"I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite." -G.K.Chesterton "All progress takes place outside the comfort zone." -Michael John Bobak
What I’ve learned so far working two years in a hyper growth startup: Laser focus and execute. The dynamic of short term pessimism and long term optimism will thrive after execution and seeing your results.
I'm on this ride right now, my wife always says, "why are you always so pessimistic, when you just had a win" and I answered "because I'm already dealing with the next potential problems" 😂 didn't even know this was a thing. Thanks man.
Couldn't agree more Garry, a lot of my learnings, reflecting on my 20s has been too optumistic in the early stages of the businesses/startup I have attempted and never went anywhere. but thank you for sharing, its given me a sense of validation with where i am going in my career in tech in my 30s.
Another great vid Garry. With my prior startups I learned to recognize the "trough of sorrow". Co-founders usually leave, interns find another job, people get discouraged... by now I know this passes as long as you kept moving forward but I never knew there was a name for it. This makes it real that you are not the only one going through these things. Thanks! Hope one day to have you on my cap table or board.
Really interesting. This mindset distinction came up between me + my co-founders in a meeting earlier this week. One co-founder feels like we're not optimistic enough about our retention numbers for the month - especially since we started onboarding/charging folks at the start of the month, and a reasonable holiday slump. Specifically, the way I was talking about our retention was making him feel more doom-and-gloom than improve-and-iterate. Even though my goal was getting us to focus on the numbers, as they aren't meeting our goals, the language I was using wasn't that productive in doing so! I think that the subpoint here (which might be in the vid - can't wait to watch :) ) is that pessimism can be productive or not productive. The goal of the pessimism, ultimately, is to drive positive improvements to product/processes that could be better. So I'm working on presenting my pessimism as that!
@@GarryTan totally - and it's even more true when you've got cofounders, I think. I have different preferences (and expectations) for what I'm really trying to communicate when I'm "being a pessimist" vs. my cofounders, and it's important for alignment + morale that I actually communicate what I'm trying to. Which, btw, would love to hear more of your perspective on! I often feel like the startup-help space is so focused on "how can _you_ make a company' that it mostly sidesteps the team aspect, which in my experience is the ultimate in defining what the day-to-day looks/feels like. IMHO, that day-to-day with your team (and customers) really defines how you feel most of the time (and if you can maintain long-term optimism). The messaging on this sort of stuff seems kinda reductive to just like "uh u know have a good cofounder dawg" lol - would love to hear your thoughts in more detail! Btw, for context -- we're trymito.io - if you wanna check it. TL;DR: Edit a spreadsheet, generate Python code, automate your reports + processes :-0
Makes a lot of sense why short term optimisim doesn't work. If you believe what you're doing is going to work immediately -- why would you work any harder/think critically? I think this beautifly exemplfies the dangers of complacency. When you are complacent, there's no incentive to improve or grow -- you need a "fire under your ass" (pessimism) to continue to work hard!
I was an addict of yCommbinator’s videos and when I discovered your channel, it was like wow wow this is a better version of YC videos. Short and organized per subject
I like how your videos flow. It's not boring, it's digestible. The thing I like the most is that your advice is actionable. I can apply the learnings right away.
Garry, great content as always, tks for that. I'm having this thinking lately that business successes often come with lots of philosophy thinking behind it. You see in many great entrepreneurs these concepts like the one you shared from Andy Grove and so on. Also, you bring excellent references for us, this is amazing.
I run a start-up (or trying to) and even though I understand what I have to go through, it really is different when you're in it. A strong mindset and belief will go a long way.
Hilarious scene. I like how you insert relevant clips of other videos to illustrate a point. Will definitely share your channel with my cofounder when I find one
It’s worth discussing the spread of pessimism which can kill the team’s morale and momentum. While founders may have the resilience to stay for the long haul, most employees don’t. They are not going to stay around for 10 years. It’s natural (and rational) for employees to join other companies with more short term optimism. Sometimes even a hint of pessimism can cause a chain reaction of team exodus.
