tom587126.eth

curating reads

[Sebastian Bürgel @SCBuergel]

We're fully on track to Web2.0-ify the entire web3, not just event data:
- want to integrate my DEX aggregator? Just use this price feed API
- you also want account abstraction? Easy with this wallet API!
- how about "private order flow"? Trust-me-bro this endpoint is the best
- want decentralized node infra? Sure, use this "gateway"
- have you seen X / Y / Z on [X/Y/Z].fi

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

its not a wealth increase game , but rather a wealth preservation game . the most successful are the ones that can preserve wealth while staying calm

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

the reason why i like finance is cause its a never ending game of mental & psyco challenges where the big boss is yourself . mastering it means mastering life for me

[Keyrock 🔑🪨 @keyrock]

The market is evolving. And so are we.

Since 2017, we've grown to be a driving force changing the course of finance. A bigger outlook now reflected in how we show up to the world.

🔗 Read all about it on our new website: https://t.co/TxMNvak0BB

[Joel John @joeljohn]

A lot of founders wear burnout as some badge of honor.
I understand why that happens. There are a lack of resources, you are juggling multiple roles and the stakes couldn't be higher.

In my experience - as a writer, investor and early stage operator, I've noticed that founder burnout is a good indicator that the startup needs to pause, reflect and (sometimes) pivot.

This is especially true at the pre-seed and seed stages because founders stand to lose the most if ships sink. There is this gigantic chasm between seed and growth-stages which cannot be leaped over by just hammering on the problem alone.

There's a very very thin line between strong work-ethic and burning yourself down to the ground. And too often, participants in start-up land are dancing on that line. It's jut the nature of the game.

If I had to sit down and explain to a founder friend why they need to take care of themselves, I'd likely make the following arguments.

1. Founders are at the helm of an organisation. If they don't take care of themselves, their ability to take care of the organisation is at peril.

Churn rises, people work from a place of fear and the productive output of the whole team declines. Startup thrive when employees have the assurance that the shaky boat will make it across the ocean.

Burnout, is kind of like drilling a hole into the boat on public display. As a founder, nobody is going to come help you unless you take care of yourself. In fact your best employees may jump ship which only adds to the trouble.

2. Founders owe it to themselves to take care of their own health and wealth. Losing one's mind in the relentless pursuit of money (or market-share) is a bad trade if you are alone at the pre-seed or seed stages.

At growth stages (series B+) there are others to take care of the ship. At that seed stage - it's just you and your baby (the venture)

You end up miscommunicating to peers, have anxious bouts of navigating uncertainties and make yourself vulnerable to your cap-table dictating how the show is run.

Founders tend to spend years working on a vision only they can see. If you aren't in a state to communicate that, things are broken.

3. Startups by nature require creative innovation. And a lot about creativity and innovation happens in the blank spaces where you are not glued to a screen. It requires self preservation and time off work.

Pretending you are spending 16 hours doing real "work" while spending 5-6 of it on Telegram/Twitter/Reddit is not work. It's escaping reality. It's pretending to do work.

4. Startups are leverage machines. You cannot scale putting in raw hours alone because there's the cap on time (24 hrs) that everyone has. Scale happens through
- efficient hiring
- process efficiencies.
The problem with process efficiencies without hiring is that you are still going to bang on against some wall.

Which is why in the traditional world, hiring is taken as a sign of growth. The assumption being that you have the economic means to justify that hiring. But in VC-land, that's often not the case. It could simply mean you raised a new round.

In order to create leverage, you need to be a keen observant of the game. You cannot be playing generalist games throughout the day, and expect to have a deep understanding of the market's landscape. Founders that tend to burn themselves out often have little views on where the market is heading.

They are left to be playing catch up, because they are not in a state to be defining a category (or making early moves)

I don't mean this as a dunk on founders putting in the hours. Economies move forward because some hyper-productive individuals play on the edges of the time <> output graph.

To be the best, you have to optimise your very being. You cannot expect to spend all day long at the court, and expect to absolutely dominate it. A lot of what happens within business, is inspired by what happens out of it.

And if you don't take time out for it, you will likely be playing alone in a prison of your own making. That's a very very dark state to be in.

If you are a founder in a prison of that sorts, my DMs are open. I'm happy to just lend a ear. But way better if you just recognise the self destructive patterns you engage in and just take time off. For life and all the beautiful things within it that inspire.

[Zer0 🐂🀄️ @degengambleh]

You stay in Crypto long enough

You learn to absorb almost any misfortune that life throws at you

Your character is forged in fire

It teaches you to keep your head right at all times

Prepares you to handle success and failure alike

Many leave the journey midway

People who are too rigid, unwilling

To understand their flaws

To unlearn and learn, the ways of the human mind.

After a few years, you realise that this game was never about the money

It was about mastering yourself and understanding the truth about mass psychology

Once you transcend the need for success and operate from a place of purity

You are given everything you'll ever need and more

Without chasing it.

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@gakonst great stuff, when rust-eth day in europe?

[Haseeb ＞|＜ @hosseeb]

Crypto is rightist: self-sovereignty, censorship-resistance, freedom, money.

Web3 is leftist: democratizing the web, community ownership, empowering creators.

They are the yin and yang of what makes crypto crypto. It's just when crypto went mainstream, the web3 side showed up.

[Resonance @resonancethis]

Happy New Year

As we enter the new year, I've written down a patchwork collection of thoughts about the events of the past year, and how to navigate the year to come.

It is likely that my disparate deliberations may not be agreeable to most, so read at your own risk.

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@joeljohn Reads like an interesting piece, what are you reading ?

[moon @MoonOverlord]

Products that are bankrupt

Celsius
BlockFi
FTX
Voyager
Gemini Earn
Genesis

Products that are working fine

Uniswap
Yearn
Maker
Aave
Lido
Curve

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@APWineFinance https://t.co/qokugfpPJE

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@Fiskantes Laws make sense in areas in which "the power" can rule thru violence. You cannot rule crypto for the same reasons you cannot rule offshore waters or outer space. I know you're referring to the frontiers here (cefi), but still is extremely costly and inefficient

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@nansen_intern @CryptoKaleo what are you listing to wrt macro Mr intern?

[6529 @punk6529]

remember, it is never as good as it seems and it is never as bad as it seems

if you are down, go spend time with friends/family outside of crypto.

if it is more serious, call a professional hotline.

your life and family are more important.

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@hasufl exotic insurances?

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@SebVentures https://t.co/dBy6kfiU1W he has the math

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@DeFinci_ drop you a DM , just saying as twitter is flooded with spam

[tom587126.eth @tom587126]

@META_DREAMER @chaserchapman I've been thinking about interviewing the "human" side of cyberpunks / wh hackers / web3 OGs ; I'd like to demystify the fact that in order to be in the game you have to abandon social life, wellbeing, etc