I'm building a startup. building a startup is a function of time vs. result. a few weeks ago I thought, "what will it be like to live without this pressure to produce results just to keep existing?" "how did I live before, or how did my brain work before living like this?"
a startup is a function of time vs. result. that's the case because by definition a startup is running out of money. in the months I managed to buy by raising capital (could be 12, 18, 24) I only have a finite number of opportunities. of weeks, of sprints, of releases I can ship, of accounts I can close. how do I want to pick them? which features do I want to focus on? which will produce the biggest result inside the time frame I have?
the scarcity of time pushes me to make decisions in terms of outcomes. there's something suffocating about that, and also something freeing. scarcity gives me a frame to make decisions in. since time isn't unlimited, I can't try every path or every idea. maybe I can only try 3 or 4. which ones do I pick?
on the other hand, thinking about everything purely through scarcity is misleading. a startup is supposed to be something huge. startup = growth, says Paul Graham. it's important to remember that whatever we do has to put us at multiples of where we are today.
the problem with thinking purely in terms of outcomes is that it cuts off exploration. could it be that being a good leader is understanding how to balance results and exploration? exploration matters because it's what lets us grow to multiples of where we are now. but it's important to combine that exploration with very short iteration cycles.
writing this I think of General Magic (a film about the device that was the iphone's predecessor). when I watched it, it was obvious to me that those people were more interested in making art than making a product (one of the interviewees says they spent months designing the animations for the icons the device would have). it's hard to think of the iphone without General Magic, but striking that balance seems to be the hard part. exploring and shipping product at the same time. the scarcity of time is a very good tool for that.
things I've read lately about the use of time:
- 100 blocks a day: https://waitbutwhy.com/2016/10/100-blocks-day.html
- Reality has a surprising amount of detail: http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail
- Focus: https://boz.com/articles/focus
- How to get rich (terrible name but a great post): https://nav.al/rich/
- Speed matters: http://jsomers.net/blog/speed-matters