A strange experience

 I had a strange experience last night.

I'd been working on a personal project and ended up going to sleep around midnight.

I was dead tired, so fell asleep quickly.

The next thing I recall is waking up because of some noise that sounded like a pigeon flapping.

Still sleepy, I realized that, yeah, something was actually flying around the little studio apartment.

So, I turned on the bedside lamp.

And saw a bat flying in circles above me.

I was dumbfounded.

"I love bats!"

"But, they carry diseases like rabies."

"How cool to see one so close."

"But, what if it bites me or poops on something?"

"How did it get in here, anyways?"

"Should I open the window? Maybe it'll fly out."

So, I just laid there. Watching the bat fly in circles over and over.

The bat seemed as dumbfounded as me.

Then, it landed on the cupboards above the studio's kitchenette.

It struggled to get it's footing for a second. Then, it squeezed into the tiny gap between the top of the cupboards and the ceiling.

I didn't realize bats were so small when not flying. Like the size of a little mouse. Like the size of my thumb.

The bat slowly crawled from one end of cupboard top to the other.

And, once it reached the other end, it retreated deeper into the tiny space and disappeared.

Maybe the gap between the top of the cupboards and the ceiling was tighter at the end it landed on and it didn't fit inside.

Either way, I just laid there. Still sleepy. Still trying to process the situation.

Did this really just happen?

Was the whole bat situation just a dream?

I got out of bed. Cautiously, because I wasn't sure if the bat might come and start flying around the room again.

There's nowhere the bat could've gotten into the room from. Unless someone who stayed here before me left the window open at night.

But... bats are tiny.

What if bats live in the walls of the building?

Am I crazy? Did I just dream this all up?

I timidly opened the cupboard doors, half expecting a bat to fly out into my face.

Nothing.

On the ceiling of the cupboard the bat disappeared above, I saw a vent. A little mesh screen on the cupboard ceiling. And behind it, a deeper hole fading into the internals of the building itself, allowing heat and steam and oil from the stove top to disappear into the dark.

Despite being unsure about whether I wanted to be in the vulnerable state of sleep, I quickly settled back into it.

This morning, I still questioned whether it'd been a dream.

After fully waking up, I took a sturdy chair from the dining table and placed it in front of the cupboards.

I climbed up and squinted to see into the gap between the cupboards and the ceiling.

Darkness.

Then, shining the flashlight from my phone into it, I confirmed it wasn't a dream.

The little thumb of a bat receded from the light, shuffling off to who knows where.

All it left behind is doubt.

Do I tell the apartment's owner? Would she believe me?

Even if she did, what could she do about it?

Maybe I should block the gap between the cupboards and the ceiling.

But, what if the bat just flew in the window at some point and got stuck?

Life is surreal.

Startup Weekend: Still my favorite event

For a long time, hackathons were my pastime.

What's a hackathon?

Basically, an event where the objective is to build and launch a new product or business in 1-2 days.

So, while others spent their weekend doing things like sports and art, I spent mine coming up with business ideas and trying to make them a reality.

Then, in mid-2016, I joined a startup. And I couldn't set aside weekends to go to hackathons anymore.

(Actually, I did manage to squeeze one into 2017.)

Between work and COVID shutting down in-person events, I haven't been to a hackathon since.

Well, this past weekend I broke that streak.

Startup Weekend

About a month ago, I was thrilled to learn that my favorite hackathon, Startup Weekend, was scheduled to happen in the nearby city of San Salvador, Jujuy.

Startup Weekend is an event where participants:

1. Gather on Friday night
2. Pick business ideas and form teams around them
3. Refine the business idea and try to launch it during the weekend
4. Pitch the results of the work on Sunday evening

I was even more excited when I convinced my wife to participate, too. She'd have a chance to share in an experience that's given me so many valuable to learnings and memories.

I've written about my experience at Startup Weekend before.

But, this was my 17th Startup Weekend. And, the first after a 7 years gap.

So, I felt like it was worth reflecting on.

The experience

One of the reasons I wanted to write about this particular experiences is because it was a unique one for me.

It's the first Startup Weekend I've been to that wasn't in English.

Startup Weekend generally kicks off with people lining up to give 60-second pitches for new businesses they'd like to create.

