Do One Thing

Hey everyone,

I’m vacationing in Europe this week to make the most of summer. As usual, Stocks To Space's regular programming continues.

This is your Sunday Space, where I serve up the best ideas, tools and resources I’ve found each week as we explore the technology shaping the future.

If you find something thought-provoking, forward it to a friend.

IDEAS
Do One Thing

Peter Thiel made a name for himself by building PayPal into the first billion-dollar fintech to emerge from the dot-com crash.

One of his most renowned achievements was banding together the “PayPal Mafia,” forming the basis for countless startup stories and operating principles.

One principle I’ve been obsessing over recently is how Thiel ensured his team focused on one thing relentlessly.

This meant seeing one project, product feature or campaign through to completion (and here’s the special part) by ignoring everything else.

This maniacal focus is something I’m incredibly passionate about. And most people/companies suck at it.

In my experience, managers assign 5-10+ projects simultaneously, expecting them all to progress, however fast or slow.

This results in two things:

• A distracted team, who hop from one task to the next constantly.

• A culture of being reactive to the closest deadline rather than proactive.

If you want to get nothing done as an organisation, do that.

If you want to create a billion-dollar payments company, Do One Thing instead.

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RESEARCH
AI Word of the Day

Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that uses software robots or "bots" to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks typically performed by humans. These bots interact with digital systems through user interfaces, mimicking human actions like clicking, typing, and navigating to perform tasks such as data entry, transaction processing, and record management. RPA aims to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and free up human workers for more complex, strategic work across various industries.

INSIGHTS
1 Article

Swallow this robot

Pillbot, a tiny, swallowable robot, is advancing through clinical trials and preparing for FDA review and commercial launch. It aims to revolutionise gastrointestinal examinations and internal health data collection. About the size of a large vitamin pill, it has cameras, sensors, and wireless communication features that allow it to transmit high-res video to doctors in real-time.

Luca’s take: I completely agree with Endiatx’s CEO describing Pillbot as a "fountain of cheap data" for the human body. We need more innovations like this—cutting-edge robotics with AI will transform healthcare. Healing the scar tissue that Theranos caused to this segment of Silicon Valley, Pillbot could offer significant improvements in non-invasive diagnoses and lead to a future where robots autonomously monitor our internal health. Let’s hope they’re legit.

1 Post

1 Video

THOUGHTS
Quote I’m Pondering

Entrepreneur and investor Paul Graham on the common mistake made by entrepreneurs (and anyone hoping to make something new):

"What you will get wrong is that you will not pay enough attention to your users.

You will make up some idea in your own head that you will call your "vision", and you will spend a lot of time thinking about your vision. In a cafe. By yourself. And build some elaborate thing without going and talking to users, because that's doing sales, which is a pain in the ass, and they might say no.

You will not ship fast enough because you're embarrassed to ship something unfinished, and you don't want to face the likely feedback that you will get from shipping. You will shrink from contact with the real world, contact with your users. That's the mistake you will make."

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Thanks for reading,

— Luca

P.S. Some audiobook recommendations…