
On the cusp of something big - mmahemoff
http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2013/05/on-the-cusp-of-something-big.html
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obviouslygreen
_Startups are a long-term game._

While I agree with this, it's definitely not the position I see here often.
The quick flip or at least buyout-as-a-business-plan seems far more popular
and glorified.

I guess I can understand that, to a point, but it indicates a very naive view
of success and an unrealistic idea of what business is actually like.
Unfortunately, that's echoed and reinforced in many places -- intentionally
and otherwise -- YC and its surroundings being among them.

I like the premise here. I think it's simply that motivation comes from the
belief, valid or not, that you're really doing something that has serious
potential. He doesn't quantify what that means, and I think that's best...
"big" means whatever it means to you, whatever motivates you, because that's
what will make you feel like you're doing something important.

I'm not a feelings person when it comes to business. But being a solo founder,
those ephemeral little buggers are important.

~~~
thebear
I agree that this feeling of being on the cusp of something big is ultimately
just that, a feeling, and one should not try to be more specific about it.
However, it seems to me that there is at least one type of situation where
that feeling is grounded in fairly hard and verifiable facts, namely, when the
idea in question is a scientific invention. Rudolf Diesel had a pretty good
grasp of what the advantages of his engine were, and Tesla and Siemens knew
pretty well why and how their AC power system was superior to Edison's DC. I'm
a little irritated by the fact that this kind of scientific evidence for the
value of an idea receives practically no attention at all in today's treatment
of startup businesses, like the Lean Startup movement. Today, we ask the
customers if they want AC or DC in their homes, and if the answer is DC, we
pivot to that. Perhaps it would have been worth to stick with the AC idea a
little longer, to fight for it, and to let its benefits sink in with people.

~~~
obviouslygreen
The only issue I'd take with this is that when someone says "I feel this way,"
I take it to mean "I believe this but can't prove it." If you _know_
something, or if you have a good, scientific basis for a statement... that's
not a feeling. That's a hypothesis, and it shouldn't be cheapened by being
stated as anything less (at least when speaking to people who aren't already
familiar with it).

When you've gotten beyond "I feel like this will work, and that's motivating
me" and you've moved on to "this freaking WORKS and now we have to do
something about it," then you have a new set of problems to go with your
opportunities.

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6ren
I've felt far happier moving towards success than actually having success.

There's many aphorisms supporting this: the journey _is_ the destination; it's
better to travel than to arrive; getting there is half the fun. People are
enthralled by movies/stories about _doing_ something - not having already done
it. Emerson's _Self-Reliance_ touches on this too
(<http://www.emersoncentral.com/selfreliance.htm>), the soul _becoming_.

It's a bit logically absurd though - you're aiming at achieving something, yet
it's the process of achieving that you really want... but absurd or not in
theory, that's been the most fun for me, in practice.

~~~
thebear
I have experienced, and heard of others experiencing, something even more
drastic: when achieving a goal after a long and exhilarating journey, not only
was I less happy than during the journey, I was actually depressed, thought
the thing just achieved was worthless, and didn't want it anymore. It's like a
generalized postnatal depression.

~~~
6ren
Me too. I've also heard of one instance of postnatal depression where it was
hoped that having a child would solve problems the parents were experiencing,
both personally and in the relationship (I have no idea if this is a common
cause of postnatal depression).

Assuming this _is_ a general cause of victories turning to ashes, of trying to
solve other problems with it... what to do? Should we disregard this feeling,
and start a new project (have more kids/brain children)? Or try to find
something that will be genuinely satisfying, and won't turn to ashes?

I don't know. But I think it might be more like this: 1. get the basics right
2. have fun.

    
    
      1. basics
        exercise, sleep, food
        friendly, co-operative people, support/encouragement, help others and be helped
        be factual (not emotional reasoning), discuss (see POVs), keep perspective
        have a bigger philosophy: religion (Knuth and Brooks are religious), nature
    
      2. fun
        focus on the journey as enjoyable
        don't see the result as a solution to *how you feel*
        immediately go on to the next project
        it's just for fun, not to redeem yourself or make everything alright
    

NB: I'm in no way commenting on your situation; I'm just replying to your
comment to articulate these thoughts I've been having on this topic.

~~~
thebear
Good thoughts, thanks for sharing.

------
saddino
_For this to work you can't be completely delusional, only partially._

This.

Or as I like to say: the most important pitch you will ever make is to
yourself. Convince yourself and others will follow.

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namank
While this philosophy is what sustains the entrepreneurial spirit, I think
most people get int the game because they got an itch to scratch.