Over time, I've gotten pretty comfortable doing quick idea pitches.

But, this was the first time I had to do it in Spanish.

In fact, it was the first time I'd spoken in front of any audience in Spanish.

So, I was pretty nervous.

Would I be able to finds the words to describe my idea?

Would people understand my accent?

Well, I got past my fear. And, I'm pretty sure at least like 80% of the people understood my accent.

So, that was a big win for me, even in just the first hours of the event. ✅

My wife pitched an idea too. Like me, she was nervous. But, more because she'd never pitched a business idea to a crowd at all.

Regardless, she did it and presented like pro.

Her idea ended up getting the 2nd most number of votes when everyone chose which ideas they were most interested in working on.

So, it was turned turned into one of the official project for the weekend.

From there, she formed a team. Then, led the team through the process of developing the idea and pitching it to a panel of judges Sunday night.

(I had the luck of being allowed onto the team. 😉)

Startup Weekend, across cultures

This event was a great opportunity to see Startup Weekend in action in a country and culture different from the one I grew up in.

Amazing thing: It brought out all the same passion and excitement I've seen at every Startup Weekend.

That was what I'd expected. But, it's one thing to expect it and another experience it first-hand.

As always, I:

1. Met awesome people
2. Learned new things
3. Grew from the process of trying to accomplish something challenging in a short time

I also saw something I've never seen in any hackathon, work environment, or elsewhere.

Two teammates worked 100% from their mobile phones.

They did research, website design, and created our pitch deck.

And the quality they delivered was beyond what most people deliver on a full laptop.

It blew my mind.

If you'd told me a week ago was I was going to witness, I'd have told you I'll believe it when I see it.

Well, now I've seen it.

New lessons

Here're a couple key take-aways for me.

A couple of them're things I've noticed before, but still need to improve on.

A couple are new insights.

1. Cut corners and get the job done

I have perfectionist tendencies. This slows me down when I need to be moving fast.

I think that over time, I've gotten better at tuning it up and down. But, it remains a challenge for me.

There were numerous points during the event where I realized I was obsessing over details and made myself let go.

But, the moment that stands out the most is a point where my wife asked me, "why don't you use a no-code tool?"

Honestly, the idea hadn't occurred to me.

It was like a splash of cold water that brought me to my senses.

Here I was, struggling with an unfamiliar technology that kept breaking.

Once I'd started down that path, I began obsessing over fixing the issues with the technology instead of whether I was using the best technology for the job that needed to be done.

I lost perspective on the most important thing. Which was simply to deliver something sufficient to demonstrate the concept.

My wife's insight saved me from failing to deliver.

2. Don't take your experience for granted; be patient with others

There're a couple key lessons that form core of what Startup Weekend teaches us.

These're things like validating assumptions, identifying problems before building solutions, etc.

I've spent so much time thinking about and practicing these that they've come to feel natural.

Which makes it important for me to remember the mental toll I paid to practice these new ways of thinking.

And, to be aware that others around me may be paying that mental toll now.

So, when it feels like the team's talking in circles, it's likely not with the intent to disagree.

It's more likely the act of processing these new ways of thinking.

3. Sometimes, your area of deepest expertise isn't where your attention's needed

I was the only person on the team with substantial technical experience.

So, that's where I focused my energy.

After some initial team conversations set our direction, I went into my own little bubble to focus on setting up the foundations of the tech we'd need to demo the concept.

I thought the rest of the team would work through any blockers they ran into and continually identify a path forward.

But on the morning of the final day of the event, I found that the rest of the team was frustrated and stuck on a couple issues they couldn't get past.

Tensions were high and they weren't having fun.

I felt a sense of obligation to deliver in the area where I have specialized knowledge. But, I also realized at that point that it wasn't the most valuable contribution I could make to the team.

The most valuable thing I could do at that moment was to reintegrate into team discussions.

So, I closed my laptop recognizing that there was a high probability I wouldn't deliver what I'd originally promised.

On one hand, I felt like I was letting the team down. On the other, I felt like something else was more important.

4. When it comes to human decisions, sometimes you'll never know if you did the right thing

I don't know if separating myself out from the team was the wrong thing to do.

