Paul graham again: > There are two reasons founders resist going out and recruiting users individually. One is a combination of shyness and laziness. They'd rather sit at home writing code than go out and talk to a bunch of strangers and probably be rejected by most of them. But for a startup to succeed, at least one founder (usually the CEO) will have to spend a lot of time on sales and marketing. The other reason founders ignore this path is that the absolute numbers seem so small at first. This can't be how the big, famous startups got started, they think. The mistake they make is to underestimate the power of compound growth. We encourage every startup to measure their progress by weekly growth rate. If you have 100 users, you need to get 10 more next week to grow 10% a week. And while 110 may not seem much better than 100, if you keep growing at 10% a week you'll be surprised how big the numbers get. After a year you'll have 14,000 users, and after 2 years you'll have 2 million. > .... As long as you can find just one user who really needs something and can act on that need, you've got a toehold in making something people want, and that's as much as any startup needs initially. [ 9] ...When you have an idea for a startup, ask yourself: who wants this right now? Who wants this so much that they'll use it even when it's a crappy version one made by a two-person startup they've never heard of? If you can't answer that, the idea is probably bad. [3] ...Being at the leading edge of a field doesn't mean you have to be one of the people pushing it forward. You can also be at the leading edge as a user. ...Live in the future, then build what's missing. (2016) Writing is ultimately about redemption. (2016) 1) how am I going to not fail as a teacher this time, and 2) why is that even a question? (2016) Ok so working for a major school district, even online, is probably not what i want to “end up” doing. I crave a different sort of context, expectations, physicality, freedom, what have you. And that's fine, that's cool. BUT! I am working there now, and where you work now is entangled with where you will work in the future. So it is simply unacceptable to break up by slow death. It is not ok to suck until this fizzles out. I already know i am capable of doing things that way. Instead, i have to find ways to MAKE IT DOABLE, and DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB, and occasionally find ways to KICK ASS until I figure out what the next thing is going to be. Simplify it. What are the parts you can stop making huge in your mind? When is it OK to drop the package on the doorstep, and when should you ring the doorbell? Take the horrible parts and somehow reduce them to something that you can handle. Find the parts you just really aren't willing or able to do, and find workarounds. But real workarounds, not sucky excuse-laden fade-outs that end with not getting your contract renewed and you making up stories about how you're a victim and the world sucks and really you're some kind of hero for doing as well as you have, all things considered, and it's everybody else's fault that there's a hole in the wall and tiles falling off the shower and paint peeling off your kids’ bedroom ceilings. No, I'm talking about real workarounds. That work. That still manage to get the job done. To find these, you have to ask a lot of questions and talk to people and get perspective and ideas. Which is really pretty natural when you're in an environment that's not totally scary. And if it is totally scary, you've got to get to where it isn't. Meanwhile, continue to notice the things that get you off track. Things that rob you of your focus. Things that suck time. Tar pits and gumption traps. Don't panic. You can get out. You've done it before. You have resources and help. Ask questions, try stuff, talk to people, listen. It helps to be able to not take it too personally. It's easy if you do it. One thing's for sure—you’re going to have to put the time in. You'll need to get extremely clear about scheduling and being able to be at work vs not at work. Also i need a coach. Or a mentor. Or an uplifting friend. Not a therapist. By design, therapists don't do what i need someone to do right now, which is tell me what to do. I mean, sure, technically it is to support me in learning how to tell myself what to do, but then again partly it isn't that. In a sense, i need to hire a manager so i can get some work done. The danger of therapy is that it's endlessly fascinating. (2016) If something is not fun, it is boring or anxiety-inducing. Either way, you will have a hard time doing it. If it is something you need to succeed at, you had better make it into a game. Or several games. If you don't do that, you will sneakily and systematically destroy the situation that makes you feel bored or anxious--along with the parts you needed to succeed at. Remember? The only way to be good at Capoeira was to have fun. Playing in the roda is more than just doing drills. It's the part where you take authorship. It's the part where you stand naked, in the woods, with no matches and a full camera crew. If you can't laugh at yourself here, you're fucked. If having fun is the opposite of boredom, then killing boredom is the best way to challenge the anxiety. (2016) it's not maybe that my life is *so horrible* here, it's just that I have a really hard time sometimes being the [only] grownup (2015) I just want her to learn to tell the truth, accept the truth, and take responsibility for the truth, and not to become a lying sack of pus like her mother. How much do i back off, how much do i try to control. How do i provide structure—everyone does better with some structure—without picking fights? What role do I play in whether or not she forms some kind of sick symbiosis with that bitch? I thought her being in prison was supposed to prevent all this twisted drama. And wtf was up with her dropping off the letter—not in an envelope, but loosely taped closed—saying can you send this to my mom and then walking out? Is this some kind of test? Statement? Challenge? Weird ambiguous peace offering? I'm ruminating on my worth as a parent now, see, I'm really anxious about this. See, this is me noticing that and accepting that, and going on. There's a large element of perceived threat here, see. Hey, i gotta hand it to me—at least i found the good god damned sense not to smoke marijuana while I'm still all twisted up with this! (2016)