Zero to infinity, essay on perspectives.

As a startup founder & CEO I totally agree with Marc Andreessen quote about startups: “You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both.”. And with the growing exposure to the “Startup Depression” problem I wanted to share my own experience in dealling with the lows of a startup life.

Two concepts: Zero and Infinity.

Zero is nothingness, it’s death, it’s the end of all things, it’s the famous quote from Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” / “הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הַכֹּל הָבֶל”. Zero can be a horrible concept to dwell on, but it can also be a comfort.

Zero grants me compassion for fellow man, even to my competitors :-). We all share the same fate. All our deeds will be forgotten. All victories and defeats are transient. Why stress too much?

Zero inspires me to do something that really matters. Our time in this world is short, we should spend it doing something that removes us from the ”solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” fate Thomas Hobbes’s states as the state of nature. And indeed, for most people, throughout human history, that was the usual fate.

Only our science and technology have temporarily changed that usual state. This is why I believe scientific research, technology startups and the creative people who slave in that process are so important. In the words of Robert Heinlein: “Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

Infinity is our universe, it’s time. I believe in an infinite universe. Infinite universe/s means infinite time. It means that whatever happen will somehow happen again and all the possibilities are open. Infinite time and space means that the atoms that makes us will someday combine again. Infinite gives us a godlike perspective, all is possible, all will happen.

I sometimes feel that in all the possible universes, I live in this one with you. Some universes are worst, some are better then this one. No need to fret too much on bad or good luck. In some universes you won the lottery, on another your family was wiped out in a car accident. Be thanksful you are living in a universe that somehow allows you to live and to go after something you believe in.

So Zero to infinity. We all live somewhere in between, for a short while. If I ever feel down I think about those concepts for a few minutes. Thinking about them too much is very painful — like strong medicine, you should only think about it in measure.

So be strong my fellow entrepreneurs! you are alive and you (should!) be doing something that matters and that you believe in — remember Zero and Infinity when you feel down (or too high!) and keep grinding.

Omri