π‘ Dreaming in Parallel Β· Managing in Sequence β³
I have so much to learn about how to build & manage creative teams. When I reflect on my past mistakes, I realise that I was trying to do way too much at once. Focus on one thing at a time.
I have failed enough to know one thing: creating new technology requires a new technology strategy.
It is easy to build an app. It is trivial to raise money. It is cool to be a founder.
None of that really matters. What matters is how you perform over decades:
π‘ It is hard to ship something you are all truly proud of.
πͺ It is tough to keep the magic flowing when you are growing.
πΏ It is incredibly rare that you make something that actually lasts.
ββ The History of Technology Strategy ββ
It is easy to look back & say what you would have done. It is so much harder to look forward into the fog of war & actually act on what you should do next.
There are so many interesting lessons to be learned from studying how technologies have come and gone. A book I am constantly returning to is Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software
What I love about this book is how it documents the incredible diversity of leadership styles inside open source communities. There is not a single right path. There are many ways.
This is the way.
π Tweeting Opinions vs. Shipping Products π
It is so easy to slip into the trap of thinking you are doing something useful. You rarely are.
Young technologists look at every product & every company and say: βthis is shitβ. Then they go and try and start one. It is hilariously humbling for so many of them.
The βGen Z Mafiaβ showed up in San Francisco during the pandemic with their braggadocios egos & big Twitter claims. Where are they now?
I love seeing young people building new things. It pains me to see them spouting opinions about things they have not done. There is nothing more humbling than trying to build a startup.
It truly strips you bare.
You should try it.
It will hurt you.
1οΈβ£ Pick 1 Thing from the Infinite β
Each day it is a battle to decide what is the most important thing to really focus in on.
I am constantly wrestling with a brain that dreams in at warp speed and a set of abilities that are limited to time. Internally I have so many ideas about how the world can be. Externally I can barely express them. This is the pain of creation. You sit as a conduit between the possible and the doable.
Your taste is always greater than your ability to execute it.
This video has inspired my dreams and haunted my nightmares:
πͺ Creating Creative Space β¨
I am doing for others what I wish someone had done for me: creating creative environments
I have craved a studio for years. Working out of hacker houses, surf shacks, friendsβ homes and in places with roommates has always been a compromise.
I am not compromising any more.
Last week I began prototyping a Eudaemonia Machine with my partner, Isabella Orsi, who is an interior designer. The term Eudaemonia (or Eudaimonia in Greek) has a deep history:
Eudaimonia is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of 'good spirit', and which is commonly translated as 'happiness' or 'welfare'.
In the works of Aristotle, eudaimonia was the term for the highest human good in older Greek tradition. It is the aim of practical philosophy, including ethics and political philosophy, to consider and experience what this state really is, and how it can be achieved.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaimonia
The concept of a machine that creates this state is based on the ideas shared in the book Deep Work:
The idea is to create physical spaces for open collaboration & private creation. The combination of these elements creates more flow state hours.
Each worker gets one chamber, which is sound-proofed, and fully stocked. The purpose of the chamber is to allow total focus and uninterrupted work flow.
The goal is to make it easy for people to share ideas with each other and then go execute them:
This combination of soundproofed offices connected to large common areas yields a hub-and-spoke architecture of innovation in which both serendipitous encounter and isolated deep thinking are supported. Itβs a setup that straddles a spectrum where on one extreme we find the solo thinker, isolated from inspiration but free from distraction, and on the other extreme, we find the fully collaborative thinker in an open office, flush with inspiration but struggling to support the deep thinking needed to build on it.
medium.com/@jsmathison/i-cant-stop-dreaming-of-eudaimonia-84d9059b551c
We are just at the beginning of this design journey. I hope this space helps:
Are you an engineer looking for an adventure?
If you are focused on salary, go work at Google. If you want to go on a quest, join us.
We are looking for iOS, Web & Data engineers who want make a contribution.
Join our Discord if you are curious: discord.gg/balance-wallet