The main reason for doing it was that the biggest source of my own learning was struggling through the process.

I wanted to let the team have their own experience and fully capture the value it creates.

But, I don't know if separating myself out from the team was the right thing to do, either.

Maybe I could've helped make the experience less stressful without taking away from the benefit.

Either way, in the end, team was elated, proud, and eager to participate in future events.

So, things worked out.

But, I'll never know whether some alternative set of choices would've led to more ideal short and long-term outcomes.

I have to live with never knowing whether I did the right thing.

5. When faced with uncertainty, we latch onto whatever we can make sense of

At one point, a teammate was very, very insistent on coming up with a detailed and precise list of costs for the business.

Multiple mentors gave feedback that the numbers were variable and estimates should be reasonable, not precise.

But, the response was, "yeah, but how much does X cost?"

It occurred to me that this's a form of what's known as "bike shedding".

That is, when faced with complexity, we tend to spend excess time on the parts that make sense to us, but aren't very important.

Business models are loaded with complexity and uncertainty.

So, it's natural to want to spend time on parts that're easy to make sense of (like costs), even though they might not be the most important thing at the moment.

If your team's bike shedding, what do you do?

Do you fight to convince them the issue they're obsessing over isn't important?

At some point, that just becomes as much of a waste of time as the bike shedding itself.

I find it can be more productive to just help them arrive at an answer they're happy with as quickly as possible. Then, move on.

6. Even if you know all the details, it doesn't mean you'll present them well

After re-joining discussions about the business model, I built up an understanding of it in my head.

I knew who the customers were, I had a very clear picture of the problems they faced, and I understood what value we could provide them.

I knew how we could deliver that value and ways we could make money in doing so.

Each team member took turns pitching the business to mentors who stopped by our workspace.

When my turn came, I thought it'd be a breeze.

But while making the pitch, I quickly realized I was rambling.

I was talking and talking and using way more words than necessary to get the point across. And, I lost the attention of the audience in the process.

I realized that despite the information being all there in my head, it didn't come out in the well-organized manner I'd have liked it to.

Presenting an idea effectively requires organization and practice. No matter how well you know the material.

7. ChatGPT is an amazing sidekick

As mentioned, I continually ran into blockers with the technology I was working with.

It was frustrating.

But, I was also amazed by how fast I was able to resolve them with help from ChatGPT.

Most of the time, ChatGPT didn't have the solution. But working with it got me there _at least_ 2-3 times faster than reading technical documentaiton and researching via Google.

Modern tech allows a single person to move at shocking speeds. _Especially_, when dealing with unfamiliar technologies.

Productivity gains for AI aren't years out. They're here today.

It's only going to accelerate from here.

Old lessons

Some learnings show up on repeat at Startup Weekend events.

And, as expected, they showed up in full force at this one.

1. Recognize assumptions:

Sometimes, we believe something because it feels correct. Other times, we believe something because we have substantial concrete evidence supporting it. It's critical to differentiate these two situations. The less concrete evidence we have, the higher the risk of being wrong. If we build a business on an incorrect assumption, the odds of the business failing are very high. We increase the odds of success by recognizing which beliefs are based on feeling and seeking concrete evidence to validate those beliefs. Each time we determine a belief was incorrect and we modify it to more accurately reflect reality, we increase the likelihood that our project succeeds.

2. Prioritize the biggest risk:

Businesses are made up of a variety of interacting parts. So when we create a new one, we start out with a lot of assumptions. Each assumption carries risk to the business's success. Some assumptions are more important to the business than others. The more important an assumption, the more risk it poses to the business's success. Since our time and resources are limited, we need to make sure to prioritize working on whatever risk is biggest at any given moment. If we spend time working on lower-risk items, there's a good chance that time ends up having being wasted when a higher-risk item forces us to change direction.

3. Verify there's a problem that needs solving:

Businesses are built on an exchange of value. Businesses solve a problem for customers and, in exchange, customers give businesses money. So, to create a new business, we first need to find a customer: Someone with an problem painful enough that they're willing to pay us to solve it. Whether or not customers exist is the biggest risk we face when creating a new business. So, the most important thing we can do to increase our chances of success is go out and verify assumptions we have about the customer.

