As long as we’re passing huge laws, can we make it illegal to glorify startups? Yes I admit that I’ve been guilty of this from time to time, but I’m tired of it. I was just reading this essay by Paul Graham called What Startups are Really Like and it sent me over the edge. Here’s the deal, learning something new is always difficult. And learning something new is what startups are all about. You watch Mickelson play golf and it looks easy right? It’s not. If you want to get good, it takes a ton of practice, iterating, ups and downs, determination, coaching, so on. And, of course, you’ll never be as good as Phil in the end. That’s just how it is. At some point you are going to get the opportunity to hire Phil’s old coach. And he’ll give you the same advice that he gave Phil, but you still won’t be as good.
What if instead of trying to be the best golfer in the world, you were just trying to spend more time outdoors and learn a new game. Your returns wouldn’t be millions of dollars in endorsements, they’d be better physical and mental health. Maybe then your playing partners or coaches wouldn’t seem analogous to a marriage as Paul Graham seems to think. I’ve spent almost all of my career working for and founding startups. They can definitely be a bit dramatic, but that’s not a good thing. It’s an unfortunate side-effect that I believe can absolutely be avoided and minimized. When you set-off to build a business, maybe you shouldn’t be focused on how Google did it. Just focus on building something of value. Take a look at a product or service and improve it. Sell. Show up every day and put in the work.
Yes, Phil probably obsessed over golf and thought about it 24 hours a day. But that’s because he loved it, not because some VC guy was telling him he should. Focus on building something you believe in instead of buying an island or a jet. That’s more than a waste of time, it’s a waste of your life and not something that you will ever achieve. I used to play the lottery from time to time when the jackpots got to be over a certain threshold… say $100 million. I stopped. Not because I didn’t want to spend a buck, but because it always resulted in me daydreaming over what I’d do with all the money. And daydreaming doesn’t add any value to the world or richness to my life. At least a round of golf with a friend accomplishes the latter.
