Fixed emoji img src bug on plugemoji.com
Fixed emoji img src bug on writingemoji.com
Zoom call with client on design deliverable
Day 895 - The demons we indies fight in silence - https://golifelog.com/posts/the-demons-we-indies-fight-in-silence-1686732547845
Feeling it with [Dago's raw and honest sharing here](https://twitter.com/dagorenouf/status/1668615338395865089?s=20):
> My wife and I decided to give up on our startup @logologydesign. It was a tough decision to make, especially after spending 5 years and almost all of our savings to bootstrap it. But the reality is that despite our best efforts, we never found a way to grow beyond survival profitability... But after 5 years of fighting, we're exhausted, out of motivation, and out of money. So we decided it's better to call it quits 😞
>
> I feel ashamed to not be one of the "successful founders" I see on twitter every day. I feel stupid that all the time and money spent wasn’t enough to make it. I also feel silly for celebrating that we reached profitability a few months ago... then a couple of months later it was already back below survival level 🤦♂️ I stopped tweeting this past few weeks because I feel like a loser and a failure. I’m afraid people will lose interest in me if I stop sharing motivating tweets. But at some point, I had to face the truth that I just can’t do it anymore.
>
> Somewhere on the way to chasing our dreams, we got lost. Instead of trying to live the life we wanted, we started sacrificing everything we cared about just to reach “success” at any cost. The burnout I had was a wake-up call that we can't keep going like this. The glasses I wear will forever remind me of the limits of my body. On my end, I decided to go back to a job. I never thought I'd do this but I really need to put a stop to the crazy hours and constant financial pressure. I hope working on a product without having to worry about money will make work enjoyable again.
A sad day for Indie Hacker Twitter 😔 But from the replies it's clear Dago is well loved. That's no failure, in my books. That's *something*. Strike that – that's *more* than something. And making that decision in itself is an act of courage. It's never an easy decision to call it quits. Painful, in fact. But when health is destroyed to this point, I like to think it's a right one. Health and sanity is always more important. Besides, there’s always an opportunity to come back to building again in future.
I think this experience is a lot more common amongst indie hackers than we realise. I was close to this point myself during the pandemic. Consulting gigs dried up, new baby in the house, money running out in 1-2 months. I actually started looking for job, applied for many jobs. No one called back. Not even a "Thanks for your application" email. It's clear that after being self-employed for a decade, and hitting mid-forties, I'm no longer employable. My products then didn't earn much either (it still doesn't now too). Things got pretty desperate. I was so stressed out, my body started showing signs of giving way. I got injured and sick easily. My sleep was poor as hell. I gained weight, and struggled to keep it off. I was anxious all the time. So I ended up working all the time. I seldom took days off. It was a viscious loop. All signs pointed to an eventual burnout and breakdown, like what Dago went through.
But in the end, I was 'saved' by a consulting gig, just in the nick of time.
I never really talked about it on Twitter then. It was too raw. Too vulnerable. It still stings to share it. Because while not in a survival crisis, I'm not totally in the clear yet. Finances and opportunities aren't back to pre-pandemic levels. That scenario is still a probable reality, if I take my eyes off the wheel. I can't completely relax... yet.
The plot twist is that back then I still appeared jovial on Twitter. Nobody knew.
My point?
That it's a good reminder for us to be nice to one another, support each other. We never know what kind of demons someone is fighting in silence.
Reality is a lot harder and rougher than the polished facade we see often on Twitter.
Watch out for each other, friends.
> My wife and I decided to give up on our startup @logologydesign. It was a tough decision to make, especially after spending 5 years and almost all of our savings to bootstrap it. But the reality is that despite our best efforts, we never found a way to grow beyond survival profitability... But after 5 years of fighting, we're exhausted, out of motivation, and out of money. So we decided it's better to call it quits 😞
>
> I feel ashamed to not be one of the "successful founders" I see on twitter every day. I feel stupid that all the time and money spent wasn’t enough to make it. I also feel silly for celebrating that we reached profitability a few months ago... then a couple of months later it was already back below survival level 🤦♂️ I stopped tweeting this past few weeks because I feel like a loser and a failure. I’m afraid people will lose interest in me if I stop sharing motivating tweets. But at some point, I had to face the truth that I just can’t do it anymore.
