Naval Ravikant Is Someone You Should Definitely Follow if You Want to Succeed in Life. Here Are a Few Things About Him.
His Twitter feed is filled with information about NFTs, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchains, and he’s a regular on Clubhouse – He’s a man worth following. Today we share 15 Things You didn’t Know About NAVAL Ravikant.
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1
Who Is Naval Ravikant?
If you haven’t heard this name before, you’ll be glad you clicked on this article. Born in Mumbai in 1974, Naval Ravikant moved to New York with his mom and brother when he was 9. He went on to earn his degree in Computer Science and Economics, did a brief stint at Boston Consulting Group and then left for Silicon Valley.
Those are the basics, but as Joe Rogan pointed out in a chat with Ravikant, in Joe Rogan Experience #1309, he said, “you are one of the rare guys, that is a big investor, you’re deep in the tech world, but yet you seem to have a very balanced perspective in terms of how to live life.”
And Aluxers, it’s this balance that we’re going to look at today.
2
He’s a Mentor for Everyone
Ravikant posted the following on Twitter:
Doctors won’t make you healthy.
Nutritionists won’t make you slim.
Teachers won’t make you smart.
Gurus won’t make you calm.
Mentors won’t make you rich.
Trainers won’t make you fit.
Ultimately, you have to take responsibility.
Save yourself.
Without realizing it, he became one of the greatest mentors of all time.
An open letter to Ravikant was posted on medium.com by Ryan Faulkner-Hogg, where he says, “Thank you for adding so much value,” and adds that Ravikant is a “mentor to millions.”
Nobody can do you, better than you. So, keep working on that “you,” is the basic grounding from born leader and mentor.
3
His Outlook on Life and Happiness
Aluxers, the three things that most people strive for in life are health, wealth and happiness but of the three, happiness comes out tops.
Ravikant believes that true happiness comes from living in the present. When we don’t live in the moment, our thoughts are elsewhere. They could be on yesterday, anxiously playing over a scene in our head until it becomes a distorted truth. Or, we could be thinking of something that will happen in the future, setting up an expectation that may leave us disappointed when it doesn’t pan out that way.
By living in the moment, you don’t rob yourself of the joy of that moment. As he says, “One can be very happy as long as one isn’t too caught up in their own heads.”
Aluxers, for videos on inspirational people like Naval Ravikant, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
4
He Is Co-Founder of AngelList
Things don’t happen coincidentally, as is the case with a house party that took place in 2007 where Ravikant and Babak Nivi start talking. Nivi is blown away by Ravikant and his knowledge and understanding.
Nivi went on to run a blog for 3 years, sharing Ravikant ‘s stream of consciousness before the pair decided to begin start-up investing. They had 3 unsuccessful attempts before AngelList was born.
It took many more years to perfect their venture, with Ravikant citing in the future he… “would like every startup to have an AngelList presence. When they think of where do I raise money, where do I find great talent, where do I find a good attorney, where do I find space, how do I find an advisor or a co-founder- we want to be able to help them do that quickly, efficiently, and at zero cost.”
Currently, AngelList Venture has over $1 billion in assets and 23 unicorns in the portfolio.
5
Naval’s View on Wealth Creation
In our video, 15 Mistakes Rich People Make that Makes them Miserable, we mention passive income. We gave the example of a doctor. “In order for a doctor to accumulate her wealth, she needs to work many hours. And she has to physically be present to earn the money. She can’t go to sleep at night and earn her wealth passively.”
Earning a passive income is the way to build wealth.
Naval Ravikant agrees with this method of creating wealth. As he tweeted, “seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.” He further adds, “You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity – a piece of a business – to gain your financial freedom.”
These quotes are taken from a tweetstorm titled, “How To Get Rich (without getting lucky).”
6
How To Make Better Decisions
Wang Yip wrote an in-depth article for medium.com where he shared what he learnt from Ravikant.
He mentions that Ravikant uses mental models. Mental models are an explanation of how something works. They help you understand life. The mental models that Naval uses are evolution, game theory, Charlie Munger, Nassim Taleb, and Benjamin Franklin.
One of the ways he bases his decisions on is… indecision. So, the question could be “Should I date this person?” And if you’re unsure, choose no. It might hurt like a bit*h initially, but the long-term pay-off is far better. Breaking up with someone 5-years down the line will be a lot harder than right away.
As Naval Ravikant puts it, “Simple heuristic: If you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term.”