4. Interviews over surveys:

The process of creating a new business is: assume -> gather information -> revise assumptions -> repeat. Since it's an iterative, exploratory process, one of our best tools for information gathering is interviewing candidate customers. It's natural to want to use surveys instead of interviews because they let us avoid the emotional labor of talking to strangers (and possible rejection). But, surveys are made up of a fixed set of questions. They're rigid. Interviews, on the other hand, are flexible. They allow us to modify the questions we ask based on what a person's told us so far. So, at when creating a new business, a well-run interview will give us much more useful information than a well-run survey.

5. Know the difference between delivering value and delivering a solution:

Delivering value means resolving a customer's problem. A solution is the way in which that value's delivered. There're lots of ways to deliver value. Each way has its strengths and weaknesses. In everyday life, we're used to buying goods and services that have years of development behind them. It's easy to overlook that when a person has an unsolved problem, they often just want any solution that solves the problem. They don't need something that has years of development behind it. When creating a new business, one of our scarcest resources is time. So, we minimize risk by choosing a solution that solves the problem, but takes minimal time to develop. The solution'll probably be ugly. But it's only worth spending time and money on making it beautiful if we're able to concretely verify that customers need that from us.

6. The process follows an undefined path:

When creating a new business, we're performing a process that involves constant modification of direction. By definition, the path we'll end up traveling is unknown at the start. That uncertainty often creates emotional stress. But, it doesn't have to. When we recognize the nature of the process, we become more emotionally resilient. It helps to avoid becoming fixated on arriving at some destination defined by initial assumptions. It's much less stressful to focus on just figuring out what the next step should be, based on what we learned up to this point. In the end, it's the journey that's rewarding rather than arriving at some specific destination.

7. You don't have to do exactly what people tell you to:

Just like we don't know where our journey will take us, others don't either. At events like Startup Weekend, we get bombarded with information and people telling us we need to do one thing or another. I can't count the number of times I've seen authoritative figures, like mentors, give conflicting advice. The first says "go left", while the second says "go right". Then a third comes along and disorients you by convincing you that you need to forget left and right and think about up and down instead. If we rigidly adhere to what they tell us, we'll constantly end up back at zero, never making progress. It's critical for us to recognize that advice is opinion. Remember that we're the ones talking with candidate customers. We're the ones becoming experts on our business. Advice is tremendously useful, but we have to evaluate whether it helps us progress or throws us into a tailspin.

8. It's only a weekend:

It won't feel like it, but the stakes at Startup Weekend are extremely low. The first night of the event gets us excited as we meet new people, share ideas, and form teams to compete with one another. But, don't forget that when the event's over and Monday rolls around, we all go back to our regular lives. The stress of preparing a pitch for Sunday will be gone. The arguments between teammates will be gone. The mental pressure of thinking in a way we're not used to will be gone. So, try not to stress. Try not to take things personally when there's disagreement on the team. Focus on learning something new, making new friends, and having fun. Of course, when Monday rolls around, hopefully you not only leave the stressful stuff behind, but also carry the good stuff forward. New friends, new ways to thinking, etc. You might find that your life's a little before than it was before you participated in the event.

9. Judging doesn't make your concept good or bad:

Another thing that happens over and over in these events is that we all become focused on "winning". We follow a checklist for what the judges are looking for and forget that we're really there to learn how to create a new business. Having event "winners" is just a tool to motivate participants. I'm on the fence of whether it causes more harm than good. Either way, it's in everyone's best interest to remember that feedback from judges is neither validation or invalidation of your business idea. It's feedback. Just like with mentors and other authority figures, it's something to consider. If you really believe there's a business opportunity, what matters is that you're able to continue runnning the entrepreneurial process. Winners of Startup Weekend _almost never_ continue on to build a business. But, lots of people who don't win the event go on to build functional businesses. It feels good to "win" and it feels bad to not win. But, try not to give whatever situation you find yourself in too much of your emotional energy.

Just for fun

While working on this post, I made a list of all the hackathon projects I could recall working on over the years.