>
> Somewhere on the way to chasing our dreams, we got lost. Instead of trying to live the life we wanted, we started sacrificing everything we cared about just to reach “success” at any cost. The burnout I had was a wake-up call that we can't keep going like this. The glasses I wear will forever remind me of the limits of my body. On my end, I decided to go back to a job. I never thought I'd do this but I really need to put a stop to the crazy hours and constant financial pressure. I hope working on a product without having to worry about money will make work enjoyable again.
A sad day for Indie Hacker Twitter 😔 But from the replies it's clear Dago is well loved. That's no failure, in my books. That's *something*. Strike that – that's *more* than something. And making that decision in itself is an act of courage. It's never an easy decision to call it quits. Painful, in fact. But when health is destroyed to this point, I like to think it's a right one. Health and sanity is always more important. Besides, there’s always an opportunity to come back to building again in future.
I think this experience is a lot more common amongst indie hackers than we realise. I was close to this point myself during the pandemic. Consulting gigs dried up, new baby in the house, money running out in 1-2 months. I actually started looking for job, applied for many jobs. No one called back. Not even a "Thanks for your application" email. It's clear that after being self-employed for a decade, and hitting mid-forties, I'm no longer employable. My products then didn't earn much either (it still doesn't now too). Things got pretty desperate. I was so stressed out, my body started showing signs of giving way. I got injured and sick easily. My sleep was poor as hell. I gained weight, and struggled to keep it off. I was anxious all the time. So I ended up working all the time. I seldom took days off. It was a viscious loop. All signs pointed to an eventual burnout and breakdown, like what Dago went through.
But in the end, I was 'saved' by a consulting gig, just in the nick of time.
I never really talked about it on Twitter then. It was too raw. Too vulnerable. It still stings to share it. Because while not in a survival crisis, I'm not totally in the clear yet. Finances and opportunities aren't back to pre-pandemic levels. That scenario is still a probable reality, if I take my eyes off the wheel. I can't completely relax... yet.
The plot twist is that back then I still appeared jovial on Twitter. Nobody knew.
My point?
That it's a good reminder for us to be nice to one another, support each other. We never know what kind of demons someone is fighting in silence.
Reality is a lot harder and rougher than the polished facade we see often on Twitter.
Watch out for each other, friends.
Added 5 x Posts and Reels to new Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/pluginsforcarrd/
Created tutorial for backgroundimagesections.carrd.co Carrd plugin
Renewed safedistancing.sg domain
Day 894 - Social media: Distraction vs serendipity - https://golifelog.com/posts/social-media-distraction-vs-serendipity-1686637765574
This tweet got me thinking more favourably of the amount of time I spend on Twitter and other social media channels:
> every time i’m close to shutting myself out from my twitter account because it’s a huge distraction - i remind myself of all the serendipity i have gained from the hours "wasted" on here. god damn. – [@chburdett](https://twitter.com/chburdett/status/1668280169470083078?s=20)
I think social media has a bad rep. Unfortunately. People blame it for lack of productivity, distraction, noise, bluelight, sleep deficiency. It's the poster child for mental health problems. The black sheep of the internet.
Yet, if we recognize it as a tool, we will realise that we can use a tool for distraction, or for serendipity, to bring about more connection, opportunity, learning. Yet no one talks about the latter.
Every phone now has screentime app to track how much time you're on your phone, yet no metric can tell you if that's time well spent or not. It's not about absolute screentime. It's about the quality. If it's time spent on connecting with people you love or want to learn from; if it's for learning and growth; if it's to access more opportunities and capital; then those hours are worthwhile.
If you're using it well, for serendipity, the more screentime the better (of course, within reasonable limits)!
In fact, that's how I've been using my social media lately. All the platforms that I used to use for distraction, are now 99% used for productivity, for my goals. I use Facebook, Reddit for providing informal Carrd support. Telegram groups to form good habits like keto, sleep biohacking. LinkedIn for consulting. Twitter and Substack for building in public, and collective learning from other indie peers.
