Reading, Writing, and Speaking

3 foundational tools for any founder.

It doesn’t matter if you are the best programmer, designer, or any role in the world. If you lack the ability to communicate, then your actual results will never match your expected results.

Reading

To learn from successful people in the game.
To learn from successful people before your time.
To learn and avoid other people’s mistakes in the game.
To learn and avoid other people’s mistakes before your time.

You need the ability to read.

What happens if you don’t read?

You have a limited understanding of the game.
For solving problems, you have to conduct multiple trial and error experiments at the expense of time, energy (physical and mental) to gather the same understanding.

Don’t read blogs. Read essays.
Don’t read clickbait headlines. Read the greats of the past and present.

Writing

Explaining your customers the value you deliver.
Putting suggestions to your team.
Remembering what you learned before.
Sharing your understanding of the world.
Defining your goals.
Writing a copy for your website.
Writing an email to your customer.

You need the ability to write.

What happens if you can’t write?

No one understands the value you deliver.
You will forget what you learned before.
You will never have definite goals so most likely you will never hit them.

Don’t use adjectives. Use numbers.
Don’t write for 1000. Write for 1.
Be specific.

Speaking

To inspire your team.
To communicate with your customers.
To negotiate with partners.
To present your startup to investors.

You need the ability to speak well.

What happens if you can’t speak well?

Your customers, team, partners, and investors will be confused about what you do.
No deal will go as intended since they don’t understand you.

Speaking too much is also a flaw.

Always Say Less Than Necessary - The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene

If you reach a position of authority and you speak something wrong. Your decision will have a fatal consequence on you and your organization.

Further Reading:
1. 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene
2. https://www.perell.com/blog/writing
3. https://marketingexamples.com/conversion/copywriting