Craftsmith

Paul Graham is known as a programmer, essayist, and cofounder of Y Combinator. But alongside all of that, he is a painter - studying still lifes at RISD and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, learning to override his brain's shortcuts and see what was actually there. "You feel as if you're an animal in its natural habitat. Doing what you were meant to do. Not always happy maybe, but awake an...

"I couldn't discover something that got me excited. Slowly, I've come around to an idea that I made up. It's not a career that other people have." - Bill Gurley to Tim Ferriss Bill Gurley's first principle is "find your passion." But how did Bill actually find his? He didn't have one passion - he had five fascinations pulling in different directions. A love affair with technology, a gambling bug,...

In 1977, Steve Martin played Nassau Coliseum to 45,000 people - the biggest concert comedy event in the history of show business. He reached this peak despite having, in his own words, "no natural talent". And then he just walked away. He didn't perform stand-up again for decades. Why would anyone at the pinnacle start over from zero in film, writing, and music? The answer was hiding in the very n...

Why did a late bloomer who didn't publish his first novel until 52 become the definitive voice on creative resistance? Because fought it hand-to-hand for 27 years, and every chapter of The War of Art traces back to a battle he lived. This is a Craftsmith Letter - an audio letter to a living craftsperson. In this letter: A typewriter carried for years but hated too much to open Why he pulled the pi...