2021 Year in Review
The best of the best from a year in the arena
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The 2021 Year in Review
It is often said that we overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.
Well, 2021 was a perfect example of that fact.
On a micro scale, I was constantly frustrated by my inability to make the daily progress I expected from myself. I’d miss my self-imposed targets, fail to read things I had planned to, whiff on growth goals, and beat myself up about all of it. On the micro scale, I often felt like I was stagnating.
But as I often preach in this newsletter—when in doubt, zoom out!
On a macro scale, the picture was much more compelling:
I launched this newsletter in January 2021 and have grown the tribe to 57,000+ growth-minded individuals since then.
My Twitter account grew from 75K to 420K. My tweets generated over 600 million impressions in 2021—which is, candidly, mind boggling.
I started a podcast with one of my best friends and hit #6 on the technology charts within 1 month of launch. The podcast community is thriving.
Most importantly, made so many amazing friends—and converted many of my 2020 Internet friends into IRL friends.
I’m very proud of the effort and consistency that went into achieving the above, but there is so much more to do. Believe me when I say that I’m just getting started.
A few things you can expect to see from this newsletter in 2022:
Investment Memos: 1-2x per month Monday memos walking you through a new company I have invested in, why I’m excited about it, and my investment thought process. I’m really excited to take you on this business/investing learning journey with me.
Mid-Week Deep-Dives: Continuing with my normal cadence of mid-week pieces, including illustrations and audio.
The Friday Five: Continuing with my normal drops of The Friday Five, sharing one quote, one tweet, one article, one podcast, and one bonus item every single week.
More than anything else, I’m just excited to continue learning alongside all of you. The future is so damn bright!
The Best of 2021
As we look forward to 2022, let’s take a look back at the best of 2021:
Tactical
The Power Business Writing Guide: The most viewed article of 2021. A guide to writing more effectively at work.
The Cold Email Guide: One cold email can change your life. A guide to sending better cold emails.
Principles of Effective Storytelling: Storytelling is a powerful, underrated business and life skill. A piece on how to do it better.
Mental Models & Frameworks
The Framework Handbook: The most useful frameworks on investing, business, writing, growth, and life.
The Cognitive Bias Handbook Part 1 & Part 2: The mental errors that derail our decision-making.
The Logical Fallacy Handbook: The errors in reasoning that undermine our arguments.
Life & Growth
Paradoxes of Life: The 20+ most powerful paradoxes of life. Sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy.
Principles of Life: An honest, open reflection on the core principles I want to teach my son as he grows up.
How to Win (without talent or luck): A playbook for winning at life.
Business & Finance
Supply Chain Apocalypse: A simple breakdown on the biggest business story of 2021.
The Cantillon Effect: A primer on the most important economic concept you’ve never heard of.
The Evergrande Train Wreck: The slow-motion collapse of one of the largest property developers in the world.
I hope you found value in some of what I shared this year. I know that you have all gifted me with your attention and I take that responsibility very seriously.
I wish you all the best for the holidays and look forward to building together in 2022!
If you found any of these posts useful, please share this post and help me grow the tribe as we start 2022!
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Hello Sahil,
Great Job! Your content is amazing and has been very helpful to me both personally and professionally!
Do you have a framework explaining how you got to scale your newsletter to 57,000+ subscribers? Do you have any recommendations? Just started a newsletter 3 months ago and would love to learn more from you and your strategies to growing a newsletter. Thankyou!
This was my first newsletter from you, Sahil, and the articles you've linked here are really, really good. Thought-provoking and curiosity-inducing, as the name itself suggests. Great job, and continue the good work. Thanks!