This edition is brought to you by Deel

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: Sam Zell

Sam Zell, the billionaire real estate mogul, built his fortune through entrepreneurial grit and contrarian investing. Born to Polish immigrants, Zell started his property empire as a college student by managing apartment buildings. He's known for his bold moves, like taking his real estate portfolio public in the 1990s during a financial crisis. "The ability to see what others don't see is a critical part of being an entrepreneur," Zell says. His unconventional approach extends to his leadership style. He values drive over raw intelligence in his hires. "I'm not looking for the smartest guy in the room. I'm looking for the guy who can get things done," he explains.

Key Lessons from Sam Zell:

• On contrarian thinking: "I've always believed that the best opportunities are found where others aren't looking. Don't follow the herd."

• On drive: "I value people with internal motivation. Intelligence alone isn't enough. You need that fire in your belly."

• On perspective: "Don't take yourself too seriously. Maintain a balanced view of your successes and failures."

Read More.

Company: Gap

Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher in San Francisco. The couple started with a single store selling Levi's jeans and records, investing $63,000 of their own money. Don's frustration with finding jeans that fit properly inspired the business idea. The first store, located near San Francisco State University, was an immediate success, generating $2 million in sales in its first year. Gap quickly expanded, opening its second store in San Jose in 1970. By 1973, the company had grown to 25 locations and went public, raising $18 million. Gap's rapid growth continued, reaching 500 stores by 1980 and introducing its own private label clothing in 1982.

Key Lessons from Gap:

• On adaptability: Be willing to change course. Gap started selling records along with jeans. They quickly realized clothing was their real business and dropped the records. Don't cling to ideas that aren't working.

• On branding: Keep it simple, stupid. Gap's name came from the "generation gap." Short, memorable, relevant. Their early ads were just photos of celebrities in jeans. No fancy slogans or complex messaging. Clean and straightforward works.

Read More.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Pre-suasion

If you want to be persuasive, arrange for your recipient to be receptive to a message before they encounter it.

What we present first changes the way people experience what we present next.

The more generous your offer ‘seems’ the more attractive it will be.

Insights

Tactical reads

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> When conducting productive retrospectives and reviews
The Four Questions of a Retrospective and Why They Work (Read it here)

> When designing a personalized productivity system
My Creative Productivity System (Read it here)

1 question

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

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Alex Brogan

Find me on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

Offshore Talent: Where to find the best offshore talent. Powered by Athyna.

Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

Faster Than Normal is a ‘state' of being’ rather than an outcome. Outlier performance requires continuous, compounded improvement. We’re your partner on this journey.

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