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: Lisa Su & LG
> High-performance: 10 Types Of Innovation That Amazon, Apple, And Nvidia Use
> Insights: Liking what you do
> Tactical: Psychological tension between beliefs and actions
> 1 Question: Trade-offs
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: Lisa Su
Lisa Su is a force in the tech world. Born in Taiwan and raised in New York, she's now the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Su's journey is one of grit and smarts. She joined AMD in 2012 and became CEO in 2014. Since then, she's turned the company around. AMD's stock price has soared over 3000% under her leadership. Su's focus on high-performance computing has paid off big time. "We're betting that high-performance computing is the growth engine of the future," she says. Her work ethic is legendary. She starts her day at 5:30 AM with exercise and reading. Su's success story is a testament to hard work and vision in the fast-paced world of tech.
Key Lessons from Lisa Su:
On mornings: "I believe that the early morning hours are the most productive."
On persistence: "You have to be willing to take risks and you have to be willing to stick with it even when it's not going well."
On leadership: "Leadership is about making the right decisions and sometimes the hardest decisions."
Company: LG
LG, originally known as Lucky-Goldstar, was founded in 1947 by Koo In-hwoi in South Korea. The company started as a small chemical manufacturer producing cosmetics and plastics. In 1958, LG produced Korea's first radio, marking its entry into electronics. The 1960s saw LG expanding into home appliances, with its first refrigerator and TV. By the 1970s, LG had become a major player in South Korea's rapidly industrializing economy. The company went global in the 1980s, establishing its first overseas production facility in the U.S. In 1995, Lucky-Goldstar rebranded to LG Electronics, adopting the slogan "Life's Good." Today, LG is a multinational conglomerate with 2024 revenues over $55 billion, known for its innovative electronics and appliances.
Key Lessons from LG:
On how they build product: LG emphasizes innovation and customer-centric design in their product development. They've established a digital development environment using AI-based simulation technology to minimize physical testing and speed up the development process.
On global expansion: Go where the customers are. LG didn't wait for the world to come to Korea. They set up shop in the U.S. in the 1980s. Bold move for a Korean company back then.
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?"
Try it free for 7 days →Accelerants
High-performance tool
⎯
10 Types Of Innovation That Amazon, Apple, And Nvidia Use
Insights
Lee Lacocca on liking what you do:
“What is it that you like doing? If you don’t like it, get out of it, because you’ll be lousy at it. You don’t have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don’t like it you’ll never be successful in it.”
Tactical reads
⎯
> When exploring the psychological tension between beliefs and actions
A Lesson In Cognitive Dissonance (Read it here)
> When seeking timeless advice on achieving success and avoiding misery
Charlie Munger's speech to the Harvard School, June 1986 (Read it here)
1 question
What am I saying no to by saying yes to this opportunity?
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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