Find the wave

Career advice usually focuses on the person.

Work hard. Build skills. Take initiative. Be reliable. Communicate well.

All of that matters. But it leaves out something obvious: it is much easier to advance in a career when you are in an industry that is growing quickly, inside a company that is growing quickly.

Growth creates openings.

A growing company has more customers, more problems, more products, more teams, and more work than the current org chart can handle. That creates chances for people to take on responsibility before they look perfectly qualified on paper.

A stagnant company is different. Everyone is defending territory. Promotions are zero-sum. Budgets are tighter. Good work may still be noticed, but there is less open space for it to become something bigger.

The same person can look average in one environment and unusually capable in another.

Part of that is skill. Part of it is fit. But part of it is just whether the thing around them is expanding or contracting.

This is not an argument for blindly chasing whatever is hot. Crowded waves are still crowded. Hype can make people confuse motion with progress.

But it is an argument for taking the wave seriously.

Naval Ravikant talks about leverage, specific knowledge, and ownership. Those are personal advantages. But they work best when attached to a game with room to compound.

That is one reason AI feels interesting right now. Not because every AI idea is good. Most probably are not. But because the industry is growing fast enough that new categories, workflows, and habits are still being formed. There is room to notice something early and build around it.

If you can find the growing industry, the growing company, and the growing team, you do not have to manufacture every bit of progress yourself.

You still have to paddle.

But it helps to be on the wave.

Are you trying to win by paddling harder, or by choosing a better wave?
Hit reply and tell me. I read every response.

Have a great week!

Graham

📚 Book Notes

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgenson

Naval's useful frame is that wealth comes from ownership, leverage, specific knowledge, accountability, and judgment.

That sounds abstract until you apply it to a career decision. Is this role building specific knowledge? Does it give you leverage? Are you getting closer to ownership, or just renting out more hours?

The best opportunities usually combine personal fit with a game that can actually compound.

📖 Article

Startup = Growth

Paul Graham's definition is simple: a startup is a company designed to grow fast.

That is useful beyond startups. Growth changes the physics of work. It creates urgency, problems, opportunity, and openings. If you are in the right place, growth can pull you into bigger responsibilities faster than a neat career ladder would.

From the Blog

📝 Best Books for Career Growth: 8 That Actually Changed How I Think About Work
Career leverage is partly skill, partly judgment, and partly choosing the right game. These books are useful when you are deciding where to place your effort.

📝 The Skills That Actually Matter in the Age of AI
When tools change quickly, durable skills matter more. They matter even more when applied to a growing wave.

🔗 Things I Found Interesting

Why software is eating the world (Marc Andreessen)
A classic example of noticing a wave early enough that the observation sounds obvious only in hindsight.

The State of AI 2025 (Bessemer Venture Partners)
A useful map of where AI companies are forming categories and where the market still feels early.

Construction Physics (Brian Potter)
A good entry point into the industrial, physical, and logistical constraints that shape how real things get built.

What are the fastest growing professions in America? (USAFacts)
Not every growing category is glamorous, but growth creates opportunity. It is worth looking at the boring data too.

📣 Quote

"Pick an industry where you can play long-term games with long-term people." - Naval Ravikant