On Elon's algorithm, productivity, and startup advice

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: Marc Andreesseen’s Guide to Personal Productivity

Marc Andreessen wrote a guide on being more productive. Here are a few big ideas:

1. Don’t Keep a Schedule — Liberating yourself from a fixed schedule allows you to work on what’s most important or interesting at any time.

2. Keep Three Lists — Maintain a To-Do List for essential tasks, a Watch List for items to follow up on, and a Later List for everything else.

3. Structured Procrastination — Procrastination is an opportunity to tackle other lower-priority tasks. Something is better than nothing.

4. Manage Email Intelligently — Limit checking your email to twice a day. Organize your emails into folders. Prioritize emails in the “Action” folder.

5. Use Head and Heart to Commit — Only agree to new commitments when both your head and heart say yes.

Source: Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity

2: Elon Musk’s Algorithm

Elon Musk developed a first-principles-driven philosophy around manufacturing when he was ramping up Tesla Model 3 production in 2017-2018.

Here’s the 5-step process:

1/ Question every requirement

Never except that a requirement came from a department, such as from “the legal department” or “the safety department”. Requirements from smart people are dangerous because people are less likely to question them.

2/ Delete any part or process you can

You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn’t delete enough.

3/ Simplify and optimize

This should come AFTER step two.

4/ Accelerate cycle time

Every process can be speeded up. But only do this AFTER you have followed the first three steps.

5/ Automate

That comes last. Wait until all requirements have been questioned, parts and processes deleted, and the bugs were shaken out.

There were also additional “rules” to the Algorithm including:

1/ Camaraderie is dangerous. It makes it hard for people to challenge each other’s work.

2/ All technical managers must have hands-on experience. Otherwise, they are like a cavalry leader who can’t ride a horse or a general who can’t use a sword.

3/ The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a recommendation.

Source: ‘Elon Musk’ by Walter Isaacson

3: Advice For A Pre-Product/Market Fit Startup

One of my favorite pieces of advice comes from Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong:

“Action produces information.”

He references Paul Graham, who said:

“Startups are like sharks. If they stop swimming they die.’”

If you’re not sure what to do, just try something. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis.

When you try an experiment, it will produce information and help you create better ideas of what to try next.

Even when you build the wrong thing it will help you identify which hypotheses about your users, value proposition, go-to-market strategy, etc. are wrong.

So if you’re pre-product/market fit, just keep moving and trying things.

Source: Brian Armstrong on the Lex Friedman Podcast

See you next Monday,

- Jay + The Z Fellows Team

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