The only barrier is: The platforms are built for distraction, not serendipity, not learning. It takes effort to curate your feed full of people you can learn from than people you want to argue with or show off to. That alone puts most people off, as they see and use social media for entertainment, not education. They let the algo use them, not use the algo. Most do not even consider it as a useful tool. It's a shame, a huge wasted opportunity.
Use social media for distraction, or for serendipity: The choice and power is yours.
> every time i’m close to shutting myself out from my twitter account because it’s a huge distraction - i remind myself of all the serendipity i have gained from the hours "wasted" on here. god damn. – [@chburdett](https://twitter.com/chburdett/status/1668280169470083078?s=20)
I think social media has a bad rep. Unfortunately. People blame it for lack of productivity, distraction, noise, bluelight, sleep deficiency. It's the poster child for mental health problems. The black sheep of the internet.
Yet, if we recognize it as a tool, we will realise that we can use a tool for distraction, or for serendipity, to bring about more connection, opportunity, learning. Yet no one talks about the latter.
Every phone now has screentime app to track how much time you're on your phone, yet no metric can tell you if that's time well spent or not. It's not about absolute screentime. It's about the quality. If it's time spent on connecting with people you love or want to learn from; if it's for learning and growth; if it's to access more opportunities and capital; then those hours are worthwhile.
If you're using it well, for serendipity, the more screentime the better (of course, within reasonable limits)!
In fact, that's how I've been using my social media lately. All the platforms that I used to use for distraction, are now 99% used for productivity, for my goals. I use Facebook, Reddit for providing informal Carrd support. Telegram groups to form good habits like keto, sleep biohacking. LinkedIn for consulting. Twitter and Substack for building in public, and collective learning from other indie peers.
The only barrier is: The platforms are built for distraction, not serendipity, not learning. It takes effort to curate your feed full of people you can learn from than people you want to argue with or show off to. That alone puts most people off, as they see and use social media for entertainment, not education. They let the algo use them, not use the algo. Most do not even consider it as a useful tool. It's a shame, a huge wasted opportunity.
Use social media for distraction, or for serendipity: The choice and power is yours.
Updated credit card to physical card instead of virtual for Google Ads, to prevent false positives for suspension
Uh oh... more issues incoming for Google Ads?
Day 893 - Satisficing vs Maximizing - https://golifelog.com/posts/satisficing-vs-maximizing-1686564089152
Jason Cohen wrote an thought-provoking post about ["Satisficing vs Maximizing"](https://longform.asmartbear.com/maximizing/):
> “Maximizing” means finding the best solution. It requires exploration and analysis to ensure “the best” option hasn’t been overlooked, and that we have confidence in our evaluation of the options. “Satisficing” means picking the first or easiest or least-expensive option that satisfies the requirements. Preferring a faster decision to the best decision. It means not getting paralyzed by the pursuit of “perfect,” but as a result, rarely results in the very best solution. People naturally tend to be Maximizers or Satisficers, although it depends on the subject. For example, you might maximize your career, but satisfice your diet.
It's interesting as an indie hacker reading this because you'd think we're all impatient Satisficers shipping scrappy MVPs, launching on Product Hunt on impulse, and leveraging on an opportunity that a viral tweet gave. I definitely thought that way about myself as an indie for sure.
But that's misleading. It's not either/or, it's not all the time everytime. It "depends on the subject", as Cohen said. We could be Satisficers when it comes to shipping fast, but Mazimizers in other things, like say customer support.
So what's some things indies should satisfice, things that indies should maximize? It always depends on context, but I can imagine these generally fall into either:
Satisfice:
- Launch many small bets to find a good one to double down on.
- Shipping fast when you're building something new, unsure of product-market fit.
- Business admin details can wait – logo, business plan, brand, accountant, business plan.
- Tweeting daily. For something that lasts only 48h max, you shouldn't be taking days to write one.
Maximize:
- Shipping slow when you got many customers already, high MRR, and you're way past the scrappy solo startup image.
