
Ask HN: Practical formula for being relentlessly resourceful? - eatitraw
Paul Graham wrote that good founders are relentlessly resourceful.[1]<p>I am starting a startup[2], so I am wondering:<p>Can you make a conscious effort to get better at it? Are there conscious ways for being relentlessly resourceful?<p>So far I&#x27;ve come up with one promising technique: try to think of new clever ideas&#x2F;hacks assuming their cost of failure is zero. It seems to work. It allows you to see ideas you would otherwise miss because of some sort of block(though I am not 100% sure it&#x27;s not an illusion -- I&#x27;ve been using this technique for only a couple of days).<p>Also, I suspect it should work better for social stuff(talking to users, acquiring users) than for programming.<p>HN, can you please share your own hacks&#x2F;algorithms&#x2F;techniques&#x2F;methods, even small ones?<p>[1] «A couple days ago I finally got being a good startup founder down to two words: relentlessly resourceful»  www.paulgraham.com&#x2F;relres.html
[2] In case anyone is interested: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;perunity.com (yes, we want your feedback)
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timrosenblatt
Your first question is "can you make a conscious effort to get better at
[being resourceful]?" The answer is almost certainly yes.

Techniques for being resourceful are very specific to the individual, so what
works for one person may not for another. That being said...

The first thing I would do is meditate. It is becoming trendy, but I think for
a good reason. By complete coincidence,
[http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237313](http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237313)
is a news article that showed up this morning. I think if a man like Steve
Jobs arranges for a book on meditation (and self-actualization) to be given to
the attendees of his own funeral, that is a powerful sign.

Talk to other people about challenges you face. This sounds simple, but it is
effective. Another way of saying "I need a creative solution" is "I need a
solution that I wouldn't have come up with". To me, that sounds like "I need a
solution someone else came up with". Every successful business leader has
advisors. So should you.

There is a talk by Charlie Munger (of Berkshire Hathaway fame) about decision
making. It tends to focus on mistakes, but if you know what mistakes to avoid,
it can help you find the right answer.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzcCfUglws](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzcCfUglws)

Tell me what you think about these.

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garysvpa
Great suggestion!

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spb
Google the description of everything you need if you don't already have it. If
a web search turns up nothing, post an Ask HN or similar. Ask your friends.
Don't remake anything that already exists.

Try not to make anything that _doesn 't_ already exist unless you _really can
't do what you need to_ with what already does. To make sure that you do
_really need to do it_ , ask [Five Whys] of your motivations. If any answers
come up "I don't know any other way to do it", start thinking / looking /
asking for other ways to do it.

[Five Whys]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys)

Other ways to add to your toolbelt of resources:

Follow the maintainers of your favorite projects on GitHub. You'll be notified
when they star something they find interesting- if they think it's useful,
you'll probably find it useful too.

Read Hacker News, obviously.

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gadders
I doubt if this is all of it, but one suggestion I would make is constantly
challenge assumptions/conventional wisdom.

Them: We can't do X

You: Why not?

Them: We asked them once before and they said [stuff]

You: But what if I ask them and say [new stuff]

etc etc. When people say stuff can't be done, keep digging into why not until
you hit bottom. They might be right, or you might smash through another
roadblock.

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jbschaff
1) Nothing will die if you can't kill it. Be like cockroach. 2) Take advantage
of everything you can get ahold of. Dont ask for permission, but forgiveness.
3) Don't spend a dime until you're forced to. This means contractors
sometimes, unfortunately. 4) (S)He who knows the most, wins. Its an infowar
out there, so never stop reading/learning. Use triggers/web svcs to make the
internet work for you. 5)
[https://diy.soylent.me/recipes](https://diy.soylent.me/recipes) and/or join a
coworking space

If you follow this 5 step program, you too can be relentlessly resourceful...
and lose a lot of weight :)

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001sky
Relentlessly resourceful only makes sense/sounds good in hindsight.

Before that there is simply "relentless" and "resourceful"\--which are
straight forward enought.

The "problem" is there is a tension/contradiction between the two: relentless
meants "stopping at nothing". And resourceful means working within a set
constraint (ie, an externally-imposed limit).

Needless to say, bringing/finding hidder or non-obvious resources to bear on
problems with obvious/unavoidable constraints is the general gist of this
problem.

"Never bring a knife to a gunfight" is also another take on it, although a bit
more from the perspective of a negative proof.

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arisAlexis
I know it will sound like a cliche. Exercise, eat well, rest and have happy
moments. You will be relentlessly resourceful this way since it seems that you
have really set your mind on it.

~~~
spb
That sounds more like a generic tip on how (in your opinion) to be
successful/happy, with no real focus on resourcefulness (or relentlessness).

~~~
arisAlexis
first of all being relentlessly resourceful is very different from being
relentless. secondly, this advice is sound for being sharp, think creatively
and being able to withstand stressful situations.

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foolishdream
Have less scruples than the next guy. Being free of moral bindings allows you
greater range to maneuver.

Understand social proof and signaling. Practice dropping positive signals and
social proof in all your stories; have a rehearsed story showing vulnerability
to have when you need to make yourself appear more personable. Practice
mirroring as people like those similar to themselves. If you're an well
educated white male, you're already halfway there.

~~~
timrosenblatt
I don't recommend the "have less scruples than the next guy" game. This is the
sort of nonsense that was passed around in the 80s -- "business is war". There
is an important difference between business and war: if you lose in war, you
die. No second chances.

In business, if you are a tough but fair player, and you lose, you will be
offered the chance to play again. If you compete in bad faith, you won't.

~~~
foolishdream
You're reframing. "Tough but fair" is how you treat coworkers, employees,
investors, and others who you interact with regularly. But it doesn't give you
an edge in becoming relentlessly effective.

What do you do when your competitor is willing to break rules that you are
not? Tread moral and legal grey areas that you do not? Take advantage of
Facebook API's to spam users? How about spamming Craigslist? Submitting
thousands of fake car requests to bog down your service and drivers?

Do you avoid all this low hanging fruit? Or do you take advantage of these
growth opportunities and hope that you're so successful these shady tactics
become afterthoughts?

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bluewolf
Create artificial limitations.

~~~
spb
And be aware when you do so.

