Conversation

Replying to
8/ The reason a book is like a child is that *if* it succeeds enough, it is an indefinite demand on your attention
3
9
Replying to
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
1
2
Replying to
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
2
5
Replying to
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
1
4
Replying to
12/ The trick to baby equivalent things is that *if* they succeed, they demand particular levels of attention/commitment for rest of life
1
8
Replying to
13/ So we actually bring the same kind of thinking to managing ambition as we do to child-rearing and ask similar questions
1
2
Replying to
15/ Answering my own q about why we lower sights through life in general if we're not winning egregiously, baby-economics provides answer
1
2
Replying to
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
1
Replying to
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
1
4
Replying to
19/ Similarly, close-ended "3x flip in 2 years" startup logic doesn't work for same reason "have baby and kill it at age 3" doesn't work
1
3
Replying to
20/ So ambition is best understood as your personal process of budgeting for *open-ended* commitments through life, predicated on success
1
17
Show replies