Genius Leaves Clues

Geniuses make the world go round. The world surrenders to their greatness. Their work lets them defy death by making them immortal. Reaching the heights of people that we deem to be genius in a particular domain is impossible - or so it seems at first. Exploring the works of brilliant people changed my belief on this topic. Genius isn’t something you’re born with – it's cultivated. And cultivation is a fancy term for learning and consistency. But that's not all: Geniuses know how to strike gold – and you can find their nuggets of wisdom and use them as a launch pad. Observing the people who’ve found their genius can propel you to new heights. My suspicion arose when I studied two of my great passions: startups and storytelling.

I’ve always been in awe of startups. Disrupting a market with a small team and a new technology as the wind in your back seems so cool to me. When you read startup news, it seems that only engineering roles exist in today’s startup world. That couldn’t be further from the truth. A team should complement each other – it looks like that’s also what Y Combinator realized. Y Combinator is one of the most successful startup accelerators on the planet – and they left a nugget of genius on their website. The “Startup Jobs” section of their website hides know-how in plain sight. Four major job categories are listed:

• Engineering
• Operations
• Marketing
• Sales

There’s a subzero chance that these job categories are arbitrary. Y Combinator is too successful and too experienced for that. Naval Ravikant would also agree. He lists two main pillars of building a successful business:

• Building (engineering and operations)
• Selling (marketing and sales).

Genius left a clue here. If you're an entrepreneur defining the job roles in your startup, look no further.

It’s the same with storytelling. Shan Puuri describes his experience with the legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Puuri realized that Sorkin would repeat the same aspect that makes a great story: Intention and Obstacle.
Listen if an award-winning screenwriter mentions a part about his craft over and over. Once again, genius left a clue.

Both examples couldn’t be more different. But there’s one striking similarity: neither mentions niche skills, but the fundamental aspects of their craft. Y Combinator doesn't split job roles into ten different categories. Sorkin doesn't go into detail about writing plot twists in the third act of a play. It seems that, even with genius, it all comes down to the mastery of the fundamentals.

If you want to become more like someone that you deem to be genius, study them. Pay special attention to the things they repeat in their works - the fundamentals. Take what is useful and discard the rest. Then you will find your own kind of genius - and we can collect your nuggets of brilliance.