5/ One child is basically a certain fraction of no-strings/no-preset-budget time/quality attention allocation for rest of life
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6/ Memetic children have higher infant mortality rate, but the principle is the same. I'd guess one childbirth (for men)= writing 3 books
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7/ Not all projects are ambition vehicles, or comparable to children. Close-ended projects with end date are not like children.
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8/ The reason a book is like a child is that *if* it succeeds enough, it is an indefinite demand on your attention
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9/ A flop book, or a mercenary/tactical book for which you have no ambitions beyond a seasonal fad harvest is like an child that dies young
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10/ More calibration. An ordinary startup is like 1 child. If it grows into unicorn, it's like 3-4 kids for the founder if they stay with it
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11/ Political ambitions I think are higher. A local election bid is like 1 child if you win. National-level is like 2. President=10
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12/ The trick to baby equivalent things is that *if* they succeed, they demand particular levels of attention/commitment for rest of life
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13/ So we actually bring the same kind of thinking to managing ambition as we do to child-rearing and ask similar questions
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14/ How much will it cost? Is it sick? Will it go to college? How many can I afford to have?
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16/ Merely making money is a close-ended problem to be solved, whether your horizon is the next month, the next year or retirement stash
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17/ A baby or baby-equivalent though is an open-ended commitment where it only makes sense if you are willing to plan for success
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