How to Succeed in Your Early 20s (Pt. 2)

Do these things to outperform 99% of your peers.

Apr 10, 2024

I’m currently in Miami, hosting a series of dinners, tech events, and parties at a private mansion I rented called the Lumos House. If you’re in town, RSVP here and come by!

I apologize if today’s article is slightly shorter. On a time crunch…

This is part 2 of a series I started a few weeks ago. You can read part 1 here. I started this content series to share what I learned with those just getting started.

If you just graduated or are a few years into your career, and are looking to build a network, personal brand, and portfolio of useful skills, you might find this helpful.

How to Succeed in Your 20s (Pt. 2)

(Do these things in your early 20s, and you will outperform 99% of your peers)

Find opportunities to learn useful skills from supportive mentors in high-growth spaces.

First and foremost, you need to find a mentor who is invested in your growth. If you decide to work for a company, that person is likely your manager. If you build a business of your own, that person might be your mentor or coach. This person can make or break your first few years in the industry.

Secondly, make sure that you can learn useful and specific skills doing whatever it is you choose to do.

For someone in their early 20s, useful generalized skills include writing, speaking, project management, research, presentation, negotiation, and sales. More specific technical skills are dictated by your industry, but examples include financial analysis, copywriting, design, etc.

In regard to the industry, I recommend choosing an industry in a high-growth market. I’ve had the opportunity to work in both a low-growth environment (e.g. 5% growth YoY) and high-growth (e.g. 100% growth MoM), and I’ve learned that the pace of your environment will determine the pace of your learning.

Caveat: Larger institutions that can still provide a rapid pace of work and accelerated learning because of the nature of their work. Examples: Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Advertising.

Build rapid feedback loops.

My definition of “smart” is someone who can take action, quickly react to feedback, and make a logical decision to refine their approach.

They create tight feedback loops to rapidly learn and improve their craft.

The most effective question to ask to get actionable feedback is: “What is 1 thing I could’ve done better?”

Learn to ask for feedback and fall in love with the process of rapid iteration, especially in the first few years of your career,

Learn how to influence others.

This quote has stuck with me for the last few years:

“Learn to sell, learn to build, if you can do both, you will be unstoppable.”.
— Naval Ravikant

Confession: I don’t have any actual skills beyond knowing how to work with people.

I don’t code, I don’t build software, and I barely know how to build a website, but… I like to believe that I’m great with people.

A huge part of learning how to work with people is knowing how to influence them.

Most people think of influence as a zero-sum game.

i.e. if you “influence” someone by convincing them to take an action (e.g. to buy your product), then you’ve “won” the interaction. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You should influence someone to take action because it’s objectively valuable for them and for you.

Influence is the process of aligning your interests so everybody wins.

Be a voracious writer.

The most brilliant entrepreneurs and executives I know are all excellent writers, and all great organizations I’ve observed have strong writing cultures.

Why? Because great writing implies clear thinking and maximizes communication efficiency.

At Facebook, we shared updates and communicated concepts in the form of “posts” on our internal timeline. At Google, we wrote product docs and 1-pagers to share new ideas. We strived to communicate our thoughts with clarity and substance to minimize communication overhead.

Writing is also the most scalable form of media; it takes the same amount of effort to write for one person as it does for a thousand. It’s an extraordinarily high ROI activity.

In my experience, the most productive writing formats are:

Reflections (“I learned X”)
Ideas & Perspectives (“I believe X”)
Updates (“I accomplished X”)
Instructions (“How to do X”)

Learn to write well in different formats for varied audiences. If you can do this well, you will be able to punch above your weight in the business world.

Do what you say you’re going to do.

Finally, the easiest way to stand out from your peers is to demonstrate integrity.

This is the #1 quality I look for in business partners and talent.

You’d be surprised by the number of people in tech and business I meet who lack common sense and integrity. They’re great operators, but nobody wants to work with them because of this.

Deliver on your promises. If you don’t or can’t, follow up and explain why and how you’re going to make amends

***

That’s the end of the two-part series. I hope it helped. Was this useful? Should I do a part 3?

📌 Andrew’s Picks

Fascinating internet things I’ve come across…

Are You A High Agency Person? How To Respond When You Hear ‘No’ – How do you respond when told something is impossible? Is that the end of the conversation or the start of one? More on being high agency.
Things I Don't Know About AI – Elad Gil’s mental model for understanding the AI wave today.
What You’ll Wish You’d Known – Advice for those just started out by Paul Graham. My takeaway: Work on hard problems, be curious, and do the right things.

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🖼️ Behind the Scenes

Someone asked me what my goal was for 2024.

My answer: to have as much fun as possible while helping as many people as I can.

A few months ago, I started a new project with my friends at Blindspot called the Lumos House.

We rented a private mansion in 5 cities and will be hosting a bunch of breakfasts, dinners, parties, and wellness activities (e.g. yoga, breathwork) for awesome people in tech.

Last month, we did Austin. This week, we’re in Miami. In a few weeks, we’re in New York. Guests have met countless customers, partners, investors, and friends.

It’s been the most fun and fulfilling experience yet.