For my parents, who gave me everything and always seem to find a way to give more.
I built the Navalmanack entirely out of transcripts, Tweets, and talks Naval has shared. Every attempt is made to present Naval in his own words. However, there are a few important points.
By definition, everything in this book is taken out of context. Interpretations will change over time. Read and interpret generously. Understand the original intent may be different than your interpretation in a different time, medium, format, and context.
In the process of creating this book, I may have mistakenly re-contextualized, misinterpreted, or misunderstood things. As content passed through time, space, and medium, some phrasing may have shifted in flight. Every effort has been made to maintain the original intent, but errors are (very) possible.
Interviews have been transcribed, edited, rearranged, and re-edited for readability. I did my best to keep Naval’s ideas in his own words.
All brilliance in this book is Naval’s; any mistakes are mine.
Tweets are formatted like pull quotes but are unique content. I use them to summarize or punctuate an idea from the main prose.
This formatting shows I’m quoting a tweet.
Tweetstorms are connected tweets, formatted like this:
This is the first tweet in a tweetstorm.
↓
This is the second tweet. Tweetstorms are longer series of tweets all threaded together, similar to a blog post.
Many excerpts are from interviews by fantastic creators like Shane Parrish, Sarah Lacy, Joe Rogan, and Tim Ferriss. The questions are bolded. For simplicity and continuity, I do not distinguish various interviewers from each other.
This is a choose-your-own adventure book. Jump to anything that interests you and skip anything that doesn’t.
If you find a word or concept you’re not familiar with, look it up. Or, read on to find more context. Some referenced ideas are expanded upon later in the book.
Citations (like [1]) indicate the end of an excerpt. I’ve done my best to maintain context for smooth reading. Sources are in the appendix for reference. Some sources appear many times and do not appear in order.
Dear Reader,
It feels strange for me to write these words, as I committed many years ago to never write forewords.
I’m making a rare exception in this case for three reasons. First, a free version of this book is being offered to the world in a digital/Kindle/eBook format with no strings attached. Second, I’ve known Naval for more than a decade and have long wanted someone to compile this book. Third, I’m increasing the likelihood of Naval’s next child being named “Tim” (I’ll settle for “Timbo,” if he prefers).
Naval is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and he’s also one of the most courageous. Not in the “run into the fire without thinking twice” sense, but in the “think twice and then tell everyone they’re focusing on the wrong fire” sense. He is rarely part of any consensus, and the uniqueness of his life, lifestyle, family dynamics, and startup successes is a reflection of conscious choices he’s made to do things differently.
He can be as blunt as a foot to the face, but that’s part of what I love and respect about him: you never have to guess what Naval is thinking. I’ve never had to guess how he’s feeling about me, someone else, or a situation. This is a huge relief in a world of double-talk and ambiguity.
We’ve shared a lot of meals, shared a lot of deals, and hopped around the world together. That’s all to say that, while I consider myself a good people-watcher, I consider myself an excellent Naval-watcher. He is one of the people I call most for advice, and I’ve watched him in many habitats through many seasons: easy times, hard times, recessions, booms—you name it.
Sure, he’s the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList. Sure, he previously co-founded Vast.com and Epinions, which went public as part of Shopping.com. Sure, he’s an angel investor and has invested in many mega successes, including Twitter, Uber, Yammer, and OpenDNS, to name but a few.
That’s all great, of course, and it shows Naval is a world-class operator instead of an armchair philosopher.
But I don’t take his perspectives, maxims, and thoughts seriously because of the business stuff. There are lots of miserable “successful” people out there. Be careful about modeling those, as you will get all the bathwater with the baby.
I take Naval seriously because he:
That last one is important.
This book will give you a good taste of what that cocktail of bullets looks like in Naval’s head.
So, pay attention…but don’t simply parrot his words. Follow his advice…but only if it holds up after scrutiny and stress-testing in your own life. Consider everything…but take nothing as gospel. Naval would want you to challenge him, as long as you bring your A-game.
Naval has changed my life for the better, and if you approach the following pages like a friendly but highly competent sparring partner, he might just change yours.
Keep your hands up and your mind open.
Pura Vida,
Tim Ferriss
Austin, Texas
Throughout his career, Naval has generously shared his wisdom, and millions of people around the world follow his advice on building wealth and living happily.
Naval Ravikant is an icon in Silicon Valley and startup culture around the world. He founded multiple successful companies (Epinions during the 2000 dot-com crash, AngelList in 2010). Naval is also an angel investor, betting early on companies like Uber, Twitter, Postmates, and hundreds more.
