An Introduction

88 days! That’s how long Iran’s internet was completely dead.

I live there. And yes, things in the Middle East are… a lot.

Never thought I’d live through wars and historical moments like this. Oh my god.

I’ve tried to launch this podcast three times.

First time: war broke out.

Second time: the entire country went offline.

Third time: my laptop crashed and I lost everything I’d written.

At this point, I think the universe is trying to tell me something.

But I’m stubborn.

So I’m recording this on my phone. 10% battery. And I’m really hoping the Wi‑Fi holds long enough to upload.

If you can hear this, either the internet held on — or I bribed a guy with a portable hotspot.

Either way, we made it.

Let’s start the podcast before the next war starts.

Who I Am

Welcome. This is the episode where I explain why I’m here — and why you might want to stick around.

I’m Lily Raya. My work focuses on business, technology, and radical openness.

I grew up in Iran. A country with a regime that spends enormous resources controlling the flow of information. Internet shutdowns happen sometimes. Foreign news is inaccessible. Textbooks are revised to align with state ideology.

It’s not easy here to have an open, worldly way of thinking, or to immerse yourself in other cultures and ideas — because a global mindset is not really encouraged here.

So I’ve spent my life resisting that.

I’ve witnessed the damage of a closed system. I saw what happens when information is restricted, when borders are sealed, when learning is controlled. So I decided to break out.

I taught myself everything through open resources and the internet — even with all those annoying firewalls and limitations. Not easy. But possible.

I believe that knowledge should be open, and I’ve built my entire life as proof of that philosophy.

Over the last several years I’ve read hundreds of e‑books and completed more than a hundred online courses from leading institutions like Harvard, Stanford, McKinney — trying to understand how the world actually works, trying to make sense of everything.

I wanted to learn multiple languages and understand a bit of everything — to understand the world in all its dimensions.

I had this dream of becoming a polyglot and a polymath. So I tried to teach myself a few languages, and I read books on every topic under the sun — philosophy, psychology, economics, computer science, design — every topic I could access.

I’ve documented much of that journey publicly.

You can see all the certificates I’ve taken on my LinkedIn, and all the books I’ve read on my Goodreads.

Actually, I’ve been on Goodreads since 2017. Right now, I have about 2,469 books listed on my shelves so far.

And yes, I’m going to talk about them.

But don’t worry — you don’t have to read all of them. Some books were just junk.

I want to save you time. I want to talk about the best ones. Their best ideas.

It took me so much time and effort to go through them and find what truly is powerful.

So I’m excited to share that with you.

Why I’m Here

I’ve learned something important from all that studying.

All the books in the world mean nothing if you never share what you learned.

No matter how much you learn. You could devour libraries, you could read every book from every great mind in history. Emperors. Senators. Leaders. Philosophers. All of them. If you spend years absorbing their insights but never actually do anything with them? There’s no use. What’s the point?

Knowledge hoarded is knowledge wasted.

Reading without sharing is like breathing without exhaling.

So: reading alone isn’t enough. Learning alone isn’t enough.

Knowledge only becomes valuable when it leaves your notebook and enters the real world.

Otherwise, it’s like collecting seeds and never planting them.

You can own an entire warehouse full of seeds. You’ll still never have a garden.

It’s important to share what you’ve learned with the world.

I think sharing knowledge is a responsibility. More people should actually do it.

If I keep everything to myself, that would be selfish. Wouldn’t it?

And here’s a harder question: let’s say there’s bombings tomorrow and I’m gone.

What ideas would I regret keeping to myself?

What lessons would disappear with me?

If my connection to the world disappeared tomorrow — what would I wish I had shared?

We had months of no internet in Iran. Complete blackout. A record in history. Businesses collapsed. Families couldn’t contact each other.

Now things are slowly getting back to normal, I hope.

And I believe people should return to the internet and tell their stories.

Not just Iranians. Everyone. Everywhere.

Sharing experiences is important. When you share knowledge, I have it. Your friends have it. The community has it. Everyone has it. YOU still have it. Teaching people doesn’t subtract value from what you do — actually it adds to it. People feel closer to your work because you’re letting them in on what you know.

So here I am, sharing what I learned. Writing my own books. Because I want to give something back. Adding my experiences to the pile.

I don’t claim to know everything. I just want to share a few lessons I’ve had. If that can help even one person avoid a mistake I made, I’ll be happy.

There’s another reason I’m here.

As an author, it’s important to have a platform.

Without one? You’re just someone with a diary. And no one reads it.

Every author needs a community — people who actually want to hear what you have to say.

Which brings me to the next question…

Why You Should Care

Why would you want to hear from me?

Here’s my answer.

What I’m about to share are frameworks and techniques that no one is talking about — you won’t hear them anywhere else.

Not in school. Not in mainstream media.

I had to dig through a mountain of books to find the good stuff — to extract meaningful insights. Like a miner.

Eventually I pulled out a few gems worth keeping.

None of this was taught to me in school. I had to find it myself.

If I’d known these earlier, I’d probably be running a small country by now. Or at least have fewer regrets.

I kept thinking, “Man, I wish someone had told me this years ago.”

So you know what? I’m gonna be that someone.

I’m doing it myself.

If it helps other people like me, my community, even my little sisters — that’s good enough for me.

Here’s my style: you’ll notice I talk about data a lot. Science, too.

Maybe because I’m lazy. Seriously. I don’t want to argue opinions forever, going back and forth. No.

I want facts. Numbers. Things we can both check and agree on.

Also I’ve learned that feelings and guesses often lead me wrong.

So I stick to logical, evidence‑based arguments. It’s simpler that way. And it works.

If you’re into clear thinking, you’ll probably like it. If you want hype, I’m not your person.

What’s Coming Next

So what’s next?

I have so many ideas I don’t even know where to start.

But I do know that I don’t want to burn out — and I don’t want to overwhelm you. So slow and steady.

For now, I’ll probably talk about the best books in different fields. Break down their ideas. Then share my own.

Eventually, I’ll get into the frameworks from my books.

If you’re still here, thank you. I hope I can share ideas worth talking about. And I hope you find them useful.

Also, I hope my Wi‑Fi holds up next time. Can’t promise.

I’m Lily Raya. Let’s try this again soon.