The Curious Engineer

All blogs / Essays / personal

David Perell

perell.com

I write, host a podcast, and run a writing school called Write of Passage.

Essays / personal

’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Posts
372 from 16 May 2015 to 16 Apr 2025
Posting
now and then
Kind
personal blog
Feed
https://perell.com/feed/

2025 2

  1. Buenos Aires: The Paris of South America?
  2. Practice Analytically, Perform Intuitively

2023 10

  1. How I’ve Studied the Bible
  2. Own It Mentality
  3. A Divine Intuition
  4. Where the Liberal Arts Went Wrong
  5. I Hate Writing (and So Will You)
  6. Ambitious People Need Each Other
  7. Surrendering to Your Nature
  8. Learning to Actually Listen
  9. Sensitivity Isn’t Static
  10. Annual Review 2022

2022 8

  1. 28 Pieces of Life Advice
  2. The TWA Hotel
  3. The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online
  4. What’s Up with Austin?
  5. The Book You Need to Read
  6. What I Got Wrong About Business
  7. Imitate, then Innovate
  8. Annual Review 2021

2021 29

  1. Hugging the X-Axis
  2. The Counterfactual Theory of Value
  3. Thoughts on Montreal
  4. How Should You Write?
  5. Against 3X Speed
  6. The Stupid Test
  7. Intellectual Loneliness
  8. Should You Write Every Day?
  9. People Don’t Actually Read
  10. How Learning Happens
  11. Lifting Alone
  12. Saving the Liberal Arts
  13. Thoughts on Free Will
  14. How Philosophers Think
  15. Rob Henderson: An Internet Academic
  16. Chrisman Frank and Ana Lorena Fabrega: How Childhood Education Will Change
  17. Ash Fontana: Building Artificial Intelligence
  18. Why You’re Christian
  19. The Paradoxes of Modern Life
  20. The Microwave Economy
  21. Li Jin: Creating the Creator Economy
  22. What Networks Whisper
  23. Zena Hitz: Liberal Arts Thinking
  24. Tiago Forte & Will Mannon: Building Cohort-Based Courses
  25. Gagan Biyani: Building Silicon Valley Startups
  26. The Jerry Seinfeld Guide to Writing
  27. The Paradox of Abundance
  28. Coolest Things I Learned in 2020
  29. Beer Mode and Coffee Mode

