Jesse Choi

diary of my musings.
wall street and silicon valley trained, now building in indonesia.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

I think a better version is “become someone who lives without regrets, by trying your best, accepting what happens, and learning from it.”

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

The life advice “do what minimizes regret on your deathbed” never resonated with me. Everyone has things they can choose to regret, but some people choose not to dwell in the past.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

Proof-ambition is trying to disprove some nasty story you believe about yourself. That you’re too dumb to do this or too lazy to achieve that

Using proof-ambition to discover self-love is not impossible, but certainly the slowest way to get there

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

I believe there are two fundamental flavors of ambition: play vs proof

Play-ambition is fighting a boss in a video game: you want a fun challenge, and you want to become someone who’s good at overcoming that challenge. You’re not threatened if you lose a few times

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

And as a leader, it is my responsibility to have a POV on which model I think works best for which problem.

Good prompting matters, but if I'm signing off on something, I want to know that the model best matches the job. 4/4

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

I believe AI models will (very soon) differentiate on personality and thinking style, instead of simply on performance benchmarks. 1/4

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

For example, for coding projects with clear PRDs and limited risk vectors, nearly any model will do. But if you're trying to form a nuanced 6 month strategy, I personally find 5.6 significantly more grounded than Opus. 3/4

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

Bad times always pass, and so do good times. Having certainty in that truth will accelerate the suffering, and slow down the passage of joy.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

@naval Sometimes it’s not obvious whether the pros outweigh the cons

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

It’s easy to say “don’t worry about things outside of your control” but some things are unclear whether you can truly control or not. For things in that gray area, decide by evaluating whether trying to control it (aka worrying about it) makes you a better person or not.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

@longwindingpie Well said!

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

There are extremely few things in life that are purely good or purely bad. Losing your job creates drive and introspection, and new beginnings. Fighting with someone provides the opportunity to rebuild stronger. Loving deeply comes with the cost of eventual grief.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

The ability to be centered and extract value from life no matter the circumstances it gives you is one of the greatest skills you could develop.

[Jesse Choi @jessejchoi]

And if you’re going through a high, the question is how to avoid cynicism and prepare your mind for the eventual low.