Why does Naval emphasize “long-term holding”?

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Why Does Naval Ravikant Emphasize "Patiently Holding" So Much?

Imagine planting a bamboo tree.

You plant it. The first year, nothing happens. The second year, still nothing. The third and fourth years, you water and fertilize it every day, but it just doesn't grow. People around you laugh, saying you're wasting your time; you might as well plant some vegetables that can be harvested in three months.

Then, in the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly erupts, growing dozens of centimeters every day, reaching tens of meters in a matter of weeks.

Why? Because in the first four years, it was quietly laying its roots underground, extending its root system over hundreds of square meters.

The "Patiently Holding" Naval emphasizes is precisely this "bamboo planting" principle. It doesn't mean lazily waiting around; it's a powerful strategy you actively choose after seeing through the essence of things.

Put simply, his emphasis on patience stems mainly from these core reasons:

1. To Get the Compound Interest Money Printer Running

This is the most crucial point. Whether it's wealth, knowledge, or relationships, the truly astonishing growth comes from Compounding.

Wealth Compounding: You earn $10 today. Tomorrow, you earn 10% on top of $110. The next day, you earn 10% on $121... This snowball starts rolling very slowly initially. But with enough patience and sufficient time, the growth rate later on will be unimaginable. Frequent trading, constantly interrupting this process, is like repeatedly crushing the tiny snowball just as it starts rolling.
Knowledge Compounding: A concept you learn today helps you understand a new concept faster tomorrow. Over time, your knowledge system becomes like a large network; learning new things becomes increasingly easier, and you can tackle more complex problems. This process also requires patience.
Relational Compounding: Building trust with a business partner takes a long time. But once established, the cost of future cooperation plummets, and opportunities flow continuously. If you "screw" someone for short-term gain, this compounding process is permanently broken.

Patience is giving your compound interest seed the time it needs to sprout and grow.

2. To Capture Genuine "Asymmetric Opportunities"

Naval often mentions the concept of "Asymmetric Opportunities." These are opportunities with "massive potential upside and minimal potential downside".

For example:

Spending a few months writing a book or developing a small app in your spare time. The worst case: nobody buys it, and you lose some spare time. The best case: it becomes popular, bringing you years of income and reputation.
Investing a small amount of money early on (money you can afford to lose) in a startup you strongly believe in. The worst case: you lose the money. But what if it becomes the next Google or Tencent?

The common thread in these opportunities is: their rewards are not immediate. From the time you make your bet to when it might "explode," there's usually a long and often dull waiting period. The market will fluctuate, your project will face difficulties, and countless times you'll want to quit.

Without patience, you simply won't last until payday; you'll sell or give up on the eve of its breakthrough.

3. It's a Basic Requirement for "Playing the Long-Term Game"

Naval says: "Play long-term games with long-term people."

In business and life, your reputation is the most important asset. And a good reputation is built precisely through long-term commitment to doing the right things and slowly accumulating trust.

An impatient, short-sighted person driven by immediate gains will sell out their credibility for short-term profits, opting for one-off deals. Such a person's path narrows over time.
A patient person understands playing the long game. They are willing to take small, temporary losses to build trust and maintain relationships. Such a person is someone others will want to collaborate with long-term and offer their best opportunities to.

Patiently holding applies not only to assets but also to holding onto your reputation and relationships.

4. To Eliminate Emotional Noise and Make More Rational Decisions

The market fluctuates daily, and the news is full of stories designed to make you anxious or euphoric.

Today the market surges, you fear missing out (FOMO), so you chase the price up.
Tomorrow it crashes, you fear losing everything, so you sell at a loss.

These emotionally driven short-term trades are the fundamental reason most people lose money.

The "Patiently Holding" strategy itself is a powerful antidote against this emotional volatility. It forces you to take a long-term view, focusing on the Fundamental Value of a company or asset, rather than its day-to-day Price.

This allows you to filter out market noise, remain calmer internally, and make more rational decisions.

In Summary:

For Naval, "Patience" is not passive waiting. It is an active, strategic choice born of profound insight.

It signifies that you grasp the immense power of compounding, understand the nature of asymmetric opportunities, choose to play the long-term game that yields the greatest rewards, and possess the ability to overcome human greed and fear.

So, when you find an asset worth holding (like company equity), a relationship worth investing in (like a partnership), or a skill worth developing (like your expertise), the best advice Naval would give is:

Be Patient. Hold. And then move your attention to finding the next thing worth patiently holding.