You know I could always learn to hang glidePublish’d Monday Mornings, since 2018.
TREVOR McKENDRICK
Being an Account of
THE AUTHOR, his ENTERPRISES, and his WEEKLY LETTER;
Entrepreneur, Investor, & Optimist;
Concerning Startups, Investing, and Philosophy.
An ACCOUNT of the AUTHOR.
Trevor McKendrick has started a variety of enterprises in his time. He founded Seis, a bank for the Spanish-speaking community, which was backed by Y Combinator and reached $10 million in annualized revenue 16 months after launch. Customers spent more than $1.3 billion on their debit & credit cards.
Before Seis he founded the #1 Spanish-language Bible app, which was acquired by a public company. He was also the Chief of Staff at Lambda School.
He has been seen on the Startup podcast (Gimlet Media), My First Million, Mixergy, Roots of Progress, Capital Gains, and other notable publications.
He now writes the Weekly Letter, and is working on his next adventure.
His standing invitation: “If you feel called to start a company you should. If you have questions on how to raise money or how to pitch, please contact me.” The electronic mail address is [email protected].
THE WEEKLY LETTER.
The Weekly Letter has gone out every Monday morning since 2018: it includes the best things he read that week — startups, investing, philosophy, and whatever else he finds interesting. Lately:
- N° 399 Your feelings are not valid
- N° 398 How to feel good
- N° 397 Do not go chill into that good night
- N° 396 It's okay to like money
- N° 395 Why I invested in Stripe
- N° 394 The curse of ordinary abundance
Three hundred ninety-nine in all. — See every Letter.
ESSAYS & TRACTS, the most read.
- Why I invested in Stripe at a ~$100 billion valuation
- Efficiency Is An Excuse To Not Do The Actual Work
- Pain is the Point
- The path to success always requires a stop in hell
- How Could it Be Any Other Way?
- The Perfect Decision Fallacy
- Why is Everyone Like their Parents?
- How I lost 25 pounds lugging my Peloton across the country in the back of my car
- Optimism 2020: A Manifesto
- The Religion of Creation
- An Interview with Shaan Puri, founder of All Access Pass
Seventy-six in all. — See the whole Catalogue.
SUBSCRIBE to the WEEKLY LETTER
The best things on the Internet each week. Startups, investing, philosophy, and whatever else is most interesting. Sent every Monday since 2018. Three hundred ninety-nine editions so far. Free.
Attested by the readers below.
ATTESTATIONS of the WEEKLY LETTER.
“Trevor’s newsletter is one of my favorites. As a writer and podcast host, Trevor gives me unique perspectives on familiar topics, in a format that grips my attention.”
“Trevor is the Mike Rowe of Silicon Valley: a tough, no-nonsense, but positive ‘get off your butt and achieve your dreams’ message.”
“Trevor is a smart dude and a great writer. He’s becoming the chief apologist and celebrator of Silicon Valley.”
“I like Trevor’s newsletter because he’s an excellent and concise writer. The links are also solid. I have been methodically eliminating most sources of non-information from my life, including “the news”, FB, Insta, and most of Twitter. This email is one of the few things I let in because it tends to be interesting without being overwhelming.”
“Trevor’s newsletter is the email I most look forward to getting every Monday. It’s a nugget of inspirational wisdom that helps me remember achieving excellence & making an impact takes resilience, and reality is a lot more messy than the glossy newsprint makes it seem.”
“Reading this is part of my Monday morning rituals. Trevor’s smart and logical perspective teaches me something each time I dive in.”
“I have never liked newsletters because I hate having anything unimportant in my inbox. Trevor’s is the only one I will not unsubscribe to. It’s some of the most logical and practical material I have read.”
“Newsletters have largely replaced blogs for me, and Trevor’s is one of the best.”
“Trevor your newsletter is a GEM. The only one probably better is Money Stuff from Matt Levine. Please keep up!”
“Won’t unsubscribe”
“If you don’t subscribe… duh. Subscribe. Today’s email was awesome.”
“Trevor’s newsletter has the ability to freeze time and compose simple events into a stunning Goldsworthy-like sculpture. Thanks for that!”
