Abraham Thomas
👋🏼 Hi, I’m Abraham.
- I write Pivotal, a newsletter on data, investing and startups
- I’m an active angel investor, fund LP, and occasional advisor
- I’m currently working on something new
Previously:
- I co-founded Quandl, a tech startup acquired by Nasdaq
- I was a trader and portfolio manager at a large hedge fund
- I received a B.Tech. in Engg. Physics from IIT Bombay
- I grew up in India, but now live in Toronto, Canada
🧭 Here are some things I believe:
- ABL: Always Be Learning.
- Every skill is a muscle to be exercised.
- Changing your mind based on new data is a superpower.
- (Most people don’t ever change their minds)
- Speed is under-appreciated in almost every context.
- Tremendous outcomes require tremendous amounts of hard work.
- (Smarts alone are not enough)
- Luck matters a lot, but you can help luck find you.
- Be deliberate, and comfortable with risk.
- (Most people are impulsive, and risk-averse)
- Combine optimism about technology with realism about humanity.
- Life is too short to play zero-sum games.
- If you’re not curious, what’s the point?
- (This is a good filtering function)
- Discipline doesn’t restrict your choices, it expands them.
- Excellence is a habit, and should be cultivated as such.
- Attention to detail separates the pros from the tourists.
- Action produces information.
- Compete with yourself.
- Do work that only you can do.
- Be unfailingly kind, even when – especially when! – it’s hard.
- But recognize that kindness isn’t the same as niceness.
- Character is grace under pressure.
- When the chips are down, who do you want to be?
- Arguments about means are often arguments about variances.
- Compassion, empathy and courtesy signal strength, not weakness.
- Take care of yourself in order to take care of others.
- Do less to do more.
- Knowing your own preferences is the key to happiness.
- No task is too small to do well.
- If you don’t blow your own trumpet, it shall remain unblown.
- (I struggle with this)
- Individuals matter more than institutions.
- Technology is a force for good. Use it well.
- Markets are the best way we know to allocate resources.
- Big dreams, sincerity and enthusiasm are all good things.
- Be ambitious in the service of abundance, not insecurity.
- Cynics appear smart, but optimists change the world.
Have fun, be good, work hard, stay happy, make a difference!