectacularly. “I followed the data” is a comfortable excuse for weak leaders who lack taste, instinct, or courage.

Data is the quickest route to mediocrity. If you rely on the same data everyone else has, you’ll end up in the exact same place... average. If you want to differentiate yourself, you have to step outside the data. You need creativity, intuition, and taste. You have to be willing to make bold decisions based on a clear, human-driven vision.

That’s exactly why I’m not afraid of AI. AI is impressive, sure. But until the day AI develops genuine taste, creativity, and instinct - the human intangibles- it will always fall short. Right now, AI is just a sophisticated search engine, churning out past data to predict future outcomes. It can’t create. It can’t innovate. It can’t taste or smell.

If you’re comfortable relying exclusively on data, fine... you’ll be right a lot, but you’ll never break through to real greatness. It was Larry Ellison who said it best: “The skeptics get to be right, while the optimists get to be rich.” Following the data is safe, cautious skepticism. Stepping away from the herd and trusting your intuition, that’s where true wealth and innovation happen.

Stop hiding behind your data. Stop letting it dictate every decision. Use it as a tool, sure, but never let it override your instincts.

Embrace uncertainty, embrace creativity, embrace your intuition.

And if you can’t do that? Well, enjoy the middle. That’s exactly where the data will take you.

Question 2

The Past Is For Losers

Accepted Answer

TL;DR 
Stop fantasizing about past success you never earned. Winners look forward—losers reminisce.

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If you spend your time wishing you lived in the past, you’re a loser. Plain and simple.

People think ridiculous things like, “If I’d been around in the 1980s, I would’ve crushed it. Been the next Jordan Belfort, closing massive deals, making millions, living large.” Reality check: No, they wouldn’t. They’d be exactly the same losers they are today, because real winners don’t daydream about what they could’ve done in the past. They focus on winning right now.

The people who claim they would’ve dominated during the dot-com boom, or the housing market crash, or whatever past moment they romanticize, are full of shit. They pretend like they would’ve seized opportunities because, in hindsight, the path looks clear. But when the same type of opportunities are sitting right in front of them today, guess what? They’re sitting still, making excuses, doing absolutely nothing.

Here’s the truth: if you weren’t taking risks at 22, you won’t magically become brave at 42. You had the chance back then, buying cheap property during the housing crash, jumping into early tech ventures, capitalizing on early crypto, and you didn’t take it. Why? Because the problem isn’t the timing. The problem is you.

People love to talk big about hypothetical scenarios because it’s safe. It requires no actual courage or action. Ask these same people to step into a time machine right now and go back to their golden era. They’d freeze and back out immediately, paralyzed by the same fear and hesitation that holds them back today.

You know why they love the past? Because it’s defined, it’s finite, and it’s safe. They already know exactly what happened, which gives them a false sense of security and competence. But here’s the thing - winners don’t play it safe. Winners aren’t attracted to limited opportunities where the outcomes are already known. Winners crave the infinite potential of the unknown, the uncharted, the future.

The past is a refuge for cowards. It’s comfort for people who can’t (or won’t) face their own inadequacies. It’s the ultimate form of procrastination because you can’t do anything about it. You can’t travel back in time. You can’t prove or disprove your own fantasy. It’s just empty, useless talk - pure loser mentality.

Real winners are future-focused. They look ahead, not back. They say, “What if?” instead of “What could have been?” They’re willing to embrace uncertainty and make bold bets because that’s where infinite upside exists. They’re explorers, adventurers, risk-takers. They know that the real opportunities are always in front of them, not behind.

If you’re looking backward, reminiscing about some imagined glory days, stop lying to yourself. The past isn’t your missed opportunity, today is. You’re choosing not to act right now. You’re choosing not to take risks right now. That’s your problem, not some missed historical moment.

So stop living in the past. Stop romanticizing opportunities you never would’ve taken. Be brutally honest with yourself. If you want to be a winner, you have exactly one option: focus relentlessly on what’s ahead.

Anything else is just loser talk.

Question 3

Feedback From People Who Don’t Have An Upside In The Response

Accepted Answer

TL;DR 
Most feedback is polite nonsense. Only listen to people with actual skin in the game. Everyone else is just noise.

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Most people will never tell you the truth - especially when they have no reason to.

I was out at dinner recently, and the food was terrible. One plate after another, it just kept getting worse. We’d pick at it, quietly acknowledging how bad it was. And then the waitress walked over with a big smile and asked, “How is everything?” We both smiled back, nodded enthusiastically, and said, “Oh, it’s great!” Of course we lied. What would be the upside in telling her the truth? It wouldn’t fix the meal in front of us. At best, they’d remake something, comp the meal, or give us an awkward apology we didn’t want. At worst, we’d seem petty, ungrateful, or entitled.

This is exactly why you should always question feedback, positive or negative, from people who don’t have a genuine stake in your success or failure. People are fundamentally wired to avoid discomfort and minimize conflict. Even someone like me, who thrives on conflict, picks his battles carefully, usually driven by vanity, insecurity, or convenience. Most feedback isn’t honest. It’s polite, strategic, or simply avoids confrontation.

Even in situations where feedback could genuinely improve things, people hesitate. Imagine your friend opens a restaurant and proudly shows off their new dishes. Would you genuinely tell them their concept doesn’t work, or would you soften your feedback to avoid hurting their feelings? Be honest. Most people soften it, if they’re even honest at all.

And yet, businesses, and “leaders” especially, act as if all feedback is equally valuable. They hang on every word, every casual compliment or subtle critique. They chase praise from people who have nothing invested and who’ll forget their meal the moment they walk out the door.

But here’s the truth: feedback is meaningless unless it comes from someone who has a genuine upside if you improve and a meaningful downside if you don’t. Even then, take it with skepticism.

Think of how often salespeople misread signals because a prospect was too polite or uncomfortable to be truthful. “This sounds great, it could totally work,” they say enthusiastically on the call. Then, silence. They ghost. Why? Because telling you the truth was uncomfortable. Most people would rather give false positives than face the awkwardness of honesty.

You should always be cautious about accepting positive feedback. People rarely have a good enough reason to tell you the unfiltered truth. Compliments are cheap. Politeness is easy. Real honesty? That’s rare and expensive.

So stop relying on the meaningless positivity of polite feedback. Stop looking to people who have zero stake in your outcome for reassurance or validation.

Find people who will benefit from your success and suffer from your failure. Those are the only people whose opinions should matter to you because those are the only people who MIGHT actually tell you the truth.

Thoughts. Rants. Pontification.

LEADERSHIP

DECISION MAKING

CLARITY

CATEGORY 5

CATEGORY 6

REALITY

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