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Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

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Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#41

Post by paul »

This also is good advice for anyone applying to YC. I'm not going to read your 10,000 word manifesto -- just tell me what it is you are building! :)

We've actually found that the ability to provide clear and concise answers strongly correlates with success, so this is a major factor when evaluating founders.

I'm also reminded of my favorite C. A. R. Hoare quote: "There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult."

The same thing applies to business. Long, complex pitches are a sign of muddy thinking and hidden icebergs.

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#43

Post by tlb »

santiagobasulto wrote: post #28
joshu wrote: post #17

For the startup world: Approximately 80% of the pitches I get are between garbled and incoherent. Even higher in the unsolicited ones. Consider that your recipient is reading on a small screen and utilize pyramid structure. And don't bury the lede. Many pitches ask for money without saying anything at all about what they are about.

Would you recommend something like "How to pitch a VC" by Dave McClure. Or something else? I feel like there's no magic in a pitch. That you just have to tell the VC what problem you're solving. And just expect your VC to get it. Maybe the same pitch can have 2 totally different reactions in different people, because one of them have felt that pain or is identified with it. Bottom line, my take is: make it simple, be…

I would recommend William Zinsser, _On Writing Well_.

Persuasion tactics have almost no place, except at the end when you say, "So, are you in?"

Before that, the hurdle that (as @joshu says) 80% of pitches fail to clear is explaining clearly what the company will do.

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#44

Post by [deleted] »

jbob2000 wrote: post #3

Eh, I think he's mistaken. Journalists aren't good at writing because they took a course, they're good at writing because they write. A lot. You want better memos, hold memo-writing practice sessions every week and give constant feedback. Ripping a memo up and saying "take a course" is ignorant.

[deleted]

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#45

Post by dionidium »

buzzdenver wrote: post #37

"Every time I get a memo from someone written magazine style, I literally tear it up" So they either communicate on paper, which would be stpid, or he misuses "literally", which would be ironic.

Use of the word "literally" as hyperbole is understood clearly by every single reader of this thread, including you. You might as well get over it.

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#46

Post by walterbell »

vegabook wrote: post #22
walterbell wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My successful strategy was to sit back, really think about what was the essence of my piece, summarize that in a single line, and put that into the subject. Any chance you remember exemplar subject lines? This technique also applies to blog post titles which eventually appear in micro-blog tweets, HN story headlines, and presentation titles.

Impossible task because the subject in my domain (finance) changes so soften. Is it New Gingrich shutting down the government today? Is it Bank of America losing its shirt in Detroit? Or is it Greece failing to pay its debt? Or is is it Glencore overleveraged on commodities? Maybe it's China devaluing! The only common denominator, in my experience, is not to try your best to be the first. The first is usually a compu…

> notice that I use the word "oblique", not necessarily "orthogonal", because there are many unsubtle people who take the idea too far ie: "I want attention so will go wild with my thinking" ... Your best bet is to be really honest with yourself, about what you're saying that's different but not crazy ...

That reminds me of a recent article (which I can't find again) that talked about the "optimal distance" between prevailing fashion and a new trend, based on studies of trend-setters.

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#47

Post by pjungwir »

In college I helped a lot of people write papers, and almost always they were trying to "sound academic", and the sentences were so complex they didn't even parse. So I'd ask, "What does this mean?", and whatever they said, I'd reply, "Write that down!" Basically they were trying too hard. It reminds me of the common advice to edit your work by reading it out loud.

If you are a great writer your prose might be better than speech, but I think for most of us, writing for non-literary goals, writing should approach common but correct speech. Good writing has the illusion (but not the reality) of being conversational.

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#48

Post by dataker »

joshu wrote: post #17

For the startup world: Approximately 80% of the pitches I get are between garbled and incoherent. Even higher in the unsolicited ones. Consider that your recipient is reading on a small screen and utilize pyramid structure. And don't bury the lede. Many pitches ask for money without saying anything at all about what they are about.

Analogous to 'write concise and clean code' ?

Re: Paul Tudor Jones to Staff: Learn to Write or I'll Rip Up Your Memo

#49

Post by tlb »

jbob2000 wrote: post #3

Eh, I think he's mistaken. Journalists aren't good at writing because they took a course, they're good at writing because they write. A lot. You want better memos, hold memo-writing practice sessions every week and give constant feedback. Ripping a memo up and saying "take a course" is ignorant.

People learn from combined practice and feedback. Most people have 1000s of hours of practice, but precious little feedback. Writing courses, or working closely with an editor, is the best way to get the feedback needed to improve.
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