Here're a few of them:

• (2012) Civic Rally: A web app enabling local communities to publicize and collaborate on local projects.
• (2013) TimeTravelFM: A physical radio with a dial to change the era of the music played.
• (2014) French75: A mobile app to purchase and schedule in-home manicures.
• (2015) Push-to-rent: A web app making it easy to find and apply for affordable housing.
• (2016) CSV-to-API: A web service that makes the data from spreadsheets accessible to any app.
• (2017) BabyBooks: An app to that generates age-appropriate books for young children.
• (2024) EvenTesoro: An app that makes it easy to find local events and ensures you never miss one you'd regret missing.

If I don't push on good days, the bad days'll be that much harder

I have a routine of jogging and doing body-weight exercises.

Some days are good, and some are bad.

Monday was bad.

I felt it from the outset.

I didn't want to go and had to drag myself out the door.

As I got going, I was out of breath. With every step, I just wanted to lay down and sleep. I felt sick in my stomach. I felt like vomiting.

But, today? Today was good.

It wasn't one of those superman days, but I was ready and eager to exercise.

As I got going, I felt strong, alert, capable.

I enjoyed the jog. I loved the ease with which it came to me.

And then, in the middle of it all, it occurred to me:

I should be pushing myself.

I should be pushing myself on the good days, because if I don't, the bad days'll be that much harder.

So, I did.

I pushed until I was out of breath. Until my stomach was upset and my arms were dead.

In the end, I arrived home tired, but happy. Still feeling good.

There're a lot of times I don't want to push.

Sometimes, it's because I feel bad. Sometimes, it's because I feel good.

Either way, I do.

I keep running when I feel like I'm gonna vomit. I keep fighting to understand when I feel hopelessly stupid. I keep going, even though a voice in my head keeps telling me I'm nothing but worthless shit.

If I didn't push on the good days, I'd have nothing to keep my head above water on the bad days.

Super short story: When the music stops

This is a short story I wrote at some point in a (physical) notepad I carry with me. I most likely wrote it sometime in 2023.

They say that when you die, you know you're dead because you can't hear music anymore.

That night, the wind blew outside Walter and Claire's old house.

The wind chime tinkled, sweet in their ears, as they sat at their kitchen table, silently keeping one another company.

"How are you, Walter?"

Walter remain silent.

He slowly looked up at Claire with a sad look.

"Do you hear that, Claire?"

"No, Walter. What is it?"

"The wind chime. It stopped."

Claire looked deep into Walter's eyes.

Walter slowly drew back his chair.

He paused a moment, then stood up.

"Well, Claire, I'd best be going now."

"I know, Walter."

Walter started towards the door.

He'd always had a spritely step. Pit pat, pit pat, as he danced across the floor.

But, now, it was slow and tired.

Walter took the door handle gently, turned it, and drew the door open.

The air was still now.

Walter gave a deep sigh.

"I'd best be going now."

As Walter placed one foot out the door, he paused.

He turned to look back at Claire.

"Do you hear that, Claire?"

"What is it, Walter?"

Walter was silent for a moment, lost in a stare.

Then, a smile spread over his face.

"It's beautiful."

Note to self: Awe in the mundane

This is another note I found when looking through a (physical) notepad I carry with me. I most likely wrote it sometime in 2023.

Seeing the colosseum in-person was a dream.

Growing up, history classes taught that it was the center of social life in a great empire. Events we can hardly imagine today were commonplace. It was the seat of glory, spectacle, and masculinity. It's the kind of place young boys fantasize about. And, honestly, fully grown men, too.

People speak of it being awe-inspiring. They say its presence is imposing. They say its connection with legends is energizing. When people visit, they stick out their fists and give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, assuming the power to seal some gladiator's fate. Others stand in the arena sand and raise their arms in victory, imagining the raucous crowd adoring them.

I don't know what's happened to me in the years since my youth.

When I saw the colosseum in-person, I wasn't filled with awe.

In fact, I didn't even feel moved enough to go inside.

Maybe it was the dense crowd of tourists all around.

There just wan't any adventure to it. There wasn't any excitement.

I love history. It blows my mind how the events of the past brought us into the present.

So, why didn't I feel anything when I stood in front of this hallowed place?

It felt disconnected. It felt static.

Maybe it was because I've traveled and seen different parts of the world at this point. Maybe the novelty of certain things just wears off.