More than a financial success, Naval has been sharing his own philosophy of life and happiness, attracting readers and listeners throughout the world. Naval is broadly followed because he is a rare combination of successful and happy. After a lifetime of study and application of philosophy, economics, and wealth creation, he has proven the impact of his principles.
Today, Naval continues to build and invest in companies almost casually, in his own artistic way, while maintaining a healthy, peaceful, and balanced life. This book collects and organizes the pieces of wisdom he has shared and shows you how to achieve the same for yourself.
Naval’s life story is instructive. An introspective founder, self-taught investor, capitalist, and engineer certainly has something to teach us all.
As a first-principles thinker with no fear of speaking his truth, Naval’s thoughts are often unique and thought-provoking. His instinct for seeing through life’s veneer has changed how I see the world.
I’ve learned an enormous amount from Naval. Reading, listening, and applying his principles of wealth and happiness has given me calm confidence on my path and taught me to enjoy every moment of this journey. Closely studying his career has shown me how great things are accomplished through small, persistent steps, and how large an impact one individual can have.
I refer to his work often and recommend it to friends. Those conversations inspired me to create this book, so people can learn from his perspective whether they’re new to Naval’s ideas or have followed him the past ten years.
This book collects the wisdom shared by Naval over the past decade in his own words through Twitter, blog posts, and podcasts. With this book, you can get the benefits of a lifetime in a few hours.
I created this book as a public service. Tweets, podcasts, and interviews quickly get buried and lost. Knowledge this valuable deserves a more permanent, accessible format. That is my mission with this book.
I hope this acts as an introduction to Naval’s ideas. I’ve collected his most powerful and useful ideas in his own words, woven them into a readable thread, and organized those into sections for easy reference.
I often find myself reviewing sections of this book before making an investment or opening to the Happiness chapter if I’m feeling off. Creating this book has changed me. I feel more clarity, confidence, and peace through all aspects of life. I hope reading it will do the same for you.
The Almanack is intended as a guide to be read and consulted for specific topics. If Naval doesn’t answer your emails, I hope this book gives you the next-best advice.
This book is an introduction to Naval and dives deeply into his two most-explored topics: wealth and happiness. If you want to continue exploring Naval and his other ideas, I encourage you to check out the “Next on Naval” section at the end of this book. I’ve shared chapters that were edited out of the final book, as well as other popular resources.
Be well,
Eric
I grew up in a single-parent household with my mom working, going to school, and raising my brother and me as latchkey kids. We were very self-sufficient from a very early age. There was a lot of hardship, but everyone goes through hardship. It did help me in a number of ways.
We were poor immigrants. My dad came to the US—he was a pharmacist in India. But his degree wasn’t accepted here, so he worked in a hardware store. Not a great upbringing, you know. My family split up. [47]
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. [8]
We were in a part of New York City that isn’t very safe. Basically, the library was my after-school center. After I came back from school, I would just go straight to the library and hang out there until they closed. Then, I would come home. That was my daily routine. [8]
We moved to the US when we were very young. I didn’t have many friends, so I wasn’t very confident. I spent a lot of time reading. My only real friends were books. Books make for great friends, because the best thinkers of the last few thousand years tell you their nuggets of wisdom. [8]
My first job was with an illegal catering company in the back of a van delivering Indian food when I was fifteen. Even when I was younger, I had a paper route and I washed dishes in the cafeteria.
I was a totally unknown kid in New York City from a nothing family, an “immigrants trying to survive” situation. Then, I passed the test to get into Stuyvesant High School. That saved my life, because once I had the Stuyvesant brand, I got into an Ivy League college, which led me into tech. Stuyvesant is one of those intelligence lottery situations where you can break in with instant validation. You go from being blue collar to white collar in one move. [73]
At Dartmouth, I studied economics and computer science. There was a time when I thought I was going to be a PhD in economics. [8]
Today, I’m an investor, personally, in about two hundred companies. Advisor to a bunch. I’m on a bunch of boards. I’m also a small partner in a cryptocurrency fund because I’m really into the potential of cryptocurrencies. I’m always cooking up something new. I always have a bunch of side projects. [4]
All that, of course, in addition to being the founder and chairman of AngelList. [4]
I was born poor and miserable. I’m now pretty well-off, and I’m very happy. I worked at those.
I’ve learned a few things, and some principles. I try to lay them out in a timeless manner, where you can figure it out for yourself. Because at the end of the day, I can’t quite teach anything. I can only inspire you and maybe give you a few hooks so you can remember. [77]
Live, on Twitter, it’s Naval (applause ensues…)
On May 18th, 2007
How to get rich without getting lucky.