Summer Recap

Oct 01, 2024

Summer 2024 went pretty hard, all things considered.

First summer since 2015 to not have a job (just realized, damn).

First summer where I seriously thought about what I valued.

First summer to feel like I have all the time in the world yet none at all simultaneously.

Spun up my own prod backend, mobile app distribution, and dev environments in July (less impressive than it sounds, but cool nonetheless).
Met a few potential cofounders and did explorations alongside them ranging from topics in hedge funds, data, dev tools, commercial real estate energy management and integrated health.
Read 3 textbooks on the hedge fund industry and 2 on data engineering in August. Found out I love the zero sum game and technicality of trading for it to be a backup career, but not enough to serve fintech people at my own peril and suffering.
Did a work trial with a YC founder and worked on a data product. Got my feet wet with a handful of new tech in the span of 48 hours, and realized I am much much more capable as a technical person than I perceive myself to be.
Miami evening long run

Everybody is winging it, even second or third time founders. Some just puff their chests up more than others.
I get along exceedingly well with people who are willing to admit their shortcomings but are absolute units when it comes to making up for it.
Many founders who claim venture scale is superior don’t actually understand why (might be chasing the status hype), but those who favor cashflow businesses do (they need it, ASAP).
A TON of people claim their passion (in terms of company building) is some area of their work experience. I think most confuse the term “passion” with “skillset” — i.e. the only things they’ve done. Anecdotally, I’m not passionate about almost all of the work I’ve done, I just happened to be/get good at some of them to have an advantage in them. Though they might be onto something about more experiences expanding the field of view to see aspects that they COULD be passionate about.
Sadly, I’m not currently passionate about anything thanks to the incessant hamster wheel of achievement chasing since high school. Better to put it in writing than lying to myself. So I’m focusing on expanding that realm of possibilities by going incredibly deep on a couple of areas.
I do in fact want a cofounder, it’s a lot more enjoyable for me personally.

Uncertainty is the norm in the new circle. Met a bunch of people on different levels of the grind: a fintech exec/ex-founder who left his unicorn job to try to hit 9 figures on a new idea, a funded CEO who spent over a year in pivot hell, a founder who work-trialed with 4 different people on an idea they’ve been thinking about for a year.
I enjoyed learning new things this summer. Though I’d rather be narrowly focused on a smaller set of problems, I’ve learned more this summer in both technical and industry knowledge than I ever did.
Not sprinting just to get anything right now is okay. Met many people who “succeeded” but are unhappy because they didn’t actually care about the work that brought them success. Gave me reassurance that my slow game to learning what I actually care about could save years of regret later.

Went to watch the US Open and saw people fighting for wins in what they love. It was inspiring (rip Alcaraz and Osaka).
Got invited to join South Park Commons on the notion of having “very strong horsepower and willing to make quick changes”. Optimistic on meeting some people who are also figuring it out. Optimistic on it helping me stay here long term.
Went to Newport for a weekend trip. Ate lobster rolls and ran along a cliff, nice!
Incredibly grateful to have the privilege to take extended time to decide and act on my future without worrying about feeding and housing myself. This is my most unfair advantage against new grads and industry veterans, and possibly the most freedom I’ll ever get.

Finding fulfillment by Jason Cohen
- Analysis on what drives us by a technical founder
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- Depiction of a chaotic generation and how life experiences shape choices and priorities
Inside the Black Box by Rishi Narang
- How quant trading works at a mid-level abstraction
How to Get Focused by Taylor Pearson
- A guide on how to combine goals and vision
This quote from Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
- A literal astronomical view on things
“Would you want to be the Jesus H Christ of this problem space, and trade your own suffering to make something happen?” (paraphrased, by a potential cofounder)
- Litmus test on deciding if you want to go big on something

Thanks for reading,

Oct 1, 2024

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