- Be authentic and thorough in your engagement with customers, especially in customer support.
- Find one repeatable, positive ROI distribution channel, get good in it, before moving on to other channels.
- Write good SEO blog posts, and repeatedly edit them to bring in more traffic.
*What other things do you satisfice vs maximize?*
> “Maximizing” means finding the best solution. It requires exploration and analysis to ensure “the best” option hasn’t been overlooked, and that we have confidence in our evaluation of the options. “Satisficing” means picking the first or easiest or least-expensive option that satisfies the requirements. Preferring a faster decision to the best decision. It means not getting paralyzed by the pursuit of “perfect,” but as a result, rarely results in the very best solution. People naturally tend to be Maximizers or Satisficers, although it depends on the subject. For example, you might maximize your career, but satisfice your diet.
It's interesting as an indie hacker reading this because you'd think we're all impatient Satisficers shipping scrappy MVPs, launching on Product Hunt on impulse, and leveraging on an opportunity that a viral tweet gave. I definitely thought that way about myself as an indie for sure.
But that's misleading. It's not either/or, it's not all the time everytime. It "depends on the subject", as Cohen said. We could be Satisficers when it comes to shipping fast, but Mazimizers in other things, like say customer support.
So what's some things indies should satisfice, things that indies should maximize? It always depends on context, but I can imagine these generally fall into either:
Satisfice:
- Launch many small bets to find a good one to double down on.
- Shipping fast when you're building something new, unsure of product-market fit.
- Business admin details can wait – logo, business plan, brand, accountant, business plan.
- Tweeting daily. For something that lasts only 48h max, you shouldn't be taking days to write one.
Maximize:
- Shipping slow when you got many customers already, high MRR, and you're way past the scrappy solo startup image.
- Be authentic and thorough in your engagement with customers, especially in customer support.
- Find one repeatable, positive ROI distribution channel, get good in it, before moving on to other channels.
- Write good SEO blog posts, and repeatedly edit them to bring in more traffic.
*What other things do you satisfice vs maximize?*
Created and sent out a Google Form to onboard users for daily email reminders to write on Lifelog
Day 892 - Not lazy but surviving - https://golifelog.com/posts/not-lazy-but-surviving-1686437708758
Saw this on my social feeds:
> "You're not lazy, you only have a certain amount of energy and right now you are using it all to survive."
Reading it, can't help but feel validated for the lack of productivity for the past few months. I wasn't lazy. I wasn't unproductive. I wasn't ill disciplined. I was dealing with stuff. I was just trying to survive and get through the day. And the next day. And the day after.
One long freaking day at a time.
But now I feel better. Thankfully. Realising that it's not due to [anything in my mind that's broken](https://golifelog.com/posts/mind-that-magnesium-1685414275146) was doubly assuring. I can move on without fear and trembling.
Besides, by being "lazy/unproductive" assumes I'm racing to get somewhere... Whose race am I running in? Where am I rushing to? There's no one else in this race other than myself. Everyone's running their own race, with themselves as the only runner.
Wait, it's not even a race. Not even the too-often-used word "journey". It's just me manifesting, unfolding in time and space.
I am enough.
> "You're not lazy, you only have a certain amount of energy and right now you are using it all to survive."
Reading it, can't help but feel validated for the lack of productivity for the past few months. I wasn't lazy. I wasn't unproductive. I wasn't ill disciplined. I was dealing with stuff. I was just trying to survive and get through the day. And the next day. And the day after.
One long freaking day at a time.
But now I feel better. Thankfully. Realising that it's not due to [anything in my mind that's broken](https://golifelog.com/posts/mind-that-magnesium-1685414275146) was doubly assuring. I can move on without fear and trembling.
Besides, by being "lazy/unproductive" assumes I'm racing to get somewhere... Whose race am I running in? Where am I rushing to? There's no one else in this race other than myself. Everyone's running their own race, with themselves as the only runner.
Wait, it's not even a race. Not even the too-often-used word "journey". It's just me manifesting, unfolding in time and space.
I am enough.
