About Faster Than Normal AI
I've spent years obsessively reading biographies of founders, investors, and leaders — trying to understand how the most extraordinary people and companies actually think and operate. What started as a personal habit became a newsletter, Faster Than Normal, now read by 70,000+ founders, operators, and investors every week.
But newsletters have limits. The insights I was extracting from hundreds of books deserved a format where they could be searched, compared, and connected across subjects. That's why I built Faster Than Normal AI — a platform that structures the collective wisdom of history's greatest people and companies into something you can actually use.
How we structure knowledge
Every person and company on this platform follows a proprietary three-part Playbook format. We don't summarize books chapter by chapter. We synthesize across multiple sources into a structure designed for operators:
Part I: The Story
A thematic narrative — not a chronological biography. Organized around strategic eras, inflection points, and the decisions that defined the subject.
Part II: The Playbook
8–12 named principles and mental models extracted from the subject's career. Each includes analysis, evidence, and an actionable tactic you can apply.
Part III: Quotes & Maxims (people) / Business Breakdown (companies)
For people: the defining quotes and distilled one-line maxims. For companies: revenue model, competitive position, moat analysis, flywheel, growth drivers, and key risks.
This Playbook structure is applied across hundreds of people and companies. Beyond playbooks, the platform includes four additional knowledge bases:
Business Models
How the world's most successful companies make money. Each profile covers the core mechanics, example companies, and key dynamics of a distinct business model.
Strategic Frameworks
Proven strategic concepts for analyzing markets, competition, and growth. Each framework explains the concept, when to apply it, and how to put it into practice.
Mental Models
Thinking tools for better judgment and decision-making, drawn from the practices of great investors and operators. Each model includes its category, source, and depth-to-apply rating.
Decision Tools
Structured methods for making better decisions under uncertainty. Organized across categories like framing, evaluating options, stress-testing, and prioritization.
What we believe
Synthesis, not summaries. We don't condense books into bullet points. We cross-reference dozens of sources per subject to surface the patterns, principles, and decisions that actually mattered — then structure them so you can use them.
Every claim has a source. Our AI cites the original playbook material behind every answer. If it can't be traced back to researched content, it doesn't get said. No hallucinations, no filler.
Built for operators, not academics. Every playbook, mental model, and decision tool on this platform is structured around one question: how do I actually apply this? Theory is only valuable when it changes what you do next.
The whole picture in one place. People, companies, business models, frameworks, mental models, and decision tools — connected and searchable. The kind of cross-domain knowledge that used to take years of reading, available in seconds.
How this was built
This site and its content were built with significant human input — structure, taxonomy, and editorial control are ours — and AI used for research and drafting. Every playbook and piece of content is reviewed and edited by us before it goes live.
How we built this goes into the details.
What readers say
“I admire your work, Alex.”
“I really enjoy your newsletter, thought-provoking always stimulates my thinking.”
“Big fan of your writing. I’d love to interview you for my blog and get your perspectives and lessons.”
“Huge fan and supporter, reach out anytime I can be helpful to you (I’m a longtime CMO and CEO here in Silicon Valley)”
“Loved the Anna Wintour Newsletter — I ended up watching and reading most of the links — thank you for making my weekend super interesting!”
Get started
Pick a founder or company you admire and read their playbook. Explore a mental model or decision tool. Or ask our AI a question and see the depth of the response.