Lessons from my first decade
Last November marked 10 years since I deferred my studies at UW to work on Mappedin full time.
I have been reflecting on the things I’ve learned and am writing them down here so I can look back in another ten years to see which ones I got right.
- Aside from religion, responsibility is a good cure for nihilism.
- Parents often give bad career advice. They are blinded by protective instincts to recall the risks they took early in their own careers. [1]
- In politics and the current culture-war, it’s hard to discern someone’s principles from tactics. The loudest voices on all sides mostly just want power. If that doesn’t sound fun, compete in arenas still ruled by competence (eg. sports, startups).
- Corollary: no politics at work. Support colleagues who participate in our society’s democratic processes outside of work.
- High-potential, high-experience people aren’t going to join your...