Thank you Garry! I needed this. While I'm saying this, my mind is 'connecting all the dots going backwards', what I have in mind for the future, and the things I'm working on to make that a reality.
I think there is a difference between the optimist who succeed and the 30% who failed. Those optimist who succeed probably are more grounded and thorough. Personally I think both optimist and pessimist are on the extreme end and taking a middle way of both is probably better. Maybe a realist with long term vision and well grounded with deep insight of the subject. PS. I'm really amazed with your rate of production of such amazing contents.
the grind isn't always sunshine and butterflies, sometimes you just gotta accept the fact that the grind is gonna fuckin suck but you're gonna do it anyway. do the work, and take it step by step. filter out all the nonsense, don't keep actively participating in things that aren't going to push you forward.
Thanks for knowledge drop, this is amazingly timely for where I find myself at the moment. BTW - love the angle / depth you're shooting these videos at. Really makes it feel like you're talking 1:1
Super interesting and important. Founder psychology is one of the most underrated areas of focus, but when you listen to people like Ben Hortwitz in the Hard thing about Hard things, is one of the most defining, for better or worse.
A video on the average life-cycle of a startup would be super interesting... What steps does it usually goes through? What are the rough timelines of when it usually goes through them? You've mentioned 10 years a few times, how long would a short timeline or a long timeline be? Big fan!
Thank you Gary for all the valuable content. You are always so clear and concise and you have a great delivery. Really appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge.
Yes more than useful, thank you. Been watching YT videos on this topic for years but your channel is by far the best, it's relevant for this generation!
The word pessimist(ic) has a negative connotation, a negative vibe around it. Negativity is not a good starting point for starters. If you have a negative mindset, you'll give up too soon when early setbacks happen. It's better to replace it by the words "realistic", "serious" "well-prepared", "open-minded" "down-to-earth", etc. because running a startup is like riding a rollercoaster.
Just what I needed to watch rn. I realised I have a tendency of being extra optimistic in the short term, and sometimes favour power over persistence/patience. Keep making these value adding videos man. People like me find them vv useful!
Hey Garry, Interesting points. I think there is a difference between being positive and being optimistic. To me, being positive means that you are thinking things are great even if it isn't. Whereas optimism is telling yourself no matter what the situation is right now, the future can be better. In this case isn't it better to avoid being positive and start being optimistic, both in the short term and long term? Maybe it is a case of semantics. To me optimism is about your confidence for the future. What you are describing such as competition can be thought of as being positive in a scenario where reality and your perception of reality differs i.e. thinking things are going great when the competition is outperforming you. I think for me short term pessimism would lead to unhappiness which in turn leads to unsustainable productivity/a lack thererof. But maybe for some people this works. Nevertheless enjoyed the video.
I've found you've got to make it through at least three troughs of sorrow. Those troughs will certainly teach you a thing or two about being too optimistic.
Thanks for this Garry! Excellent advice and re-assurance. I thought it was just me being overly paranoid and pessimistic but I suppose it’s a good trait to have as a founder after all
Thanks for the vid , people tell me I'm an optimist and personally try to learn from bad experiences, although trying to be optimistic for a long term as such 👍
It's actually a good way to find an alternative solution for a current solution so you can always have something in back-up. Thank You Garry for sharing.
Hey Garry. Amazing video as always. Lovely blast of insight. Would be interesting if you can have an interview with Knowable CEO Warren. I would love to know about his time as a 2x founder and the things he learnt throughout the way. (Particularly had he navigated the trough of sorrow of Vidme?)
Your video very useful. Can you please turn on auto english translation. My english not to good yet, so the subtittle will very help me to get whay you say. Thx man
I recently saw this Tweet from PG that said, he looks at things with an eye of "What if it works, rather than the reason for it to not work". Do you think that lens is useful only for investors and not founders?
