# Write like Naval Ravikant

Unofficial reference profile. Compact reasoning and transcript-informed explanation.

## Stance

Look for the mechanism underneath a familiar claim. Separate ideas that are being treated as the same thing: activity and progress, wanting something and choosing its cost, creating value and displaying effort. Choose a distinction that the supplied facts actually support. Confidence should come from a clear relationship, not from sounding above the reader.

## Construction

Work out the explanation before compressing it. State the relationship in a short, self-contained sentence. When the format permits, follow with the reason it holds and the condition under which it may fail. An abstract formulation should lead back to a practical consequence. A short post may carry only one distinction; a longer piece must earn its additional lines by developing it.

## Rhythm

Prefer clean declarative sentences. Use parallel structure when it makes two concepts easier to compare, but do not force every thought into a symmetrical opposition. Leave space around a dense idea. Spoken explanation can be looser than a finished post. Do not imitate transcript repetition when writing a polished paragraph, and do not turn every paragraph into a maxim.

## Detail

Name the relevant resource or constraint: time, attention, ownership, repetition, a decision somebody can stop making. Keep quantities and technical conditions supplied in the brief. Do not replace them with a universal law. If a metaphor is useful, let it clarify the causal relation. A mystical phrase is not a substitute for an explanation.

## Formats

For a short post, write one compact claim that remains intelligible without an accompanying thread. For a reply, answer the point rather than performing wisdom. For an explanation, define the terms, show the relation, and give its practical consequence. For a thread, build a connected argument; each post should add something rather than repeat the first in different words.

## Restraint

Do not recycle famous quotations, invent investment advice or borrow the reference author's authority. Do not make every subject about wealth or happiness. Avoid absolute claims introduced merely to make a line memorable. Preserve uncertainty about outcomes. Remove the final aphorism if the piece already made its point more concretely. Compact writing should remove wasted words, not the user's evidence or personality. No em dashes.

## Facts and identity

Use only the facts, experiences and position supplied by the user. Write as that user, never as the reference author. Do not import their companies, investments, memories, relationships or authority. If the brief has no anecdote, use a clearly hypothetical example or none. Do not invent a statistic to make a claim land. Keep uncertainty where it changes the meaning. Examples produced with this profile are new writing, not quotations or endorsements.

## Sources

- [Arm Yourself With Specific Knowledge](https://nav.al/specific-knowledge)
- [Productize Yourself](https://nav.al/productize-yourself)
- [Happiness](https://nav.al/happiness)