Market Crashes Motivate Work

Shaan Puri shares his experience and perspective on how market crashes, particularly in crypto, can actually serve as a motivational force after periods of easy gains. His view comes from personally losing millions in the Terra/LUNA crash while maintaining a surprisingly balanced outlook.

Key Points:

• Impact on Work Motivation:

  • During bull markets, making a "year's salary in a day" can be demotivating to work
  • Losing money becomes "highly motivating to work" when you start "losing a year's salary per day"
  • Market crashes serve as a "good forcing function" to ensure you're earning and working hard

• Emotional Response to Large Losses:

  • Lost approximately $225K in the Terra/LUNA crash
  • Maintains a relatively calm perspective because risks were understood beforehand
  • Wife remains "very chill" about large losses while stressing about smaller expenses like parking tickets

• Risk Management Philosophy:

  • Never put more than 15% in any one project due to "black swan risks"
  • Writes down investment thesis including "what could go wrong" before investing
  • Compares crypto investments to poker hands - acknowledging inherent risks even with good odds

• Coping Mechanisms:

  • Doesn't calculate net worth during major downturns for "mental health purposes"
  • Focuses on earning rather than trading during market crashes
  • Accepts losses as part of previously identified risk scenarios playing out

• Portfolio Management:

  • Keeps crypto at less than half of liquid net worth
  • Maintains diversification across different asset classes
  • Acknowledges importance of not being too vulnerable to any single investment