Day 891 - Suffer to succeed - https://golifelog.com/posts/suffer-to-succeed-1686404948472
Probably the hardest self-limiting belief any indie entrepreneur can have:
The belief that you need to suffer to succeed.
I saw this on my social feeds the other day and it got me thinking:
> "...Making things hard, believing we need to suffer to achieve or succeed are all signs that we may be unconsciously living out patterns of self-punishment." - @sheleanaaiyana
Do I have a self-punishment tendency?
Is that why the success I seek eludes me?
Or why I always feel I won't achieve without some epic struggle?
An example:
I work hard for Lifelog. I do #100daysofmarketing. Write 100 blog posts in 100 days. And more. I chose the hard challenge, thinking with it, success will come. But most of the time, going hard on distribution makes sense if you're sure of the ROI. When in early stages, it's good to experiment and see which channel works. Smell around for the opportunity first. Be lazy, be opportunistic, be a flaneur. Yet I presumed whichever requires an epic struggle is the solution.
I don't know why, but I'm beginning to see patterns of self-punishment. At least for myself.
And the successful folks whom I look up to, seem to land on opportunities left right centre, like it's nothing. They work hard too though, but I never get a sense that they're seeking to struggle. In fact, very often it's the opposite – they seek to get away with less.
They don't require suffering to succeed.
On the other hand, I seem to get drawn to suffering for success.
*Do you feel this way too?*
The belief that you need to suffer to succeed.
I saw this on my social feeds the other day and it got me thinking:
> "...Making things hard, believing we need to suffer to achieve or succeed are all signs that we may be unconsciously living out patterns of self-punishment." - @sheleanaaiyana
Do I have a self-punishment tendency?
Is that why the success I seek eludes me?
Or why I always feel I won't achieve without some epic struggle?
An example:
I work hard for Lifelog. I do #100daysofmarketing. Write 100 blog posts in 100 days. And more. I chose the hard challenge, thinking with it, success will come. But most of the time, going hard on distribution makes sense if you're sure of the ROI. When in early stages, it's good to experiment and see which channel works. Smell around for the opportunity first. Be lazy, be opportunistic, be a flaneur. Yet I presumed whichever requires an epic struggle is the solution.
I don't know why, but I'm beginning to see patterns of self-punishment. At least for myself.
And the successful folks whom I look up to, seem to land on opportunities left right centre, like it's nothing. They work hard too though, but I never get a sense that they're seeking to struggle. In fact, very often it's the opposite – they seek to get away with less.
They don't require suffering to succeed.
On the other hand, I seem to get drawn to suffering for success.
*Do you feel this way too?*
Google Ads account reactivated! It was "temporarily suspended due to verify billing information and policy compliance" - what tf? 😡🤔
Scheduled weekly newsletter to publish on Saturday later today - https://jasonleow.substack.com/p/shipping-slow-as-an-indie-parent
Coaching client on their first design research interview
Just Day 2 and my Google Ads account was suspended! 😩 And I don't even know what I did wrong...
"What is an egregious violation?
An egregious violation of the Google Ads policies is a violation so serious that it is unlawful or poses significant harm to our users or our digital advertising ecosystem. Egregious violations often reflect that the advertiser's overall business does not adhere to Google Ads policies or that one violation is so severe that we cannot risk future exposure to our users. Given that egregious violations will result in immediate account suspension, upon detection and without prior warning, we limit these to cases when such action is the only effective method to adequately prevent illegal activity and/or significant user harm." – wow I feel like a criminal now
An egregious violation of the Google Ads policies is a violation so serious that it is unlawful or poses significant harm to our users or our digital advertising ecosystem. Egregious violations often reflect that the advertiser's overall business does not adhere to Google Ads policies or that one violation is so severe that we cannot risk future exposure to our users. Given that egregious violations will result in immediate account suspension, upon detection and without prior warning, we limit these to cases when such action is the only effective method to adequately prevent illegal activity and/or significant user harm." – wow I feel like a criminal now
💵 Sold yet another single license mobile navbar Carrd plugin (US$15 via Payhip-Stripe)...thanks sktourguide!