Maybe it has to do with where I place value. Glory has its appeal, but not in the way it once did. I'm much more interested in the complexities of living and what it means to be human. In the seemingly mundane struggles of day-to-day life.

I'm also more interested in action. I'm interested in exploring and discovering. I like an element of uncertainty. I'm animated by the excitement of discovery and learning.

Note to self: I want to live for the journey, not the destination

I found this written on a notepad I use to keep notes. I'm not sure exactly when I wrote it, but it was probably in 2023 or early 2024, based on when when I bought the notepad.

My mission in life is to live it as a journey and not a destination.

To appreciate every tree, every stone, and every bug that I cross on the path.

To continually grow in my acceptance of myself as who I am.

To consistently seek balance in all things.

And, in the end, to able to say, "We sure did have a good time, didn't we?"

The 22 Pixar Storytelling Rules: My 7 favorites

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

Ever since I first saw superman, flying was my jam.

But once I started dealing with puberty, mind reading nabbed top spot.

Then, in 2014, I was at a conference. I was very much an adult. And, the question came up as an ice breaker.

Maybe I lost something of the magic of childhood. But, now, I wanted something that could actually exist. Something I could actually attain.

So, I narrowed the question: "if I could have any ability without spending years to achieve it, what would it be?"

My answer: To be the best storyteller in the world.

Storytelling is a real-world power.

It connects people. It unites people. It gets things done. It's the fuel for accomplishing impossible things.

So, whenever I hear about storytelling, I pay attention.

For example, I was recently listening to an interview of Shaan Puri called "How to Master Storytelling". And, this tip struck me:

"The hero doesn't have to win. The audience loves the hero for the way they try."

What an insight!

He mentioned it was from The 22 Pixar Storytelling Rules.

It's a great guide. Worth a full read.

But, here're the ones I love most (paraphrased):

1. [Rule 1] We love the hero more for trying than for succeeding.
   Our lives are characterized by the struggles we go through. Since we can't control the outcomes, it's the fight that's noble. Stories are really just simulations of life. And, like in real life, it's the hero's willingness to fight that touches us. Not necessarily the outcome.
   
   
2. [Rule 2] Make it interesting for the audience, not the storyteller.
   Telling a story is an attempt to deliver a message. If the message isn't received, we've failed. Obviously, we can't force others to receive our message. So, we need to make it something they want to receive. The only way to do that is to always be thinking from their perspective.
   
   
3. [Rule 6] What’s your hero most comfortable with? Put them through the polar opposite.
   If the hero's always comfortable, there's no struggle. If there's no struggle, there's no story. Know your hero's comfort zone and make them struggle.
   
   
4. [Rule 13] Give your characters strong opinions. Flexibility kills audience interest.
   We decide how much to engage with others by looking at how much their opinions align our own. If someone doesn't have any strong opinions, we don't really feel much about them. Except maybe indifference. And indifference is the fastest way to lose someone's interest.
   
   
5. [Rule 15] Put yourself in your characters' place. Be authentic about how it'd feel.
   If the hero's feelings or reactions aren't things we'd experience in their place, we won't be able to put ourselves in their position. If we can't put ourselves in their position, we're not going to care much about how the story goes. As an added bonus, if we can put ourselves in their position, we're willing to suspend disbelief in other dimensions (like living in a world of where superpowers exist).
   
   Bonus points: In the interview of Shaan Puri, he advises that we shouldn't tell stories by saying what happened. Instead, we should show how it felt.
   
   
6. [Rule 16] Make sure what's at risk for the hero is obvious. Then, stack the odds against them.
   If nothing's at risk, the struggle doesn't matter. So, giving the audience the context for what's at risk is important. Likewise, if the odds of success are high, there's no struggle. Low odds of success create the struggle.
   
   
7. [Rule 19] Use coincidences to get characters into trouble. Don't use coincidences get characters out of trouble.
   We've all experienced unfortunate surprises. We get fired, we get in an accident, someone close to us dies. On the other hand, it's not common that the issues these things cause are resolved by coincidences. Resolving problems with coincidences is lazy storytelling. It destroys believability. It makes an invested audience feel deceived.
   

I hope you find the pointers as insightful as I did!

Happy storytelling!