"Why don't you read the books you already own before buying new books" why don't you eat all the food in the house before going shopping? That's what you sound like. That's how crazy you sound right now
Shill, hack, slop
It will be endlessly baffling to me that people can’t imagine someone who loves what they do, is delighted by puzzles and progress, revels in creating, wants to try new things, is grateful to be making money, and is genuinely having fun. They’d rather imagine a fraud, with dark intentions and an empty spirit.
So they yell:
Shill.
Hack.
Slop.
I’m lucky enough to be raising little humans, so everyday I sit next to curiosity and wonder that exists without a lick of self-consciousness. The deep obsessions come fun and fast. Facts get memorized, art improvised, and the relentless questions are researched then documented with care.
Kids watch how the world works and try to figure out how it will work for them. (Literal) lemonade stands get planned, the cost of lemons noted at the store. Excitement builds and is so infections that when neighbors wander by they, of course, say: “keep the change.”
But somewhere along the way we decide curiosity is cringe. Creation is embarrassing; don’t you know people are watching? Cynicism sets in and we can’t imagine someone actually believes that, thinks that, built that, is proud of that.
Don’t they see that lemonade is just a thin wrapper on lemons?
And it all makes me so sad. Sure, with success and some visibility you absolutely will (should?) be exposed to fair inspection and perhaps less fair suspicion. Ideas have weight, and big ideas can change worlds. Frauds exist, and money can make people do weird things.
But living in the builder capital of the world, I can tell you this; there are a lot of nice, bright humans out there who just want to do things. The tweets and the MRR and the series X raises are such a small fraction of who they are: good friends, neighbors, parents, partners. When you meet them it’s clear: they just had an idea they couldn’t let go. And then they work hard at it because a) they value hard work and b) it’s kinda fun.
Of course there are the frauds and flexes. Of course! But on the whole, people are more earnest than you imagine, work harder, come from less, and worry more about the things you worry about, too.
So I’ll be out here cheering on anyone building in public or sharing an idea they think is worth considering. I’ll definitely be cheering on the students and the explorers, taking time to learn and make something new.
And yes: I’ll cheer you on if you can turn that idea or that learning or that thought into a business. I want to live in a neighborhood with lemonade stands.
So next time you want to yell “shill, hack, slop!” remind yourself of that feeling as a little kid where you loved something new and wanted to be part of it. Ask yourself: is this creating the neighborhood I want to live in?
Then go build.
It’s fun!
Having a truly great cofounder is rarer than anyone realizes
You can just go so far, for so long
And no one can really stop you
Remember to tell them a couple of times this year. Maybe even today.
the real MVPs in the tech ecosystem aren't founders nor investors - they are all the early adopter customers willing to try half baked pre product market fit products, slogging through all the pain and wasted time because they believe in the problem and the team that much 🫡
12. On the value of a good boss:
There’s no career accelerant like a smart boss who pulls no punches and provides air cover + support for you to figure it out after delivering the feedback
If you have a boss like this, basically no amount of money is worth changing jobs
@imkylelambert Reminds me of this piece by Paul Graham: https://t.co/UoFZkfXm9E
“ When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon.”
The versatile actor @Nick_Offerman is also a very accomplished craftsman. He built the canoe he's carrying, and in this new story for @outsidemagazine, he beats the crap out of it during a paddling trip on ... the L.A. River. Really fun and interesting. https://t.co/B6xbgP06mY
“Now you can run Python and R in the same docker image” I can also order a Big Mac and chili cheese fries and eat them over my sink like a gremlin but that wouldn’t be sensible would it