
Why I Wear a Disco Ball - willwashburn
http://blog.willwashburn.com/post/49477700526/why-i-wear-a-disco-ball
======
jorts
My old boss told me this quote and I've always loved it. When the self-made
millionaire was asked what he'd do differently if he got to do it all over
again, he responded "I'd ask for help."

~~~
hkmurakami
Man... I was just told recently by a good friend that I am very good at
helping people but bad at asking for help. I guess it's time for
introspection...

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skrebbel
I kept reading just to understand why anyone would willingly walk around, all
the time, looking like this:

<http://estb.msn.com/i/AB/E27F92B0A904EC9D92B8EE897D0B4.jpg>

I also wondered how he'd eat and talk and sleep. I didn't understand what it
had to do with startups and hurricanes.

It took a while until I realized that that's not what "wearing a disco ball"
means in NY.

~~~
emiliobumachar
Please do enlighten me. I read the whole post and am still not sure. Searching
the web seems to be polluted by a nail polish brand named 'disco ball'. Is it
simply slang for not taking oneself too seriously?

~~~
skrebbel
I suspect that he has a little disco ball hanger on a necklace or bracelet or
something. I'm sure he'll tell us himself soon enough.

~~~
oinksoft
Sorry if I'm being obtuse ... you did see the large photograph at the top of
this blog post showing the author wearing said disco ball necklace, drinking
milk?

<http://i.imgur.com/DdeDfzyl.jpg>

~~~
emiliobumachar
I had seen the picture, but I had totally missed the necklace. Thank you.

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hcarvalhoalves
This guy is like all the entrepreneurs I've met, mashed together. He even has
a blog full of pictures of himself.

Cool story anyway.

~~~
willwashburn
The point of my post was to say I need to get over myself. Apparently it's
still a work in progress. My b.

Thanks for checking it out.

~~~
jurassic
I enjoyed the pictures; don't listen to the haters. Milk-chugging at a
disaster scene was a big enough "WTF" to keep me interested.

~~~
willwashburn
Thanks! I didn't notice there were so many at first, but now it does seem kind
of vain.

NOW IM QUESTIONING EVERYTHING.

~~~
PebblesRox
If it helps, I didn't notice that there were so many pictures. I was impressed
with your honesty in sharing about your mistakes and shortcomings.

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bryne
It says a lot about the endurance of the human spirit that in the midst of a
catastrophe like Sandy, you still found the inner strength to chug a gallon of
milk like a true meathead frat boy and presumably upload it straight to
Facebook.

The disco ball is fitting, I think. You should keep wearing it.

~~~
gosu
Not sure where all this hate is coming from. "meathead frat boy"?

~~~
willwashburn
Thanks for having my back!

I can understand how it might look if you don't know me and there's probably a
lot of people who thought the same thing.

Looking back, it was just a coping method. In the same way that I make lame
jokes when I feel nervous, this was just a reaction to the idea that my life
just got flipped upside down.

And I totally posted it directly to instagram. Spade is a spade, I guess.

~~~
gosu
I seriously don't understand why you're supposed to feel bad about posting 4
pictures of yourself and making a joke photo. It didn't seem that wanky to me,
so it's surprising that it was able to inspire this many people to forget
about human courtesy and throw childish insults on the interwebs.

I was wondering if maybe these people know you and there's some kind of
subtext here or something.

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rmrfrmrf
This guy is a real life Ryan Howard. Wow.

~~~
evan_
Counting the one with his feet in it, he's put 7 pictures of himself on that
page.

~~~
willwashburn
I mean comon, can we really count the one with my foot in it? 7 sounds waaaaay
bigger than 6.

~~~
evan_
I didn't count the ones where you're in the mirror, you got off easy.

~~~
willwashburn
Fair. For real though, is Ryan Howard's character really into himself?

Don't want to be that guy who doesn't get the joke but I am totally the guy
who isn't getting the joke.

