For antifragility is the combination aggressiveness plus paranoia—clip your downside, protect yourself from extreme harm, and let the upside, the positive Black Swans, take care of itself.

Taleb notes that this has been a successful strategy throughout history: “Many of the ‘doers’ turned ‘thinkers’ like Montaigne have done a serial barbell: pure action, then pure reflection.” With no comparisons to Montaigne intended, this is the approach I’ve taken. I worked intensely for almost five years in what was a fulfilling and rewarding car

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I have curated the most important and deep parts of this book into the following quotes:- You don’t know yourself unless you have to make your own choices.- We don’t understand things when we have an edge. Only when we have the perspective of coming from behind.- If we win during bear markets you’ll be fine on bull markets.- Dispersion of outcomes ... See more

Prepare for anomalies. Building a startup requires extraordinary adaptability. What seems fixed one day may be fluid the next. To capitalize on volatility, it’s worth preparing a playbook for low-probability, high-impact events. When the next Black Swan hits, your business will be ready.