Close your eyes.
Imagine, if you will, a startup that meets the following criteria:
- Their recruiting process is fundamentally flawed
- Their operations are a mess
- They make engineers pretty much do everything, which leaves almost no time for coding
- They don’t (care) about charity or…
Self motivation is and always will be the most important form of motivation. Driving with your eyes on the rear view mirror is exhausting. It’s easier than ever to measure your performance against others, but if it’s not helping you with your mission, stop.
“
| — | I quote Seth Godin a lot, but this one is just to relevant to pass up. I especially love the last line about it being easier than ever to measure your performance against others. |
Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see whether anyone is following them. “Leadership qualities” are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. The include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness, determination, a keen sense of reality…
“
| — | John Holt as quoted on the blog of Caterina Fake |
You don’t need logos. Logos are for insecure people. Just like they were in high school when the cool kids had to wear the right logos on their shirts, shorts and handbags. Show strength & conviction.
“
| — | Mark Suster talking about investment rounds with a laundry list of “rock star” investors. I also related to this comment with regards to deciding whether or not to accept my admissions offer to NYU ITP. |
The most dangerous way to lose time is not to spend it having fun, but to spend it doing fake work…the most dangerous traps now are new behaviors that bypass our alarms about self-indulgence by mimicking more virtuous types. And the worst thing is, they’re not even fun.
“
| — | Paul Graham |
I tell my kids, what is the difference between a hero and a coward? What is the difference between being yellow and being brave? No difference. Only what you do. They both feel the same. They both fear dying and getting hurt. The man who is yellow refuses to face up to what he’s got to face. The hero is more disciplined and he fights those feelings off and he does what he has to do. But they both feel the same, the hero and the coward. People who watch you judge you on what you do, not how you feel.
“
| — | Cus D’amato, legendary boxing trainer from this post by Ben Horowitz |
Early in his political career, Julius Caesar is said to have wept upon reading a biography of Alexander the Great. When asked why, he apparently said, “Do you think, I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable!”
—-
Earlier, to me the game meant maximizing your time and potential to get somewhere, now it meant maximizing those things to enjoy the trip.
—-
The answer to how you pick the destination: by asking yourself, what do I want to see grow? What do I want to build?
Yes, it turns out he became one of Foursquare’s earliest employees by cold-emailing Dennis and Naveen and selling them on what value he could add.
I think it’s interesting that he sent 8 emails before Dennis finally consented to talking more about possibly bringing Tristan on. I don’t know if Dennis at least replied with “no, thanks” or “not right now” before that 8th email, but I’m not sure I would have cold emailed someone that many times, without receiving a response, before I decided that they really weren’t interested.
One of my resolutions in 2011 is to be more bold. I think cold emailing someone past my comfort zone of “I’m really annoying this person” is a good example of boldness.
At the end of the day one must ask “What’s the worse that could happen if I send this 8th email?”
