Startup fails, leaving $30k of debt.
Unable to get job, move into parent’s house.
Fail to launch first consulting client’s website.
I’m not where I want to be.
No job after 50+ applications.
Move to San Francisco, live on couches for 4 months.
Underestimate client’s project, paid below minimum wage per hour.
I’m not where I want to be.
Run out of money in San Francisco, move back home.
Part-time startup job in San Francisco runs out of money after 3 months.
Interview for more jobs, get denied from them all.
I’m not where I want to be.
Receive an…
I want to become a better product maker. This ‘Making of’ blog post is a vehicle for that learning.
On April 7th, 2015 Casey John Ellis (the founder of Bugcrowd, where I work) pinged me about an idea:
The idea required a limited number of features, and a simple design; it sounded like the perfect weekend project! After Chris Azar agreed to help as a Designer and Front-End Developer, we were ready to begin.
When pitched an idea, I scope out how to built it, with my focus on the minimal viable product functionality:
Once moving into San Francisco, it becomes apparent that bicycle is the best mode of transportation. With minimal funds, I wanted to find a way to get one. So I choose the Bike Kitchen, a co-op with volunteers assisting others to build a bicycle using there collection of second hand parts.
I was able build my bicycle from second hand parts over the course of a few weeks. Yet since the first day I have had malfunctions (broken pedal, axel, de-railer, flat tires, etc).
Each time I go back to the Bike Kitchen, learn about the problem, ways to solve…
If I paid you $10,000 to complete a miserable task that would take a few hours (clean up a dormitory’s bathrooms) would you take it?
Hell I would, and I bet many of you would too.
What happens if I’m willing to pay you the same amount to do it every day for a month?
I assume most would still go for it. What happens when its a year?
You see what I am getting at?
As stated above, there is a breaking point when an individual must focus on happiness more than cash. …
This past week I decided to stop working on my latest venture, MyManual* (2 years old), in which I did about everything wrong you could do when starting a business;
and the list goes on…
I often think of it as trying to accomplish a task knowing, that based on probability, you will fail.
As Chad Hurley discusses his early days starting YouTube he says,
“We didn't know what the hell we were doing…. we just kinda figured it out as we went along….if we really thought about it …. we wouldn't have built YouTube.”
By taking the problem and breaking it down to a bunch of smaller problems, people are able to work through tasks that at one time would have seemed insurmountable.
After learning how to program over the past 8 months, I…
Hacking the mainframe of life. Building @bugcrowd. Built https://snow.watch . Guacamole enthusiast. ⛷ 🚴