2020 113

  1. The Perks of Niche Fame
  2. Punctuation is Music
  3. Annual Review 2020
  4. Trevor Bauer: Playing Professional Baseball
  5. After Minimalism
  6. Nik Sharma: Building DTC Companies
  7. Kevin Kelly: Seeing the Future
  8. Will Ahmed: Founding WHOOP and the Future of Wearables
  9. Be a Personal Monopoly Investor
  10. Build a Personal Monopoly
  11. Lateral Thinking With Withered Ideas
  12. Seth Godin: Writing Every Day
  13. The Three Deadly Sins
  14. Don’t Find a Niche. Create One.
  15. Write CLEAR Sentences
  16. Writing is More Than Typing
  17. Get Wonky
  18. Dave Nemetz: Founding Bleacher Report
  19. Balance Saxon and Latin Words
  20. Write a Summary Box
  21. Assume You’re Not Original
  22. POP Writing
  23. The Three B’s of Creativity
  24. FAST Writing
  25. The Public to Private Bridge
  26. Lessons from Brunello Cucinelli
  27. Rabbi David Wolpe: Jewish Wisdom
  28. The Raymond Chandler Rule
  29. The But & Therefore Rule
  30. CRIBS: My Writing Feedback Formula
  31. Look for Things that Don’t Make Sense
  32. Create a Story Box
  33. Write about Earned Secrets
  34. The Soulja Boy Strategy
  35. Joe Henrich: What Makes Society Smart?
  36. Find Your Scenius
  37. The Right Kind of Original
  38. Intellectual Phase Transitions
  39. Write While You Walk
  40. Writing Makes You a Better Speaker
  41. Grant Sanderson: Math for the Masses
  42. The Islands and Bridges Strategy
  43. How I Produce a Podcast
  44. Learn to Write Fast
  45. Leave a Summary for Yourself
  46. Write While You Read
  47. Avoid Cliché Ideas
  48. Talking Can Cure Writer’s Block
  49. Why Bryson DeChambeau Wins
  50. Find Your Shiny Dime
  51. Create a Physical Structure
  52. You Already Have a Voice
  53. Diversify your Vernacular
  54. Bring a Unique Dessert
  55. Note-Taking is Time Travel
  56. Eric Jorgenson: Lessons from Naval Ravikant
  57. Create a Personal Podcast
  58. Summarize the Canon
  59. The Serendipity of Note-Taking
  60. Writing Can Save You Time
  61. Write for One Person
  62. Morgan Housel: Writing for the Internet
  63. Imitate, Then Innovate
  64. Hide Your Work
  65. Claire Lehmann: Building an Internet Media Company
  66. Balaji Srinivasan: Living in the Future
  67. Re-Discovering Your Weird
  68. Nadia Eghbal: Open-Source Software
  69. Expression is Compression
  70. Matthew Kobach: Social Media Brands
  71. David Brittain: Designing iPad Apps
  72. Online Learning 101
  73. Tyler Cowen: Production Function
  74. Mid-Year Review
  75. Patrick McKenzie: Internet Famous
  76. Will Mannon: Running an Online Course
  77. Don’t Kill Time
  78. Sara Dietschy: From YouTube to Business
  79. Our Vision for Write of Passage
  80. Online Product Launches
  81. Start Your Business by Writing
  82. School Didn’t Teach You to Write Online
  83. Narrative-Market-Fit
  84. Austin Rief & Alex Lieberman: Morning Brew’s Secret Sauce
  85. Tiago Forte: What’s Next in Education
  86. Michael Mayer: Building the Next Amazon
  87. Lessons from Media Personalities
  88. The Five Finger Trigger
  89. My Business Model
  90. Matt Cooper: Online Education Platforms
  91. 50 Ideas That Changed My Life
  92. Jennifer Morrison: Being a Hollywood Actress
  93. Teaching Like a State
  94. Alex Danco: Funding the Future
  95. Ryan Singer: Design and Consciousness
  96. People-Driven Learning
  97. Andy Matuschak: Designing Education
  98. Adulting Fast and Slow
  99. Your Wall of Heroes
  100. The Price of Discipline
  101. One Big Idea
  102. Why You Should Write Pseudonymously
  103. The Singularity is Here
  104. Becoming a Citizen of the Internet
  105. The Story of Write of Passage
  106. My Principles of Company Building
  107. News in the Age of Abundance
  108. Chris Zarou: The Top of Hip-Hop
  109. The Social Media Trap
  110. Audience-First Products
  111. Robert Cottrell: The Secrets of Reading
  112. The New American Dream
  113. What Should You Work On?