“So happy Trevor is finally doing a regular email – I’ve found his insights super valuable for years. It’s one of the only newsletters that goes to my real inbox. Love love love love.”
“Trevor knows business. He’s an operator, an owner, and an entrepreneur. He’s also a great writer. I appreciate that his newsletter is short and succinct. The signal-to-noise ratio is great: I know I’ll always find several interesting quotes, links, and articles. He has a knack for finding and sharing some of the best content: inspirational, entrepreneurial, bootstrap- or die-trying type stuff. I always learn something new, and it is one of my favorite newsletters today.”
“I read Trevor’s newsletter because it’s hand picked interesting stuff. Screw you algorithms!”
“I read Trevor’s newsletter because it’s the best newsletter I’ve ever received. These days most newsletters are just glorified listicles or shallow marketing tools. This is the total opposite – it’s well-written, thought-provoking, and interesting. I always look forward to it in my inbox, and can’t wait to read what Trevor has been thinking about all week.”
“I like Trevor’s newsletter because I’m interested in how things work and because I feel that my own surfing across topics can be so random – so rabbit hole dependent; so tied to my own priors – and so it’s great to see someone else’s thought process.”
“Trevor’s newsletter is one of the few weekly email newsletters that I actually look forward to. Trevor’s superpower is finding unique and insightful nuggets of wisdom, esoterica, and knowledge that are hiding right in plain sight, and sharing them in a fun and easy-to-read way. If you love learning new things, you’ll love it.”
“This newsletter is so consistently good it’s crazy. I get way way too many personal newsletters and this is always one I find myself making time for. Thanks for making it.”
“Incredible newsletter & deeply sincere take on greatness. Thanks Trevor.”
“A great newsletter”
“Yours is one of the few newsletters I regularly read”
“Keep writing. I love your newsletters.”
“This was meaningful for me today, thanks man. (1 week later) Another great one man, love these more and more.”
“My favorite weekly read. Inspires me to keep working.”
“Loved this article Trevor. It was a great reminder to me today”
“Surprisingly inspirational.”
“This is some amazing writing, damn brother. I never read emails but this is a must now.”
“I really enjoyed this”
“Honestly, regularity and brevity is a big part of my appreciation for your weekly email.”
“I read Trevor’s newsletter because it provides a new perspective and little titbits of current news and commentary that really resonate with me. And because I can compare my own mental model with yours.”
“The reason I look forward to Monday morning is your email. You have had some extreme successes in your life and have questioned many things. I like finding out what makes you ‘tick’.”
“Your issues provide me a glimpse into the world of techies. Although not all your articles are technical, there is an insight to what your world encompasses. I enjoy your interpretations and reactions to the articles”
“I read Trevor’s newsletter because I feel that it is one of the few things that imitates the way that my brain works when I take on a big project.”
“I like the mix of content sources and your commentary / lessons learned do a great job of telling me why I should care and what I will get out of the article.”
“What I like about your newsletter is that you communicate in a way that seems approachable as a friend, even though we’ve never met. The links you send are the stories that really resonate with me through what I am personally or professionally going through. The themes around balancing professional excellence with personal management are curated through your stories (I still tell the one about Larry Ellison’s cat) and links to other sites. This is the only newsletter that I routinely forward to other friends to read since you touch on things that my peer group are all going through at the same time.”
“I’m a huge fan of your newsletter. I even created a shortcut in my inbox so as I don’t miss a single one of your emails. Why is this? I read one of your emails titled “Efficiency is an excuse not to do the actual work” and it has transformed the way I approach how I do things. For example, I started working out using only push-ups in my bedroom while before I always thought I needed a gym membership first.”
“I’m very grateful for your emails. I love your consistency and your content. Your emails are part of the few I actually read and enjoy.”
“This is one of the best things I’ve seen in my inbox in a long time.”
“Man, I really enjoy these emails. Probably the only newsletter I’ve stayed subscribed to for longer than two weeks. Good stuff!”
“Trevor writes about topics I wouldn’t find on my own in a way that’s straight and to the point.”
“I wanted you to know that this week’s newsletter was awesome.”
