Houston's 'circle' — the second item on his cheat sheet — was illustrated through the story of his fraternity brother Adam Smith. While Houston was grinding away on his SAT prep company, Adam started a new venture and within months was meeting with billionaire investor Vinod Khosla and receiving $5 million in funding. 'Here was my faithful beer pong partner, two years younger than me. I was out of excuses.' Rather than feeling defeated, Houston let Adam's success catalyze his own: 'He had no idea at the time, but Adam had given me just the kick I needed.' The lesson was that your circle doesn't just support you — it raises your standard of what's possible. If Houston hadn't come to MIT, he wouldn't have met Adam or his co-founder Arash, and there would be no Dropbox. Houston extended the principle beyond personal relationships to geography: 'There's only one MIT. And there's only one Hollywood and only one Silicon Valley. This isn't a coincidence.' For whatever you're doing, there's usually one place where the top people gather. 'You should go there. Don't settle for anywhere else.'