💵 Sold yet another single license testimonial slider Carrd plugin (US$15 via Payhip-Stripe)...thanks sktourguide!
Day 890 - Boldly go where I've never gone before - https://golifelog.com/posts/boldly-go-where-ive-never-gone-before-1686276748072
I just bought my first Google Ads campaign. It's a scary new channel to get into, and the complexity of it had always held me back. But I had a rush of inspiration yesterday, so quickly went and create an ad account and my first campaign. Sometimes, acting on inspiration is better.
As we're speaking, it's now live on Google, being shown to folks who are searching for "carrd". And I'm already past the daily estimated budget. Hopefully it will stay within the monthly budget of $100.
What's an interesting observation about myself to myself is how I'm now doing what I wouldn't usually do when I just started indie hacking. I distinctly recall having such thoughts:
*"Buying ads? That's lame. Or even annoying. I hate ads myself, why do I want to inflict that on others?*
That's my thinking then. And after indie hacking seriously for a few years, I can say that's pretty naive, definitely some form of youthful rebel idealism going on. Fact is, I've clicked on ads myself, *when they are done well, timely and relevant*. Those times I actually like the ads. I remember recently I clicked on an ad for reMarkable tablet. I wasn't looking for it specifically even, but was curious and clicked on it. Now i feel like I want one.
So ads is not the problem. It's just a tool. It's a problem when bad actors overdo it, spam ads in your face when you least expect it. Like a knife – you can use it in the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal for your family, or use it for murder. Same tool, different actors, vastly different use. When it's relevant and not done in a slimey, hardsell way, ads can be pretty useful.
Stepping back, I realised I've been trying many other things I wouldn't have tried. Like newsletter sponsorships. I once tried Twitter ads for Lifelog too, Facebook ads for my Grant Hunt social good project. I'm also trying other channels and platforms, like setting up a new Tumblr page to try it out as a distribution channel for my Carrd plugins. Or creating an affiliate programme on Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad to try affiliate word of mouth. Stuff that I never saw myself doing last year.
So it this personal growth (as an entrepreneur)?
As we're speaking, it's now live on Google, being shown to folks who are searching for "carrd". And I'm already past the daily estimated budget. Hopefully it will stay within the monthly budget of $100.
What's an interesting observation about myself to myself is how I'm now doing what I wouldn't usually do when I just started indie hacking. I distinctly recall having such thoughts:
*"Buying ads? That's lame. Or even annoying. I hate ads myself, why do I want to inflict that on others?*
That's my thinking then. And after indie hacking seriously for a few years, I can say that's pretty naive, definitely some form of youthful rebel idealism going on. Fact is, I've clicked on ads myself, *when they are done well, timely and relevant*. Those times I actually like the ads. I remember recently I clicked on an ad for reMarkable tablet. I wasn't looking for it specifically even, but was curious and clicked on it. Now i feel like I want one.
So ads is not the problem. It's just a tool. It's a problem when bad actors overdo it, spam ads in your face when you least expect it. Like a knife – you can use it in the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal for your family, or use it for murder. Same tool, different actors, vastly different use. When it's relevant and not done in a slimey, hardsell way, ads can be pretty useful.
Stepping back, I realised I've been trying many other things I wouldn't have tried. Like newsletter sponsorships. I once tried Twitter ads for Lifelog too, Facebook ads for my Grant Hunt social good project. I'm also trying other channels and platforms, like setting up a new Tumblr page to try it out as a distribution channel for my Carrd plugins. Or creating an affiliate programme on Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad to try affiliate word of mouth. Stuff that I never saw myself doing last year.
So it this personal growth (as an entrepreneur)?
🙈🙉🙊 Just set up my very first Google Ads campaign ever... What's one thing I should look out for as a total noob?
Google Drive storage clean-up... Or should I just sign up for paid Google One ($4/m) 🤔
Day 889 - Short term hype vs long term boring - https://golifelog.com/posts/short-term-hype-vs-long-term-boring-1686194500470
Sad fact is... Hypish products get attention. Boring products don't.
The peer pressure is a real thing. It's a daily struggle to ignore the influence.
