#8: Multithreading
(That’s no moon. A cool looking bar called The Ship in SoHo, NYC)
Hey there! Thanks for opening this up.
Multithreading is the ability of a CPU to run multiple threads of a process at the same time while sharing processing resources.
In my context, the processor is my brain and the process is that of ‘leveling up’, handling the threads of what I do at work, on the side professionally, and in my free time personally.
As you’ll see in the essay below and updates to my website, I’m starting a new project. While this is meant to push me, it’s not meant to be all-consuming - it’s important to find balance; however, as all threads share the same resource, it’s crucial for me to eat right, keep fit, and meditate/reflect to go about this smoothly.
Essay
A life update in frameworks
It’s been half a year since the big career move. Now, my focus narrows from a general interest in everything to the concept of actionable ideas.
While working on consulting and content on the side does enable me to build new skills, leverage experiences from my day job, and fail in an environment with fewer consequences, it still comes with an opportunity cost. To put it simply, you can’t have it all.
A kick-off to another journey.
Strategy
Why Product Market Fit Isn’t Enough
There are four types of fit that are required to grow a business to $100M+ (Italics represent how Slack, with its recent IPO, is able to hit all four):
Market-Product > how the product caters to the market
Slack is a company-wide messaging platform with the ability to segregate conversation threads into channels. It serves as a faster way of communication over email.
Product-Channel > how to reach the customer
Slack’s popularity spread through virality, most interestingly within the walls of a company. Existing users of Slack were instrumental in getting more employees onboard.
Channel-Model > matching CAC (customer acquisition cost) and ACV (average contract value)
Slack uses a freemium model, ideal for operating as a product with high engagement, namely the number of messages users send with the platform.
Model-Market > pricing based on market dynamics
Slack offers different plans to different segments - SMB, larger businesses, and enterprise.
Hence the importance of playing in niches, creating tailored products and getting them out there in the right way. Other companies such as WhatsApp, Pinterest, and Squarespace also hit all four types of fits.
Innovation
In San Francisco, Tech Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness
Only a subset of the population of San Francisco benefit from the influx of money from the recent tech IPOs.
"San Francisco, where streets are named after union organizers and Mexican anti-imperialists, and local landmarks include murals from the Depression-era Public Works of Art Project, is becoming a paradoxical urban space: a homogenous corporate campus run through with threads of public pain."
The article seems to be saying that San Francisco has lost it’s values. Hence the importance of having actionable values, or at least guidelines of what can’t be done (Google’s “Do no evil” comes to mind).
Trends
Welcome To Airspace
Things are beginning to look the same: WeWork office layouts, Insta-cafe coffee shops, and even Airbnbs.
“The homogeneity of these spaces means that traveling between them is frictionless, a value that Silicon Valley prizes and cultural influencers like Schwarzmann take advantage of. Changing places can be as painless as reloading a website.”
Maturation of a platform leads towards convergence. Another example: despite different manufacturers, android phones pretty much all look and feel very similar. Samsung is trying to innovate with the dual-screen Galaxy Fold.
Thoughts
Graduates, Are You Ready for the Most Important Secret in the Whole Wide World?
A piece addressing the graduating class of 2019.
"Talk to any successful person, in any field. Ask them when they were happiest, and I bet that 9 out of 10 will tell you they loved it most when they were in the chaos—battling, struggling, scuffling, trying to find their way."
After an upbringing of structured education, entry into a world without clearly defined paths may seem scary, but can also make one feel alive. Applied to startups, it’s the mentality of failing quickly. Rapid iteration leads to accelerated learning.
Talk to me about startups!
I’m looking to get exposure to as many business ideas as possible and give feedback from a venture capital perspective - if you or anyone you know are working on something and would like to talk, please get in touch. More details here.
Find Me
That’s it for this issue!
Thoughts and feedback? Comment on this post, email me, or dm on Twitter.
Not subscribed yet? Sign up here.
-Leo