2019 58

  1. Andy McCune: Why Products Go Viral
  2. Annual Review: 2019
  3. Samo Burja: The Two Writing Cultures
  4. Coolest Things I Learned in 2019
  5. Thoughts on San Francisco
  6. Algorithmic Blindspots
  7. Tiago Forte: The Future of Education
  8. Ryan Holiday: Timeless Lessons from History
  9. Grow the Merry-Go-Round
  10. Why Did The Boeing 737 Max Crash?
  11. Talking To Strangers
  12. Peter Thiel: Uncommon Knowledge
  13. The Online Writing Roadmap
  14. Ratings Gone Wrong
  15. The Magic Moment
  16. Adam Robinson: Searching for Secrets
  17. Renée DiResta: Information Warfare
  18. Thoughts on Detroit
  19. Peter Thiel’s Religion
  20. How to Cure Writer’s Block
  21. Tren Griffin: The Love of Learning
  22. Why You Should Write
  23. The Amazon Arbitrage
  24. Learn Like an Athlete
  25. Mason Hartman: Building a Creative Society
  26. The Paradox of Ambition
  27. Jeff Morris Jr.: Building a flexible mindset
  28. Steve Cheney: The Next Internet
  29. The Go-For-It-Window
  30. Personal Marketing
  31. Matt Mullenweg: Operating System for the Open Web
  32. Jason Zweig: Saving Investors from Themselves
  33. Why Maps Lie To You
  34. Austin Rief: The Secrets of Email Marketing
  35. The Fruits of Friendship
  36. The Timeless Way of Building
  37. Jason Fried: Non-serial Entrepreneur
  38. The Checklist Habit
  39. Why Tourism in Morocco is Exploding
  40. Mark Broadie: The Secrets of Golf
  41. Jason Stein: Sports meets Media
  42. Erika Nardini: Authenticity, Media, and Memes
  43. Nick Kokonas: Tock, Truffles, and Thaler
  44. Why is College so Expensive?
  45. What the Hell is Going On?
  46. Why People Cooperate
  47. Andrew D’Souza: Clearbanc, Capital, and Canada
  48. Tools for Thought
  49. Alex Danco: Amazon, Cities, and Disruption
  50. Web Smith: The Direct-to-Consumer Craze
  51. The Story of the Senate
  52. The Pivot to Owned Commerce
  53. Netflix: Manufacturing Virality
  54. How I Choose What To Read
  55. Tal Shachar: Disney, Dreams, and Romanic Comedies
  56. Keith Rabois: Accumulating Advantages
  57. Gillian Morris: Swimming Across Guantanamo
  58. Coolest Things I Learned In 2018

2018 85

  1. That is Marketing
  2. Michael Shellenberger: Myths, Media, and Nuclear Energy
  3. Dan Runcie: Why Drake is Everywhere
  4. Samo Burja: Great Founder Theory
  5. The Customer Acquisition Pricing Parade
  6. Patri Friedman: Government in the Information Age
  7. Why America Thrives
  8. The Never-Ending Now
  9. Maximizing vs. Satisficing Brands
  10. James Clear: Building Better Habits
  11. Nat Eliason: Secrets of SEO
  12. Rory Sutherland’s Marketing Secrets
  13. Mastering the Media: The Secrets of Robert Moses
  14. Steve Schlafman: Meaning and Mindfulness
  15. Daniel Gross: Dreams and Determination
  16. Swimming and Scuba Diving: How to Learn on the Internet
  17. Arianna Simpson: Bitcoin, Books and Burning Man
  18. Jaspreet Singh: Minority Mindset
  19. The Magic Binoculars: Robert Caro’s Writing Secrets
  20. How to Improve Your Speech
  21. Derek Thompson: The Genius of Shakespeare
  22. Brent Beshore: Learning to Pole Vault
  23. Austen Allred: The Future of Education
  24. Where The Wild Things Are
  25. Taylor Pearson: Branding and Blockchains
  26. The Algorithmic Trap
  27. Eric Jorgenson: Short Term Catchy, Long Term Sticky
  28. Devon Zuegel: Cities as a Superpower
  29. A Day in Mexico City
  30. Morgan Housel: Naked Brands Interview Series
  31. The Future of Food
  32. How to Maximize Creativity
  33. Michael Nielsen: Tools for Thought
  34. Kevin Kwok: How Systems Work
  35. The Story of Singapore
  36. The Timeless Allure of Ruins
  37. Sara Dietschy: The Life of a YouTuber
  38. How to Maximize Serendipity
  39. Naked Brands: The Future of Basketball
  40. Paul Cooper: The Timeless Allure of Ruins
  41. Virgil Abloh: Nike “Ten” Collection
  42. Wisdom from Wal-Mart
  43. Kyle Chayka: Musings on Minimalism
  44. Masters of Media
  45. Not So Lazy & Entitled Millennials : David Perell
  46. Hyper Publishing: The Wiki Strategy
  47. Irony of Meme Culture
  48. Investing Lessons from Nick Maggiulli
  49. Amazon: The Everything Store
  50. The Medium is the Message
  51. Bet on Humanity
  52. Riding the Writing Wave
  53. Charlie Bit Me
  54. Orality and Literacy Book Review
  55. The Future of Education
  56. Streaming Makes us Superhuman
  57. Death of Advertising Agencies
  58. Hyper Publishing
  59. The Lessons of History Book Review
  60. Career Advice: Best of the Best
  61. BuzzFeed: The Future of Media
  62. Pursue What is Meaningful
  63. How to Write More
  64. Rainbow Airplanes
  65. Forget More to Learn More
  66. Ten Years of Silence
  67. Metaphors and Arguments
  68. Matt Levine: Money Stuff
  69. Yin and Yang: Lessons of Creativity
  70. Tyler Cowen: Two Blundering Fools
  71. Geoff Manaugh: Burglars, Buildings and Blueprints
  72. Naked Brands: The Future of Music
  73. The Creative Process
  74. Eugene Wei: Compress to Impress
  75. The Art of Focus
  76. The Future of American Sports
  77. Networked Writing
  78. The Fusion of Marketing
  79. Stories Change the World
  80. Peloton: The Future of Health and Wellness
  81. Naked Brands: Music
  82. Attention Deficit
  83. Simple Maxims
  84. Productivity Lessons from 2017
  85. Ego and Learning

