November 2024 Updates
Focus, learning from smart people, and a warrior in a garden
You’re receiving this monthly newsletter because you’ve been a valuable part of my life in some shape or form (or I’d like for you to be 🙂). See this video for context.
This update comes a few weeks late - I had a frantic start to December which will be covered in the next update. Got lots of links today. Let me know if you’re in Toronto or would like to catch up over the holidays!
My updates
Spend most of November visiting Toronto, for the first time since June 2024. It was nice to be able to check in with my close friends and family, and visibly feel the vibrant culture here again. The homogeneous tech culture of SF is brightly contrasted here with coffee shops, art galleries, and humans across all walks of life. Thanks to all of you who made time for me!
At work, we spent some time pursuing a different customer segment. I was quite vocal on our focus, and warned about pursuing two (opposing) ICPs moderately, instead of doubling down on one in particular. We’ve since reverted back to doubling down on our initial ICP (CROs) and have refactored our webapp to reflect this focus.
I have officially been off any ITP medications for the past few months. I’m now being monitored monthly, and I am so grateful that my levels are holding strong. I’ve since modulated my lifestyle, adding gradual supplementation of B12, K2/B2, Black Walnut, and others. I’ve also explored a series of classes on ClassPass, including boxing, hot yoga, and some personal training classes.
On my mind
On learning from incredible people. I spent a lot of this month listening to podcasts again (Founders, DOAC, Lenny’s, others) and I’m reminded that there’s an incredible wealth of knowledge from biographies. Most things are solved problems, especially by those who’ve demonstrated repeated success in their respective domains. I’m making it more of a point to learn from and listen to them.
On developing a core set of differentiable skills. I recently saw a December annoucement that Salesforce is pausing SWE hires, and it triggered this reflection. In SF, there’s a deep need to be technical, and I’ve recently seen a shift where V0, Windsurf / Cursor, and other platforms can do 60% of the simple engineering tasks. For me, this means figuring out what I want to focus on, and spending as much time doing that thing every day.
On warriors in gardens. I recently came across this discourse that I’ve been reflecting on:
"Would it not be more tranquil and serene to be a gardener and tend the plants?" the student asked.
The teacher replied: "Tending the garden is a relaxing pastime, but it does not prepare one for the inevitable battles of life. It is easy to be calm in a serene setting. To be calm and serene when under attack is much more difficult; therefore, I tell you it is far better to be a warrior tending his garden than to be a gardener at war."
My lesson from this? Do hard things; better yet, seek them out. And find control above the circumstances to create your own mental peace. In challenging circumstances, seek to make the most of it rather than fleeing.
Lmk if you are (or know someone who is) working on or thinking about the above!
Next month
Spending the holidays with my family in Toronto
Doing some personal annual planning to close out the year
Thanks for reading this month’s update. Would love to hear how I can help you this month (maybe I can make some intros, work through some thoughts with you, or otherwise). See you next month 👋
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