Who Wants To Be A...Better Writer?
#44
What advice would’ve made you write better essays in high school and college? This. (As always) I don’t remember where I picked this *extract* from, but it found its way into my Notes and it’s actually helped me a lot with cold emailing strategies et al. And with this newsletter too, actually. I try to keep things simple but I get ahead of myself sometimes. Typical Ato. Happy reading!
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The Day You Became A Better Writer:
I went from being a bad writer to a good writer after taking a one-day course in “business writing.” I couldn’t believe how simple it was. I’ll tell you the main tricks here so you don’t have to waste a day in class.
Business writing is about clarity and persuasion. The main technique is keeping things simple. Simple writing is persuasive. A good argument in five sentences will sway more people than a brilliant argument in a hundred sentences. Don’t fight it.
Simple means getting rid of extra words. Don’t write, “He was very happy” when you can write “He was happy.” You think the word “very” adds something. It doesn’t. Prune your sentences.
Humor writing is a lot like business writing. It needs to be simple. The main difference is in the choice of words. For humor, don’t say “drink” when you can say “swill.”
Your first sentence needs to grab the reader. Go back and read my first sentence to this post. I rewrote it a dozen times. It makes you curious. That’s the key.
Write short sentences. Avoid putting multiple thoughts in one sentence. Readers aren’t as smart as you’d think.
Learn how brains organize ideas. Readers comprehend “the boy hit the ball” quicker than “the ball was hit by the boy.” Both sentences mean the same, but it’s easier to imagine the object (the boy) before the action (the hitting). All brains work that way. (Notice I didn’t say, “That is the way all brains work”?)
That’s it. You just learned 80% of the rules of good writing. You’re welcome.
PS:
According to the king of virality, Jon Steinberg (President of Buzzfeed): Keep it short. Ensure [that] the story has a human aspect. Give people the chance to engage. And let them react. People mustn’t feel awkward sharing it. It must feel authentic. Images and lists work. The headline must be persuasive and direct.
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Article List— What I’m reading (10 articles a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 3360 articles a year).
After Changing the Resell Market, What is Next for StockX and Josh Luber?: This link is for my brother @briansarfo who’s the first person to explain this shoe reselling game to me. Was always fascinated by the different strategies he used to secure new releases and make money from them.
Oyo’s Ascent Continues Despite High-Spend Warnings: At this point, this just looks like another WeWork looking to crash.
Africa’s Most-Populous Nation Missed the Mobile Money Revolution: Not entirely the telcos fault. When the banks wield so much power and they literally decide what goes on in a business that could potentially threaten them, while they don’t innovate themselves, this is what happens.
This is how Airbnb started: You want to build a multi-billion dollar company? This is how Airbnb started. Or you can listen to their episodes on How I Built This With Guy Raz or Tim Ferriss’ Podcast. Both with Joe Gebbia.
OEverything: Can OPay dominate Nigeria’s fintech market?: Can they? I’m yet to see this for myself but it looks like OPay has the money and can enter any market they damn well please. Revolve everything around their OPay app (plus don’t forget how Opera is pretty much optimized for low-data use via their compression algorithms) and they have a super app. Interesting to note that it launched in Kenya first. I did not know that.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma: Whistling Past The Graveyard: Most relevant part of this “In China, the Party always wins.”
After years of rapid growth in Africa we’re about to enter the age of Mobile Money 2.0: QZ paywall isn’t letting me. But have a go at it.
Stoic Capital: Found another great substack account pushing stoicism, which is basically a school of thought that “asserts that virtue (such as wisdom) is happiness and judgment should be based on behavior, rather than words. That we don't control and cannot rely on external events, only ourselves and our responses.” (Google came to the rescue with this one. I hear about it all the time on Tim Ferris but could never explain in my own words. S/o Larry and Sergei). Anyway, subscribe if the spirit moves you.
Reducing corruption takes a specific kind of investment (TED talk with Efosa Ojomo): In summary, the solution to corruption: Invest in businesses that makes things affordable and more accessible to so many more people. Use South Korea as a case study. I’d have to look more into this and verify this thesis. Let’s know your thoughts
Youth changing Africa: One man’s quest to transform higher education in Nigeria: Founder of Nigeria’s first online university, BAU online. People were singing Gossy’s praises on twitter and I had to look him up. Pretty forward-thinking business he’s got here. Got a potential acquisition target for him when we’re ready :)
PayPal Bails on Facebook-Led Libra Cryptocurrency Dream: Yea, problems like this popping up aren’t a good sign. And correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t PayPal one of the first first entities to get on board?
This bold Nigerian companies are targeting non consumption and winning: “Nonconsumption occurs when people who would otherwise benefit from purchasing a product cannot do so because they lack skill, wealth, access, or time. When innovators target this market by offering simple, affordable, and accessible products and services that solve everyday problems, they’re able to tap into what is perhaps the richest vein for growth, while simultaneously creating inclusive prosperity.”—in case you were wondering. Examples he used are… read the article 🙃🙃
Nigerian girls win Silicon Valley contest for app that spots fake drugs: This is the content I signed up for. Love love love this. The first sentence alone got me.
Podcast— What I’m listening to (1 podcast episode a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 336 podcast episodes). Broadening my experiences through others’ stories.
Shoutout to Kit for today’s podcast recommendations. I haven’t listened to these yet but they seem interesting bite-sized episodes on personal finance (always important!)
Check them out: Optimal Finance Daily and Optimal Business Daily. One episode is sub 10 mins. Shouldn’t be too difficult to listen to one a day. you’d improve your finance knowledge definitely.
Book— 1 Chapter a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 336 chapters. Most books have 10-12 chapters, so 1 year = 28 to 33 books. And my book list is nearing 1000 books. Send help 🌚
Made in America: Just read through my notes on the book. Favorite extract : “Two things about Sam Walton- First, he gets up every day bound and determined to improve something. Second, he is less afraid of being wrong than anyone I’ve ever known. And once he sees he’s wrong, he just shakes it off and heads in another direction.”
📱📱Quote of the day
Arthur Rock- bet on people
Tom Perkins- bet on technology
Don Valentine- bet on markets
There isn’t a single way to invest better. But nail whichever you choose.
Remember folks: “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.”