Musings

Assume that people are good. If somebody wants to do you evil, you'll find a way to overcome that because those who are good are stronger than those who are evil. But chances are that doesn't even matter, because there are a lot more good guys than bad guys anyway.

The data industry is going to consolidate hard, and not for any zero-sum reason. A few organizations will get so good at producing great data, and get better with every project they run, that it will be quite difficult to compete. We’re not there yet, though. The great players are still to be established

You’ve done something embarrassing. Sucks. Now, you have a choice:

1. Feel embarrassed
2. Move on with your life

I choose the latter. It makes for a more enjoyable life.

In startups, you probably won’t end up in the right place at the right time by just closing your eyes and choosing a spot. All you can do is build a janky boat, raise its sails, and let the wind carry you where you are supposed to be. So build a minimum viable product and let users show you what it is supposed to be. Their feedback and behavior is the wind that will blow your boat toward the right spot.

There are two core components to any difficult challenge,

1. Focus
2. Optimism

Without optimism, focus eventually runs out.

Without focus, there is not much to be optimistic about.

Benefits to being a young founder:

[1] You go all in. Everything is new and exciting when you're young

[2] You don't have some built-up persona or status to protect, so you have nothing to lose and can go for extremely ambitious visions

Should kids go to boarding school? Many people have asked me this question, as I have attended boarding school and lived to tell the tale. My answer has changed many times, especially while I was there, but now that I have graduated, I am fairly certain the opportunity to attend boarding school is one of the greatest gifts I have been given. Why? The opportunity to see hyper-successful people up close.

Once you see what a peer has accomplished, your sense of what is possible for you expands, inspiring you to dream bigger. And then you go pursue it.

A lot of people believe that burnout is, at least in part, a product of excessively high workload. However, I believe there is actually no correlation between the two.

Burnout is characterized by a loss of motivation and interest. It often occurs when one works very hard, is repeatedly failing, and (crucially) believes that their efforts both are not leading anywhere and will not lead anywhere in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, even if progress is very hard work, one doesn't feel burnout when working on something that genuinely gives them purpose and is succeeding.