this is what I've been working on, an intelligent, safe, and soft toy for kids i would've been really happy if i had access to expert level knowledge to to our solar system and galaxy

The biggest mistake I made in my 20s was optimizing (almost entirely) for making sure everyone liked me as much as possible in both my personal & professional life It’s an interesting game that fundamentally insecure people get very good at it through flattery, diplomacy, merging with others & mirroring their values, and on an on There’s plenty to say about why this feels like a reasonable operating philosophy initially, especially for people who come from the gutter of tough family environments and what not, but at a point that’s no longer a valid excuse Also, incidentally: optimizing for getting people to like you ends up being a losing strategy anyway because a) people don’t actually respect you (they respect people who stick up for themselves far far more) and b) you transgress your sense of self in the quest for other people’s validation It’s vibenomically similar to that Dostoevsky quote that’s like yeah so your worst sin is that you've destroyed and betrayed yourself *for nothing* On the flip side: letting go of the people pleasing + unapologetically seeking to win, to assert yourself, to create, to execute, to have a view, to act on the word (instead of being acted upon) is just so so so much better and more fulfilling as a posture because even if you lose or fail at least you took a shot and stood for something It’s unfortunate that it took me this long to realize what ultimately feels like a simple lesson, but such is life Time to win.

"Vision for Apple was: What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer ? Not starting with 'let's sit down with the engineers, and figure out what awesome technology we have and how we're gonna market that.'" — Steve Jobs, WWDC, 1997

Still amazed by the extent to which growth solves all problems in business

When you go talk to users, don't (just) ask them what features they want. Ask them what problems they have. In the best case this will lead you to think of features they'll love but would never have thought to ask for. And expect to go through multiple cycles of ask-and-build.

Playing the long game gives you such an advantage over competitors. Hardly anyone else is doing it. They haven't chosen not to. They just haven't explicitly thought about the question, and the default is not to.

What startups should do in a time of rapid change: be flexible in your plans, actively look for new opportunities that appear, focus on users' needs. Which incidentally is what startups should already be doing anyway.

Wisdom is the set of things that we have to be reminded of over and over again.

Being able to create what you want is definitely more valuable than appearing to "know it."

The delay in software development sometimes comes from trying to solve an already designed solution mid-implementation.

Nassim Taleb, how to have a great day 😂

more value is created when you do what you actually want to do cause you do everything to make it work and actually good. You pour your soul into it

"Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking." - @nntaleb

Few startups have a smooth ascent. Many if not most have some setbacks initially. The good ones react by focusing on specific steps they can take. The bad ones are vaguely hopeful, or depressed, or in denial — and change nothing.

Here we go, year 2026

being self-centered and emotion-controlled (also lack of experience) gets you to that place

"Make something people want" sounds obvious, but not doing it is the most common mistake founders make. I explained why I made it in the essay where I coined the term. I didn't understand the market I was building for, so I was wrong about what it wanted. paulgraham.com/bronze.html

I started Boom knowing literally zero people in aerospace. Networks are built naturally when doing something interesting—they are not a precondition.

This one paragraph is the most important thing Taleb ever wrote:

create value

if you do that without any purpose, you will go full throttle in the wrong direction. i know it's painful to endure uncertainty but it'll be much better if you answer the question "what is the most important thing I could work on, right now?"