“I can’t remember how or when I signed up for this, but this is an awesome newsletter. Thanks Trevor.”
“This is amazing!”
“Trevor clearly has a passion for the details and it shows in his stories. He knows what actually happened and expertly weaves it into a compelling story, with lessons along the way.”
“Trevor’s newsletter is great because it challenges my intuitions. Every week I get to evaluate my gut take on stories I thought I understood but look at with new information and perspective. Great way to start the week thinking in a new way.”
“I just would like to thank you for your e-mails. “Future You Masturbating” specifically helped a lot in realizing certain aspects about myself that I wasn’t fully aware of. I’ll be looking forward to read more from you.”
“You are a strategic, practical thinker and articulate simple life truths in a consumable way.”
“That Sam Walton story hit home for me. It’s the unsexy bits that are interesting to me. Good issue this week, Trevor. Thanks.”
“This is great Trevor. I love it when you write. Your examples of how we all Future Me Masturbate (did you make this term up?) pulled it all together... +1 to Trevor’s newsletter. A must subscribe. Good stuff every time.”
“I look forward to reading the newsletter every Monday. It exposes me to material that I wouldn’t otherwise see.”
“I know we don’t know each other, and I’m not sure if you read responses to your newsletter, but I’ve been getting your newsletter for about a month or so now. I just wanted you to know, I really enjoy reading it. I appreciate the work that goes into writing. I just wanted to say thanks, and keep up the good work.”
“Superb Trevor, well written and very insightful! Saving this to review every month.”
“Trevor, this is really great. Thanks.”
“This is good stuff”
“I read Trevor’s newsletter for the same reason I listen to Tim Ferris’ podcasts – your content exposes me to the thoughts and ideas of the people I want to be associated with and learn from in order to become a more intelligent and more worldly person.”
“Trevor, your’s newsletter is the only one I always read from top to bottom and always looking forward to reading it. The only one.”
“I know it is a grind to put this together every week, but I appreciate it. I usually find an article or book that is helpful or I hadn’t seen before (the Pixar book is right up my alley!)”
“Nice inspiring stuff. Although given the ease of developing a site these days, creating is a great way to quickly test & see if you have potential customers to begin with. Now, to close my email and get back to building. No more distractions damnit! I was doing fine until I saw your newsletter come in!”
“Great email this week, Trevor. Loved it. Loving the past few week’s content. Very thoughtful, personal.”
“Hey Trevor, just wanted to say thanks for going to the effort to put this together each week. Really is appreciated/enjoyed.”
“Hey Trevor, I just wanted to say thanks! I’ve been reading your newsletter for several months now and truly enjoy it. It sparks a ton of great thought that helps me both personally and professionally.”
“Last week’s email was excellent – really enjoyed reading from you (not just links). The words were on point.”
“Trevor’s newsletter always seems to have a new perspective to think about; it makes you reconsider ideas you thought were obvious and contemplate ideas you never thought of.”
“Hey man, kudos on the newsletter. I look forward to reading stuff I wouldn’t have found otherwise”
“The post is live! Thanks a lot creating your content. As someone in Venezuela and surrounded by terrible odds and pessimism, it’s truly a light in the dark.”
“I have been reading your thoughts for some time now and have consistently found myself feeling inspired, confident, and enlightened. Thank you for continuing to share your fantastic insights, they have been truly helpful to me.”
“I enjoy receiving Trevor’s newsletter every Monday because I know it’s going to contain something interesting to think about and fun links to check out. It’s consistently good and one of the few newsletters I’ve directed Gmail to put into my Primary tab.”
“Loved this week’s newsletter! I too recently noticed that biographies seem very predestined, that somehow their subjects were destined for greatness regardless of the near unlimited ‘could’ve been’ that exist in a career. I love the idea of the Abyss.”
“Thank you for this week’s newsletter and every other week, as always very helpful. I can’t wait to dive in and read up these resources.”
“Damn Trevor I’m really enjoying your newsletter but today’s issue was special. In two weeks I am leaving my current job to start my second company and I definitely feel deep into the Abyss. Thanks for putting words to it.”
“Thank you for saying this!”