It’s been an eventful two weeks and a lot has happened under the hood.
I’ll keep this one relatively brief:
I found and early validated an idea I’ve committed to building.
I went back to my college five year reunion.
I connected / reconnected with at least 10 people who are either doing or on their way to doing really cool things.
Finding an idea
Candidly speaking, I don’t love this idea searching process.
It’s not just because we hear all about the classic “It’s not about the idea it’s about the execution” line that makes you wonder if the idea even remotely matters. It’s also because the constant contradictions you hear from others between going after opportunities that are either 1) easier to start or 2) easier to get customers or 3) your lifelong passion.
There seems to be so much information overload and opinionated founders / ex-operators / keynote speakers in the market that it makes heeding advice much tougher than it seems. Good ol’ selection paralysis.
The issue with me at least seems to be I’m both overly analytical and overly pessimistic. This in practice gives life to the Shiny Object Syndrome, where you hop from idea to idea because they start off as an amazing concept, and as you look more into it or do a bit more research, it becomes more lackluster. Then you move on to the next, and the next, and so on.
It seems that the fact that I know more than just how to build something or can get connected to people who work in the space makes it harder to build conviction towards an idea. Because you’ll inevitably find a reason to shoot it down.
Fortunately for me that came to an end (knock on wood) recently.
I’ve been trying to ramp up my run mileage and wanted to get personalized feedback on my runs. I started using Nike Run Club for its audio guided run (AGR) features, but was quickly shocked at 1) how unreliable and basic the app is and 2) how it knows practically nothing about the runner (me) aside from distance and time.
Long story short, I had an “epiphany” that I’ve always been obsessed with fitness, health and nutrition related subjects since childhood, and it’s been the only area in my life where even if nobody pays me to do it, I’d still go out there and spend hours researching and learning about it.
I did some super scrappy validations on different forums about my idea, got a bunch of email signups on an interest form, and even someone who said they’d be interested in paying for what I’m saying.
Oddly, that feels enough for me for now. In the next few weeks I’ll be working on a proof of concept app and testing it on myself. I’ll also be spinning up a basic landing page soon to further validate my idea and try to see if I can get more feedback / early users.
I’ll share more in due time!
Reunion Weekend
This one is quick because honestly I thought it was just fine. A few awesome’s and meh’s.
Awesome’s
Going back to see our house, and meeting the class of 2024 graduates who now live there, was fantastic. It felt surreal that five years have gone by and yet walking in that building felt like just yesterday.
It was great to reconnect with a few people I rubbed elbows with but wasn’t close to. Fascinating that we now connect over drastically different topics and goals.
Fishtown is a very pretty neighborhood: Full of life, good food, and relaxing ambience. I regretted not going there more during college.
Meh’s
Small talks are increasingly less tolerable. If we couldn’t move past the basic points of location, status, and job conversation within a few minutes, I tapped out.
It wasn’t particularly exciting to see the people I forgot existed. Pretty obvious, but still weird to feel in person.
It was a nostalgic experience for sure, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. I’d rather look forward to the new experiences and maintain those friendships I cherish already than stare back at the rat races I tried so hard jumping out of.
Maybe in another five years when we’re more out of the game of comparing status and accomplishments, it would be refreshing to see where people’s journeys have taken them. In my opinion, five years hasn’t made a big enough difference for the majority of us yet.
New Connections
Partly due to my shiny object syndrome, partly due to the newfound idea, and partly due to just working alone most of the time, I started to put myself out there to meet new people.
Aside from the reunion weekend, in the past two weeks I met or reconnected with at least 10-15 people through interviewing them as potential customers, helping them with their business ideas, or learning more about the running space in run clubs and 1:1 calls.
This new experience both excites and surprises me in a few ways.
I’m surprised people are often willing to hop on a zoom call with a total stranger and help them out. People are more generous than I previously thought.
I’m excited about a lot of these new connections. I’ve talked to a few people who have really awesome ideas, walked very interesting walks of lives, and are nerds into areas I never knew much about like health biomarkers, crypto exchanges, and sports betting. I walk away from some of these chats with notes on what I need to do more research on and that feeling is amazing.
I’m surprised by the number of people who asked if I’d be interested in partnering up. Maybe it’s a courtesy play or an olive branch to keep conversations alive, but nonetheless I found it shocking to hear that from someone I talk to for the first time. Maybe others consistently see something in me that I haven’t seen in myself yet? I’d never know but it’s pretty cool.
Being an extrovert working alone, all of this gives me immense joy.
Thanks for reading!
JZ, May 27, 2024