notes from talking with Visa!!

About half a year ago, I spoke with someone that I admire called Visa.

I’ve always admired Visa a lot seeing as he is also self-taught and one of the smartest people I know so I was sooo excited to talk with him.

These are my notes from when the call ended.

Lots of things to think about. Felt amazing. I hope I get to do it again.

Hopefully. One day. Eventually.

wise words from Visa

• write more
• be deliberate about socializing — text, dm, email, book calls, virtual coffee, you never know where it’ll lead.
• actually dm or email the really smart or thoughtful people you admire from afar or would love to talk to. what’s the worst that could happen?
• bonus point lead with a thoughtful question. give a genuine compliment
• he wanted to have a body of work and it pushed him to write. Eseoghene create YOUR body of work.
• public record of your thinking.
• I’m extrapolating to include the evolution of your thinking
• dont spend time worrying about people who dont get it. Focus on those who do
• be curious about trying new things
• don’t let revolutionary ways of thinking that you discover become curtains that shield you from actually seeing more. Visa’s was mbti, mine was game theory.
• how do you prevent lenses from blinding you? be open to and begin develop new seemingly contradictory or unrelated ways to look at concepts as opposed to an ultimate lens and then switch or integrate them better.
• develop, resuscitate and evaluate friendships through the lens of shared understanding. for example, the people i was friends with at maybe ss3 like Titi and co were my friends because of the shared understanding of the secondary school experience. Now we aren't really “friends” just pleasant as there is no longer a shared understanding. while proactively creating new connections, take care to create newer opportunities for shared understanding in older connections that are dear to you so they don’t wither away.
• best way to cultivate the shared understanding is deliberately sharing your understanding or experience or thinking on substack, YouTube etc and then eventually the people who subscribe to or are curious about those experiences will find you
• be a good reply guy because we’re all looking for people to thoughtfully agree with affirm the intention of sharing our thoughts. and you can affirm the intention even when disagreeing
• re credentialism and being ambitious without college, employers who actually would be amazing to work with would care more about your portfolio or body of related work or stuff that shows that you can do things and like follow through than just a degree. it acts as a relevant and even more excellent substitute imo.
• on the flip side, you probably shouldn’t even want to obsess too much about employers who are too focused on credentialism as opposed to ability or demonstrated curiosity and follow through anyways.
• pick your battles, be passionate but dont damage relationships with arguments.
• arguing or disagreeing passionately is useful for revealing how you feel about a concept. it helps you figure out what you think of stuff. the key is to sometimes type out the caustic reply in your notes app or stuff when the context is fresh. Don’t send it. And then revisit it with fresh eyes after a nap or something to sift out your inner opinions. If you are still pressed, talk it through or simulate an argument with your trusted friend.
• it sounds cliche, but the very thing you are looking for is right inside you — I need to remember this one more.

If you've read to this point, please buy Visa’s books on gumroad— I especially recommend Introspect.