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:
> Stories: Kim Kardashian & Vans
> High-performance: On personal renewal
> Insights: Forever young
> Tactical: Inspiring personal vision
> 1 Question: Status anxiety
Cheers,
Alex
P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.
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Stories of Excellence
Person: Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian, born in 1980, rose from Paris Hilton's stylist to become a global media mogul. Her journey began with a leaked sex tape and the reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" in 2007. Kim leveraged her fame to build a business empire, including beauty lines, mobile apps, and shapewear. She's faced criticism but remains resilient. "I'm the type of person that would rather take my chances and go for it than just regret it," she once said. In recent years, Kim has pursued legal studies and advocacy work. Her net worth is estimated at $1.7 billion. She continues to evolve, balancing motherhood, business, and her public image. Kim's story is one of controversy, ambition, and reinvention.
Key Lessons from Kim Kardashian:
On being underestimated: "I love when people underestimate me and then become pleasantly surprised."
On resourcefulness: She turned negative publicity into opportunity, using her reality show as a platform for business ventures.
Company: Vans
Vans was founded in 1966 by brothers Paul and Jim Van Doren, along with Gordon Lee and Serge Delia in Anaheim, California. The company started as The Van Doren Rubber Company, manufacturing shoes and selling them directly to customers. On their first day, they sold 12 pairs of the "Authentic" deck shoe. Initially, Vans catered to skateboarders and surfers, gaining popularity in Southern California's skateboarding culture. The iconic "Off the Wall" slogan was coined in the 1970s, inspired by skateboarders' aerial tricks. Vans faced bankruptcy in 1984 but rebounded after restructuring. In 2004, VF Corporation acquired Vans for $396 million. Today, Vans is a global brand with over $4 billion in annual revenue, known for its skateboarding shoes and lifestyle apparel.
Key Lessons from Vans:
On product testing: Use your team as guinea pigs. Vans employees were the first testers for new designs. They'd wear prototypes and provide feedback. This real-world testing led to better products and engaged employees. As one designer put it, "We're our own best critics."
On failure: Embrace imperfection. Vans' early shoes often had defects. Instead of hiding this, they sold them at a discount as "f*ck ups." This honesty endeared them to customers. As Paul Van Doren said, "Perfection is boring."
On customer service: Make it personal. In the early days, if a customer's shoe broke, Paul Van Doren would often hand-deliver a replacement. This level of service created lifelong fans. "It's not the shoes, it's the people," he often said.
Something New
You read the newsletter. Now search the library. Faster Than Normal has 350+ founder playbooks and 380+ company breakdowns — every one structured, searchable, and cited to the source.
Try asking: "How did Steve Jobs think about product focus differently than his peers?"
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High-performance tool
⎯
John Gardner, On Personal Renewal
"The thing you have to understand is that the capacities you actually develop to the full come out as the result of an interplay between you and life’s challenges –and the challenges keep changing. Life pulls things out of you.
There’s something I know about you that you may or may not know about yourself. You have within you more resources of energy than have ever been tapped, more talent than has ever been exploited, more strength than has ever been tested, more to give than you have ever given.
You know about some of the gifts that you have left undeveloped. Would you believe that you have gifts and possibilities you don’t even know about? It’s true. We are just beginning to recognize how even those who have had every advantage and opportunity unconsciously put a ceiling on their own growth, underestimate their potentialities or hide from the risk that growth involves."
—John Gardner, Former United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Insights
Lyrics from Forever Young by Bob Dylan:
May God bless you and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young
Tactical reads
⎯
> When setting an inspiring personal vision
Debbie Millman: Vision Setting (Read it here)
> When developing strategies to reach your goals
How to achieve your goals (Read it here)
1 question
What do you get most jealous about?
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.
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