2017 47

  1. Scott Belsky: Creativity Begins at the Edge of Reason
  2. Naked Brands: The Future of Finance
  3. The Future of Finance
  4. Naked Brands: The Future of Fashion
  5. Personal Update
  6. Douglas Abrams: Journey to Joy
  7. The Future of American Sports
  8. Albert Wenger: World After Capital
  9. David vs. Goliath: A History of New York Trade
  10. Ari Paul: Betting on Crypto
  11. Just Flow With It
  12. Heather Harnett: Be Human
  13. Josh Wolfe: The Magic of Science
  14. When Java Brands Jive
  15. Shane Parrish: Brain Food
  16. Greg Rosborough: Be Relentless
  17. Sam Arbesman: Think, Have Fun, And Be a Mench
  18. Naked Brands
  19. Matthew Luhn: The Art of Storytelling
  20. Morgan Housel: Long Term Thinking
  21. Joe Norman: Understanding Complexity
  22. Matthew May: The Elegant Mind
  23. Kara Goldin: Hinting At Health
  24. Brent Beshore: The Perfect Adventure
  25. America Runs on Instagram
  26. Find Your Territory
  27. Seth Godin: Purple Cows
  28. Saving Retail
  29. Tiago Forte: Designing a Better Life
  30. Drew Austin: How Technology Changes Us
  31. Wearable Brands
  32. Superfandom: How Our Obsessions Are Changing What We Buy and Who We Are
  33. Meagan Cignoli: How to Be Creative
  34. Taylor Pearson: The End of Jobs
  35. Adam Robinson: Change Your Thinking, Change the World
  36. Critical States
  37. Neil De Grasse Tyson: Bringing Space to Everybody
  38. The Attention Game
  39. The Future of Work
  40. Meagan Morrison: No Limits
  41. Skye Cleary: How Should We Love?
  42. The Pursuit of Meaning
  43. The Magic of Learning
  44. Massimo Pigliucci: How to Be a Stoic
  45. Creative Intersections
  46. Sunil Arora: Two Sides of Success
  47. A Short Guide to Spectacles 🕶

2016 16

  1. Ed Latimore: Be Your Best Self
  2. Khe Hy: From Hustle to Wholeness
  3. James Allworth: You Are Your Own Best Teacher
  4. Where Do We Go Next?
  5. Equinox is More Than a Gym. It’s a Church.
  6. David Levine: Progress is Inevitable
  7. Why Can’t School Be Fun?
  8. College Students: Focus on This
  9. Surge Pricing Can Save Hundreds of People
  10. The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread
  11. Snapchat’s Big Advantage
  12. Meaningful Travel
  13. What You Don’t Know About the Headphone Jack
  14. The Magic of Elon Musk
  15. Do you #FeeltheBern? Behind Bernie Sanders’ Quest to Takeover the White House
  16. It’s Time to Disrupt Our Archaic Education System

2015 4

  1. The Magical Touch of Finn Beales
  2. How Callaway Golf Increases Fan Engagmenet During Major Championship Weeks
  3. Oh Snap: It’s Here
  4. A Message to Every Entrepreneur