Who are your heroes / main sources of inspiration?

El-P, who spent decades honing his craft, speaking truth, and building up a body of work as a producer and rapper.

Kool Keith, for always doing things that only Kool Keith could do.

John Boyd for embodying persistence.

Prince.

Steven Pinker. I respect his ability to analyze things dispassionately and to make concise but persuasive arguments.

Charlie Munger. His way of looking at the world is so useful and so clearly articulated that I've copied more of it than anyone else's models.

Malcolm X. He followed his convictions fully and without apology, but he wasn't afraid to change his mind when new evidence came to light.

My mom. She taught me that being an entrepreneur is an option open to anyone, and she's pushed me through tough times by always expecting a lot while being supportive at the same time.

When I was a kid: Bill Gates. He showed me that you could be a nerd and be respected by everyone. My personal experience had given me the opposite impression.

When I was in college: Paul Graham. His essays gave me the confidence I needed to start my own companies. Without them I wouldn't have known where to start or what to do.

Henry Rollins. https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/henry-rollins-on-defining-success/

My sources of inspiration are often projects/stories:

• John Bielenberg’s Project M
• Everett Katigbak & Ben Barry’s Facebook Analog Research Lab
• Founding story of Y Combinator
• Bret Victor’s “What can a technologist do about climate change?”
• Speculative designs from BERG London

Pieter Levels!

Here's my short list:

• Wong Kar-wai, whose acute sense of human nature and artistry have made movies that deserve a category of their own
• Kató Lomb, who (as a physics +chemistry PhD!) demonstrated just how good of a language learner someone can become mid-career
• John Carmack, who was both a model of programming work ethic and pioneer of 3D and network gaming
• Richard Feynman, who could make difficult technical topics comprehensible for class after class of incoming 1st year students
• Leonardo da Vinci, whose lifetime of curiosity and industriousness enriched our world

You and John are big inspirations of mine.

You.

I'm motivated by output of people and organizations.

• Space10
• John Bielenberg
• Markus and Daniel Freitag
• Richard Branson
• Salman Khan
• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• The Long Now Foundation
• Jay Baldwin

Benjamin Franklin, Charlie Munger, Brian Sheth, Alan Trefler, Winston Churchill, Alan Turing

Bill Watterson. His Calvin & Hobbes cartoons brilliantly capture the human condition in a way that’s entertaining, thought provoking and easily digestible.

JME / Jamie Adenuga. UK grime MC who writes, produces and markets his (amazing) music entirely himself. No record label. Huge inspiration that you can just do it yourself. And the power it gives you.

Sir John Hegarty. Legendary advertising creative director and founder of BBH. Built some of the world’s most successful brands preaching a philosophy of irreverence.

Jony Ive. British design visionary at Apple. One of the most influential product thinkers of all time.

Brian Chesky
Wade Foster
Patrick Collison
Matt Mickiewicz
My Father

Kanye West

We're all unpaid actors is some giant script that we didn't write. Our actions & words controlled by society. "Don't do this. Get a job. Clock on. Clock off" That's why the Indie Hacker movement only happening now. Society deemed it too riksy so we were all too scared. until @levelsio broke the simulation. You gotta smile at them laughing at me.

it takes someone to swerve off lane and take a risk to open up another world. and thats what ye is. and anyone who is sceptical. I'll quote naval ravikant at you:

"The number one thing that clouds us from being able to see reality is that we have preconceived notions of the way it should be."

Free your mind. Don't slurp the media narrative like thirsty hogs in a waterhole.

And Yes. In 2024 I will be running for president of the United States of America.