I just write my books, much as a plumber fixes pipes and garbagemen haul away junk. I mean it, no introspection; it is just a kind of work I like and can do.

— Vaclav Smil

Jack London (1876 - 1916) was famous for his vivid literary depictions of survival in the harshest of natural environments. His best-known novels, The Call of the Wild and White Fang, set in the harsh Canadian wilderness and written from the perspective of animals as opposed to humans, captivated readers worldwide.

London's stories felt authentic as his adventurous life, from sailing to Japan and joining protest armies to his days as an oyster pirate and chasing after gold in the Klondike, provided a latticework from which to paint. His versatility as a novelist, short story writer, and social activist — combined with his ability to translate personal experiences into compelling narratives — made him one of the most popular authors of his time.

Despite his success, London's life was not without its challenges. He struggled to make good financial decisions and was often extended beyond his means despite substantial income. Alcohol was an escape from this reality, and his health declined before he grew old. He died in 1916 at the age of 40.

One of London’s most famous short stories (~7,000 words) is To Build a Fire, which he first wrote in 1902 and subsequently re-wrote with material improvements in 1908.

I met the Reddits before we even started Y Combinator. In fact they were one of the reasons we started it.

YC grew out of a talk I gave to the Harvard Computer Society (the undergrad computer club) about how to start a startup. Everyone else in the audience was probably local, but Steve and Alexis came up on the train from the University of Virginia, where they were seniors. Since they'd come so far I agreed to meet them for coffee. They told me about the startup idea we'd later fund them to drop: a way to order fast food on your cellphone…

Their idea was bad though. And since we thought then that we were funding ideas rather than founders, we rejected them. But we felt bad about it…

So I called Steve and Alexis and said that we liked them, just not their idea, so we'd fund them if they'd work on something else…

Smith might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but — full disclosure — I’m a huge fan. Because, if nothing else, he has the courage of his convictions.

In 1992, Smith burst onto the scene with Accounting for Growth, a book that took aim at the financial machinations that British companies used to (legally) manipulate results. It cost him his job as head of research at UBS — and cemented his reputation as a bold truth-teller unafraid of critic or censor…

“Frankly, the share price isn’t the thing that tells you whether you got it right or wrong,” Smith said. “It’s what’s happening in the company”…

You make money with old friends. If you’ve got something like [Microsoft] that you get right, the likelihood is it’s going to continue to be right. I’m not a gardener, but I’m told what you’re supposed to do is water the flowers and pull up the weeds. An awful lot of people do it the other way around. They sell the things that worked and hang on to the things which are not working in the hope they’ll come right. Our strategy — and, in my view, the correct way to do it — is the opposite of that, to run our big winners.”

“Early Charlie Munger is a horrible career model for the young because not enough was delivered to civilization in return for what was wrested from capitalism.”

— Charlie Munger

Life is about more than accumulating money. Understanding the psychology of misjudgment is a prerequisite for a life well lived. “Early Charlie Munger” was not the ideal role model according to the man himself, but I’d like to think that by the end of his life, Charlie Munger knew that his status as a positive role model was secure.