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Mark Zuckerberg on why experience is overrated, David Goggins on his "start at zero" mindset, and inspiration from Polymarket's CEO

The Z Fellows Newsletter - October 20, 2025

Welcome back to the Z Fellows newsletter! Every Monday we share 3 ideas - to help you build companies, ship products, and create your life's work.

1: Mark Zuckerberg on why experience is overrated

“If you think about it, I started the company (Facebook) when I was 19.

I can't institutionally believe that experience is that important, or else I would have a hard time reconciling myself and the company.

We invest in people who we think are just really talented, even if they haven't done that thing before. 

We focus on really talented people. If you don't have experience to look for, how do you assess someone's raw talent?

Often, you can tell from different things they've done. Obviously, everyone has done something interesting, even if they're 19 - they've done side projects and other compelling work.

What's important is not believing that someone has to have specifically done the job they're going to do in order to be able to do it well.

2: David Goggins on his ”start at zero” mindset

“No matter what you or I achieve, in sports, business, or life, we can't be satisfied. 

Life is too dynamic a game. We're either getting better or we're getting worse.

Yes, we need to celebrate our victories. There's power in victory that's transformative, but after our celebration we should dial it down, dream up new training regimens, new goals, and start at zero the very next day. I wake up every day as if I am back in BUD/S, day one, week one. 

Starting at zero is a mindset that says my refrigerator is never full, and it never will be. We can always become stronger and more agile, mentally and physically.

We can always become more capable and more reliable. Since that's the case we should never feel that our work is done.

There is always more to do.”

Source: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

3: Inspiration from Polymarket’s CEO

Best of The Week

See you next Monday,

- The Z Fellows Team

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