7
His Advice for Entrepreneurs
Aluxers, even if your business and brand is in its early days, who you associate your brand with from day dot will affect future business. Align yourself with brands whose values and goals match your own.
Avoid using FOMO as a fundraising tactic. Pressurising anyone into a deal is not great business.
If you’re taking advantage of what the Angel network are offering, practise caution when striking deals with people that have no ties to anybody.
A great team is more important than the final product. A great team will help you see where your business or product is lacking and work together to fix it.
His guidance and advice is often called “Navalism,” and his advice “Who you do business with is just as important as what you choose to do,” is worth taking.
8
His Take on Crypto
We mentioned earlier that Naval is deep in the tech work and he’s a huge supporter of crypto and blockchain. He had another tweetstorm on the topic of blockchains and their place in the world, where he states, “On the web, every page has a unique address, and any other page can link to it.
On public blockchains, every application has a unique address, and any other paying application can incorporate it.
The future is a network of permissionlessly composable and secure applications.”
The biggest transfer of wealth through a technological change is happening right now, and you’re missing out. Every time something this radical comes along, things seem complicated and confusing at first
That’s why we did all the hard work for you, and we built Bitcoin Essentials. We believe it’s the best blockchain and bitcoin resource for those who want to get started with crypto.
Got to alux.com/bitcoin and enroll now!
9
His Involvement With MetaStable
Naval Ravikant is co-founder of MetaStable Capital, a start-up hedge fund which invests in cryptocurrencies and Ethereum. It’s been going since 2014, and as their website says, “We Invest in Coins, not Companies.”
According to news.bitcoin.com – “Metastable requires a minimum investment of $1 million and charges a 2% management fee and a 20% performance fee.”
Fortune has estimated that since Metastable’s inception, returns have been greater than 1,000%.
10
His Money and His Mother
Raviknat’s net worth is $60 million.
Raviknat credits his mother for building his self-esteem and inspiring him to do better. She had to juggle various jobs to stay afloat, get the kids to and from school and be both mom and dad to the boys.
Killing Buddha interviewed Naval and asked him about his mother, to which he replied, “My mother uniquely provided, against the background of hardship, unconditional and unfailing love. If you have nothing in your life, but you have at least one person that loves you unconditionally, it’ll do wonders for your self-esteem.”
11
He Attempted To Create an Incubator for Start-Ups
Naval has always had a passion for start-ups, which is why he once hoped to create an incubator fund. He managed to secure 20 entrepreneurs to start an incubator, but despite his best efforts, every company Naval approached weren’t interested.
One of the many people that turned down his idea was Dropbox CEO, and it took the advice from Twitter co-founder, Evan Williams, to let the idea go.
As Naval said, “I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded.”
Draw inspiration from him. Even if you have a few big bumps along the way, they don’t dictate where you’ll end up one day.
12
Naval’s Perspective on Health
Naval is clear on his thoughts on health, “My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health.”
And it’s so true, Aluxers, because if we don’t make our health our priority – we’re not going to be around to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Which links us directly to our next bit of advice from Ravkant…
13
His Advice on Choosing Yourself
Have you ever been on a flight where the flight attendant tells you to put your own mask on first, should there be an emergency?
Why do you think that is? Simple, if you’ve lost oxygen and are sprawled out on the floor – how will you be able to save anyone else, let alone yourself? You can’t.
Same goes with everyday life.
By looking after yourself, and choosing yourself first, you will be healthier both mentally and emotionally, and will be in a better position to help others. If you help everyone else at the expense of yourself, your helpful nature will be short lived.
If you’ve decided that you are going to put yourself first from now on and want to improve your life, check out 15 Ways to Invest in Yourself.
14
Naval’s Perspective on Books
Naval is passionate about books. He said, “I spent a lot of time reading. My only real friends were books.”
Some of his book recommendations include:
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley of which he says, “The most brilliant and enlightening book I’ve read in years.”
Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T. Munger which Naval says, “I always recommend [this book] as my top business book.”
And we especially love Thing Explainer, by Randall Munroe which Naval describes as “Explains all these very complicated concepts, [but] only using the 1000 most common words in the English language.”
Feel free to use our free audio book download by heading to audible.com and claiming yours.
15
What Skills He Believes Are Important to Have in the Future
Ravikant suggests that the following skills are going to be the most relevant within the next 5 years. They include math, hard sciences, computers, and engineering.
Physics is also good, as he says, “The social sciences are heavily propagandised, non-falsifiable, and don’t replicate.”
Question:
Aluxers, what have you taken away from this impressionable man? We’d love to hear your perspective.
