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On Motivation — Sam Strickberger

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Sunir endured extreme difficulty early on. He was raised in Nepal by his grandparents, who died when he was six. He moved in with his aunt, who died a decade later. The last thing she told him was to never leave the country. Within a week, he was headed to the Bay because Zero to One was his favorite book. Arriving with $700 and no connections, Sunir slept on a driveway for three months, lived off Trader Joe's 20¢ bananas for longer, and traded weekend sleep for 48-hour shifts to afford rent. He eventually started a business, and then two others, to gain more stability. Sunir has helped me think through motivation. So has my mom. Growing up, she was known for repeating things. Repetition was her pedagogy – and a testament to lots of patience. One concept was "p-squared." Passion and persistence. The idea is that strategy, skill, and luck are not enough. To achieve anything of consequence, we need motivation. But motivation can be amorphous. Often inherent or internalized, it's hard to

On Motivation — Sam Strickberger ← On Motivation 2026 Sunir endured extreme difficulty early on. He was raised in Nepal by his grandparents, who died when he was six. He moved in with his aunt, who died a decade later. The last thing she told him was to never leave the country. Within a week, he was headed to the Bay because Zero to One was his favorite book. Arriving with $700 and no connections, Sunir slept on a driveway for three months, lived off Trader Joe's 20¢ bananas for longer, and traded weekend sleep for 48-hour shifts to afford rent. He eventually started a business, and then two o

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