Wayne Yap

I'm Singaporean.

Everyone knows and respects our founding father, Lee Kuan Yew.

But LKY himself looked up to one man above all.

After digging into that man's teachings, I found 7 principles that eerily mirror what Elon Musk is doing today: 🧵 

First, who was this man?

His name is Deng Xiaoping - the architect of modern China.

After Mao's Cultural Revolution left the country in ruins, Deng quietly stepped in and rewrote the playbook of power.

Here's LKY explaining why he respected Deng so much: 

In LKY's words:

"I wonder what would've happened if Deng Xiaopeng was born in Singapore and I was born in China. I'm quite sure that Deng Xiaopeng would be running Singapore and I'm not so sure Lee Kuan Yew would have got halfway up the heap."

Anyway. Here's the 7 principles:

1/ Development is the absolute principle.

Once Deng realized this, he walked away from his lifelong beliefs of communism.

Elon too, doesn't care about giving everything up for development. That's why he went all-in on Tesla, SpaceX and now DOGE. 

2/ Cross the river by feeling the stones.

Or as Elon puts it:

FAFO. 

3/ Whether it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat.

My favorite line in Deng’s playbook.

He used it to justify market reforms inside a socialist state.

Elon's genius of using $1M prizes to get people to show up says:

Pragmatism &gt; Purity 

4/ Emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts.

Deng told the communist regime to start thinking like scientists.

→ Don’t ask if it's politically correct
→ Ask: Does it work?

It’s the same mindset Elon uses today.

I.e. Be maximally truth seeking. 

5/ Everything changes with time, place, and conditions.

Deng believed leadership meant adapting to new realities, not clinging to old dogma.

Elon was a Democrat who "would never get into politics". 

6/ Respect knowledge, respect talent.

After Mao’s anti-intellectual era, Deng reversed course and invested in science, education, and human capital.

Do I even need to write about how Elon respects knowledge/talent? 

7/ Let some people get rich first.

Deng believed prosperity would lift others over time - Which at that time sent shockwaves inside the communist system.

Elon is a living example of someone prospering and then lifting others up. 

Video credit:
Bordless Asia on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRRoW-mr5Pg&ab_channel=BorderlessAsia

A bit bout me:
• Former #1 poker player in Singapore (Won $3m)
• Acquired 5 businesses
• Grew one from $2.5k MRR to $380k MRR in 2.5 years

Now, I build AI agents to help businesses add $20k profits (or it's FREE).

Apply to work with me below: https://quiz.wayneyap.com/agent

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