The Ultimate Information Diet

A lot of people tell me they struggle to come up with ideas.

My thinking is, if you want to improve your output, you need to look at your input.

If you’re feeling sluggish, overweight, or depressed,* you might start thinking about what you're eating. I believe ideation and productive output work the same way.

*Note: not all depression is caused by nutrition, but some cases are.

So, here’s my current information diet. It’s raw, unfiltered, and definitely not the gold standard, but it’s what I enjoy.

P.S. Feel free to reply with any cool things you have in your info diet that I should check out.

🎙️ Podcasts

• My First Million → Two founder friends scheming together—so many great ideas, and it's fun to listen to.

• MoneyWise → I’m just as nosy as Sam Parr when it comes to how much people earn and how they spend it.

• Limited Supply → Two ecommerce founders talking about customer acquisition and growth hacks. Super practical.

• How to Take Over the World → A historical podcast about great leaders and their stories.

• Bad Friends & Flagrant → Two comedian podcasts I love. I'm blown away by how quick and witty they are. This is 95% entertainment, 5% hoping I absorb some of their wit and humour.

• Technocracy → This is my podcast with Loong, and we’re coming back with season 2 in a month—check it out!

Other podcasts I listen to occasionally: Diary of a CEO, Marketing Against the Grain, Exit Strategy and Business Untitled.

🎥 Youtube

• Coffeezilla → True crime, but focused on financial scams. The investigations are incredible. (One of the only creators I support financially.)

• TLDR News Global → When I want to understand global geopolitics.

• Everything Money → A rare finance channel that knows what they’re doing, focusing on actual numbers and analysis instead of hype. It’s helped me beat the market for the last 3 years. That said, I’m now 100% into passive investing through ETFs because I'm not as interested in doing the legwork.

• Magnates Media → Netflix-style documentaries about how some of the biggest companies started. It’s like reading a biography but way more engaging.

• ColdFusion → Business and science concepts, well explained.

• Davie Fogarty, Sabri Suby, Alex Hormozi → The three GOATs of growth marketing. Their content can be repetitive, but Davie has some great in-depth tutorial videos.

• Matthew Berman → A quick way to stay on top of all the latest AI news.

• Magic The Noah, DougDoug → These guys create games using PowerPoint and AI, respectively. I love the creativity—it’s fun to watch and inspires my own ideas.

• Kurzgesagt in a Nutshell, Veritasium→ Simple explanations of complex science.

• PBS Spacetime → For when I remember that I studied theoretical physics at university, yet somehow I’ve forgotten what an eigenvector is.

Newsletters

I’ve subscribed to over 100 newsletters, but I rarely stick with them. Here are a few that have held my attention:

• PatentDrop → Summarises interesting newly filed patents.

• Wes Kao’s Newsletter → Wes is brilliant at articulating intangible skills and elevating communication and business practices.

• Ajay’s Quest / Level Up 😛 → My newsletters—pretty good, if I do say so myself. Feel free to forward this email!

• TLDR → Quick updates on the latest tech news.

• Growth.Design → Easy-to-read case studies on UX, growth, and product design. Great brain food.

• Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson → I’m a big fan of Andrew Wilkinson, who runs a conglomerate owning Dribbble, AeroPress, and 25+ other companies.

Books

I mostly stick to three categories:

• Biographies – They inspire me and fill my story bank, helping me draw parallels to my own life.

• Science/Tech – These are far more objective than business or money-making advice.

• Economics – Understanding money and economics is powerful if you're looking to succeed in business.

I’m not into generic business books anymore since they tend to repeat the same ideas. But here are some foundational ones I’d recommend to anyone:

• How Finance Works by Mihir Desai → The most comprehensive guide to finance I’ve found. Written by a Harvard Business School professor.

• 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout → It’s wild how these laws still apply today, even after 22 years.

• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss → Essential reading for learning how to negotiate.

• $100M Leads / $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi → Super comprehensive guides to generating leads and creating offers.

• Build for Tomorrow by Jason Feifer → A great explanation of the innovation cycle and how to adapt to the future.

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson → A great book on wealth and happiness that I’ve read three times over the last few years.

• Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks → Storytelling is an essential skill, and this is written by one of the best storytellers of our generation.

• Hooked by Nir Eyal → A look into the tactics apps and companies use to keep us engaged.

• Exit Path by Touraj Parang → Encourages entrepreneurs to think about their exit strategy from day one. It’s a perspective that can be a game-changer.

• Ultralearning by Scott Young → Teaches you how to learn—a valuable skill for anything you do.

• Inspired by Marty Cagan → One of the best books on product management, essential for founders and product managers.

• The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick → The TL;DR: ask questions where the answers are objective.

• Quiet Leadership by David Rock → A charismatic friend recommended this to me after I asked him for the tenth time why he’s so damn likable. It really helped.

• Range by David Epstein → This reassured me that generalists will thrive in the long run.

Disclaimer: I have affiliate links for each of these books, so if you buy through them, I get a small commission. Right now, running my newsletters cost me $220 a month, so this helps!

Things I actually use  🚀
Here are a few recommendations or ways I can help you. Follow the links if any of these are interesting. (FYI - Using these links helps support the newsletter through a small kick back!)

🌍 Hiring Global Talent: Fine A+ players at lower costs with Athyna
👨‍🎨 Get Unlimited Design Work: Want great designs at a low monthly cost? Try ManyPixels
📰 Build a Newsletter: Want to build a newsletter like me? Try Beehiiv

Until next time,

Ajay