IS THIS SOMETHING RYAN HOWARD WOULD SAY?!

~~~
DanBC
His character iterates over the different seasons.

I thought it was a mean remark, but maybe I'm just a sensitive blossom.

Howard does work on a startup (in a cupboard) which is pretty funny. And there
are definitely worse characters on the Office.

FWIW I really liked your post. You hit all the points that I've found in the
past, and you included the Ben Franklin effect too.

~~~
willwashburn
Oh, haha ok. My startup had the word "social" in it, so I think some not-so-
subtle jabbing is probably deserved.

Appreciate you checking out the post! (and thanks for filling me in on the
joke)

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shaaaaawn
I just read this moments after giving in, allowing my dad to take a 401k loan
in exchange for the title to my car (I insisted) to help me pay rent and keep
my startup dreams afloat a cpl more months. Humility doesn't come easy for
some of us. Thank you for sharing Will. I really needed to read this today.

~~~
mattzito
With all due respect - what is going to change about your startup in the next
few months? Things like retirement account loans from your parents are to get
you over a rare and unexpected setback in an otherwise exciting curve.
Otherwise, you're just borrowing other people's money who need it (i.e. these
are not wealthy individuals taking a risk with money they can afford to lose).

~~~
shaaaaawn
Bahahah. Let me clarify, I've been managing peons like yourself since high
school. I've already climbed the six figure ladder. The view wasn't to my
liking. See I decided to quit & build products designed for social good, hence
why I turned down a CIO role at a bank last week & turned down $125k work-
from-home contract at Wells Fargo today. I can make money anytime I return a
headhunters voicemail. Maybe that's why my parents are cool with the risk. Go
ahead Google me, my resume speaks for itself.

~~~
coolsunglasses
Your attitude isn't very appealing.

You should consider finding other ways to express yourself.

~~~
shaaaaawn
Usually I dance

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mbesto
Liked the story! Curious though, why are you living on the UES, when you can
live in Brooklyn for half the price?

~~~
rdouble
UES is cheaper than Brooklyn now.

[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044357090457754...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443570904577547231942958966.html)

~~~
mbesto
Whoa damn! I knew Williamsburg was 'up-and-coming' when I lived there but that
appears to have changed a lot in the last 5 years. Gentrification at it's
finest.

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gnoway
I haven't read the post, just these comments. Easily the strangest comments
I've seen in the past 4-6 months.

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brianbreslin
so will, what are you upto now? would love to read a follow up post.

~~~
willwashburn
I spent the few months doing what I described in the post - pretending it
didn't happen. It's amazing what you can convince yourself of.

When I finally decided I was being an idiot, I started to focus on finding a
job. It was way harder than I thought it would be (there is a theme of being
arrogant here - another post another day).

I'm now working at a startup as a software + product guy. Learning from some
really smart people and loving it so far. In lots of ways, the storm was the
best thing to happen to me.

I can only say that because I really have a lot of great people around me. It
made me appreciate all the opportunities I've been given and can sympathize
more with people who haven't had the same support.

Thanks for checking out the post.

~~~
tomjen3
So you gave up your dreams?

I was hoping for a story about how you found investments in your own startup.

~~~
RobAley
Perhaps he's just looking for a different route to get to his dreams?

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willwashburn
100%, thanks.

There is more than one way to skin the old meow meow. Getting over myself
enough to realize that was the big take away from all this.

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glass_of_water
Pics with the disco ball!

~~~
willwashburn
There are plenty haha! I have a few extras if you want one.

~~~
RobAley
For those, like me, that didn't notice it at first, its a very small one on a
chain around his neck. I think.

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iamleppert
Dear Will,

Are you gay? Inquiring minds want to know.

~~~
willwashburn
No, sorry.

~~~
HorizonXP
Unfortunate. I'd like to be with you, and I'm straight. :-P

(Thought I'd take the opportunity to make a lame joke.)