[Dmytro](https://twitter.com/DmytroKrasun/status/1665720633441894400) about sums it up for everyone else without an AI product but too scared to say out loud:
> I didn't think that I could say it in public. But let it be. I join a party. They ask what I do? I am building a screenshot API. But everybody is building AI apps. They leave the chat... Not immediately, but you see it in their eyes. I don't understand why this emotion of zero interest from others drives me and what I do daily. Do you understand what I mean? It feels like I need to build an AI thing to impress people, not to solve problems but to get attention and show how "cool" I am. I am a bit ashamed of my current business. It is not hypish, not changing the world, and not super ambitious. One side of me says—it is terrific, keep going 🔥 Another side says—you are not ambitious enough, it is terrible 🫠 I keep going and don't quit 💪
AI is definitely doing the typical hype cycle through Twitter and the news. But anyone remember web3? NFTs? Clubhouse? Nope. Will it still be as hyped without the marketing machine pushing it? As it is, the hype seems to be burning itself out a little now. If it's on such unstable grounds, makes me wonder if all that effort going into building something is worthwhile, especially now that any sort of first mover advantage on the hype train is gone, and everyone and their mother is building wrapper apps for AI.
This is not to throw shade on AI makers, though. An opportunity to make money is an opportunity to make money, hype or not. If it's short term, it's a chance to get rich off it quickly and move on to something else later. No saying it's bad *per se*, just whether it's worthwhile for me personally to pursue.
One thing I find solace in is the Lindy effect. The longer something is around, the longer it will be expected to be around, like how Nassim Taleb defined it in his book *Antifragile*:
> If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives another decade, then it will be expected to be in print another fifty years. This, simply, as a rule, tells you why things that have been around for a long time are not "aging" like persons, but "aging" in reverse. Every year that passes without extinction doubles the additional life expectancy. This is an indicator of some robustness. The robustness of an item is proportional to its life!
The ones around longest are usually “boring”, yet they are still around because they provide long term value.
*Short term hype vs long term value – which is your preferred approach?*
The peer pressure is a real thing. It's a daily struggle to ignore the influence.
[Dmytro](https://twitter.com/DmytroKrasun/status/1665720633441894400) about sums it up for everyone else without an AI product but too scared to say out loud:
> I didn't think that I could say it in public. But let it be. I join a party. They ask what I do? I am building a screenshot API. But everybody is building AI apps. They leave the chat... Not immediately, but you see it in their eyes. I don't understand why this emotion of zero interest from others drives me and what I do daily. Do you understand what I mean? It feels like I need to build an AI thing to impress people, not to solve problems but to get attention and show how "cool" I am. I am a bit ashamed of my current business. It is not hypish, not changing the world, and not super ambitious. One side of me says—it is terrific, keep going 🔥 Another side says—you are not ambitious enough, it is terrible 🫠 I keep going and don't quit 💪
AI is definitely doing the typical hype cycle through Twitter and the news. But anyone remember web3? NFTs? Clubhouse? Nope. Will it still be as hyped without the marketing machine pushing it? As it is, the hype seems to be burning itself out a little now. If it's on such unstable grounds, makes me wonder if all that effort going into building something is worthwhile, especially now that any sort of first mover advantage on the hype train is gone, and everyone and their mother is building wrapper apps for AI.
This is not to throw shade on AI makers, though. An opportunity to make money is an opportunity to make money, hype or not. If it's short term, it's a chance to get rich off it quickly and move on to something else later. No saying it's bad *per se*, just whether it's worthwhile for me personally to pursue.
One thing I find solace in is the Lindy effect. The longer something is around, the longer it will be expected to be around, like how Nassim Taleb defined it in his book *Antifragile*:
> If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives another decade, then it will be expected to be in print another fifty years. This, simply, as a rule, tells you why things that have been around for a long time are not "aging" like persons, but "aging" in reverse. Every year that passes without extinction doubles the additional life expectancy. This is an indicator of some robustness. The robustness of an item is proportional to its life!
The ones around longest are usually “boring”, yet they are still around because they provide long term value.
*Short term hype vs long term value – which is your preferred approach?*