270 karma · joined March 14, 2012
Location: SF Bay Area
Remote: No
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Technologies: R, SQL, Python
Resume: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohun-ati-3174952a
email: ratijr AT yahoo
I do agree 100% with what he says about systems vs goals.
For example, one of Kobe's conditioning trainer's had this to say:
"When I arrived and opened the room to the main practice floor I saw Kobe. Alone. He was drenched in sweat as if he had just taken a swim. It wasn’t even 5AM.
We did some conditioning work for the next hour and fifteen minutes. Then we entered the weight room, where he would do a multitude of strength training exercises for the next 45 minutes. After that we parted ways and he went back to the practice floor to shoot. I went back to the hotel and crashed. Wow."
Later on, around 11AM, the trainer sees Kobe on the court, practicing with the USA Olympic Squad, and has this conversation:
"So when did you finish?"
"Finish what?"
"Getting your shots up. What time did you leave the facility?"
"Oh just now. I wanted 800 makes so yeah, just now."
...
This is not unique to Kobe, you find stories like this with all athletes in conversation for "greatest of all time."
Secondly, there's a lot to learn from coaches as well, especially from the perspective of a startup founder. There's a reason Keith Rabois brought up the Bill Walsh's (SF 49ers coach) book, "The Score Takes Care of Itself," in the HTSAS lecture series.
Lastly, watching sports at a high level is like appreciating great art. A great backhand in tennis, a brilliant pass by a quarterback, these all have a quality of beauty about them. I feel they induce similar awe-inspiring feelings one might find in an art museum, a great music album, etc.
I have heard from others that serving a ten day course (as opposed to sitting a course, as the author here did) is more beneficial as you are able to talk with fellow servers, help prepare food, and can even read a newspaper. Although you can't go deeper into your mind, you learn to integrate meditation into daily life better. I have yet to serve a course.
Some of the other comments here seem to share the same sentiment. I really loved his book, but I haven't really followed his work for the past few years. Anyone know what he's been up to in ML/AI lately?
The whole idea of YC, I thought, is they hook you up with the best investors in the valley because of their amazing network. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through (not to mention a messy legal situation) when you can just call up Sam and ask for an introduction...
Honestly, I've found /r/fantasyfootball has been a great resource.
Stats are obviously important, but I'm not sure they can ever replicate simply watching film. For instance, two weeks ago, Odell Beckham Jr of the NY Giants caught 5 catches for 44 yds and a TD. What the stat line doesn't tell you is that he actually smoked his defender a few times, was open in the endzone on a play, and if Eli had chucked it up to him or seen him in the endzone, ODB would have definitely had a couple more TDs, at least.
I don't know enough about fantasy basketball/baseball to say whether film is as powerful for those sports, but it seems like the best fantasy football analysts give heavy credence to film because it protects against overreacting to good/bad performances.
Another example - last year there was some player that saw a significant drop in touchdowns (I can't remember off the top of my head who it was). But after looking at film, it became apparent this player unfortunately kept getting tackled at the 1 yard line. Clearly, an anomaly.
Interesting to think about in light of Peter Thiel's lecture for "how to start a startup" at Stanford. He is correct that the narrative has changed. Contrast the above quote with the one Thiel used in his lecture from Schmidt, which basically said "Google is not a search company, it's an ad company," or some variation thereof.