First Principles Thinking in Business

January 2026 · 8 min

Most business problems have been solved before. We copy solutions without understanding why they work. First principles thinking strips away assumptions and rebuilds from fundamental truths.

"The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks." — Mortimer Adler

Start with what you know to be absolutely true. Build up from there. The path will look different from everyone else's, and that's the point.

Patience as Competitive Advantage

December 2025 · 6 min

Everyone optimizes for speed. Ship fast. Grow fast. Exit fast. But the biggest returns come to those who can wait when others can't.

Compound interest works in business too. Relationships compound. Skills compound. Reputation compounds. The patient player captures value the impatient leave behind.

Via Negativa: Success Through Subtraction

November 2025 · 7 min

We add when we should subtract. More features. More meetings. More strategies. Often the path to improvement is removing what doesn't work rather than adding what might.

"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry