Demo Day

Err on the side of speaking slowly. At Rehearsal Day, one of the founders mentioned a rule actors use: if you feel you’re speaking too slowly, you’re speaking at about the right speed.

What you need to do is talk in this artificial way, and yet make it seem conversational. (Writing is the same. Good writing is an elaborate effort to seem spontaneous.)

The problem is, as you approach (in the calculus sense) a description of something that could be anything, the content of your description approaches zero.

So we concentrate on the basics. On Demo Day each startup will only get ten minutes, so we encourage them to focus on just two goals: (a) explain what you’re doing, and (b) explain why users will want it.

— Paul Graham

2012.04.08 Sunday ACHK

Perseverance

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Perseverance is important because, in a startup, nothing goes according to plan. Founders live day to day with a sense of uncertainty, isolation, and sometimes lack of progress. Plus, startups, by their nature, are doing new things — and when you do new things, people often reject you.

– Founders at Work, Jessica Livingston

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2009.12.26 Saturday ACHK

Blogger

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I think one of the things that kills great things so often is compromise — letting people talk you out of what your gut is telling you. Not that I don’t value people’s input, but you have to have the strength to ignore it sometimes, too. If you feel really strongly, there might be something to that, and if you see something that other people don’t see, it could be because it’s that powerful and different. If everyone agrees, it’s probably because you’re not doing anything original.

– Evan Williams, Founders at Work

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2010.01.09 Saturday ACHK

Extremists

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And founders and early employees of startups, meanwhile, are like the Birkenstock-wearing weirdos of Berkeley: though a tiny minority of the population, they’re the ones living as humans are meant to. In an artificial world, only extremists live naturally.

– Paul Graham

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2011.02.20 Sunday ACHK

反轉意圖

種子論起點 14.3

這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 20 日的對話。

「種子論」的其中一個可能名字,是「paradoxical intention」(反轉意圖)。

(安:什麼意思?)

例如,當我失眠時,如果刻意迫令自己入睡,反而會更加不能入睡。相反,如果我任由自己繼續睡不著,反而會有機會成功入睡。

入睡的意圖,會增添自己的壓力,令自己緊張起來,導致適得其反。放棄入睡的意圖,會去除自己的壓力,令自己放鬆下來,入睡的機會自然會大增。

(安:那只是「放棄意圖」,而不是「反轉意圖」。)

我有「反轉意圖」的版本。

當你失眠時,身體維持住躺在床上的狀態。但是,你要張開眼睛,心裡迫令自己,千萬不要入睡。那樣,你就有很大機會,在不知不覺間睡著。

但是,「反轉意圖」所描述的,只是「種子論」的一個小部分。

— Me@2012.03.07

2012.03.07 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

地獄篇(前傳)

失敗是正常,成功是例外。

人生,是一個尋找例外的過程。

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地獄是正常,天堂是例外。

人生,是一個創造例外的經歷。

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唯有經過地獄的磨難,才有創造天堂的力量。 — 尼采

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— Me@2012.03.01

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2012.03.01 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Partnership

We did not start as friends, but as people who respected and admired each other. Crucial, absolutely crucial for a partnership. As soon as we could afford it, we ceased sharing lodgings. Equally crucial.

— Teller (entertainer)

— 14 years ago: the day Teller gave me the secret to my career in magic

— Brian Brushwood

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2012.02.29 Wednesday ACHK

Enjoy everything, need nothing, 2.2

種子論起點 12.3 | 兩次測驗 2

有心栽花花不香,無心插柳柳成蔭。當你「需要」一樣東西時,你就會失去它。

又例如,當你「需要」得到好成績時,你就會失去它:你的成績即使不太差,亦一定不會是最好。

如果你「需要」有好成績,才會感到有自信的話,每次在學業上遇到挫折時,你都會覺得那是對 自身人格 和 自我價值 的一個否定。那樣,溫習時,你會戰戰兢兢,自然不能得心應手;考試時,你會惶惶不安,自然不可揮灑自如。沒有豁達的心靈,就沒有靈活的頭腦。你一定不會是一個一流的學生。

正確的心態是,謀事在人,成事在天。你要知道,沒有人可以控制到,究竟自己拿不拿到好成績,因為影響成績的因素,實在有不少。你唯一可以做,唯一可以「控制」的,就是運用最好的策略,把試前十分有限的溫習時間,發揮至最大的功效,盡量提高「拿到好成績」的機會率。

在考試臨場作答時,你要使用同樣的心理結構。你可以控制的,是盡力作答,拿得一分得一分,從而提高「成功」的機會率。至於最終成不成功,或者最終拿到多少分,則完全不在你的控制範圍以內。

把手緊握 什麼都沒有  把手放開 你得到一切  — 臥虎藏龍

— Me@2012.02.28

2012.02.28 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

John T. Reed

Pursuit of money, fame, and status generally does not produce a bumper crop of friends and friendly relatives in old age. Indeed, those goals are selfish and selfishness is not a way to make friends. Furthermore, money, fame, and status tend to attract false friends which may get in the way of your acquiring [of] real ones.

— John T. Reed

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2012.02.26 Sunday ACHK

Enjoy everything, need nothing, 2.1

種子論起點 12.2

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有心栽花花不香,無心插柳柳成蔭。當你「需要」一樣東西時,你就會失去它。

(安:什麼意思?)

例如,當你「需要」你的女朋友和你在一起時,你就會失去她。

如果你和女朋友在一起,是因為你「需要」她的話,你就再不是出於自由意志,因為喜歡見到她,而和她在一起。由於害怕失去她,你會在日常的相處中,極端遷就。那樣,這段關係,再也不是一段平等的關係,再不可以坦白對話、真誠交往。這段關係逐漸瓦解。

— Me@2012.02.26

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2012.02.26 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

種子論起點 11.0.2

這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 20 日的對話。

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我們暫時叫它做「種子論」吧!

大概而言,你需要不斷散播種子,但又不知道哪些會發芽。你幾乎完全不能控制,哪些種子會長大成樹、開花結果。但你又不能不播種,因為沒有「種子」,就一定不會有「結果」。你所能做到的,就只是勤奮地,盡量提高「種子發芽、長大成樹 和 開花結果」的機會率。

時間上,你要不間斷地播種。空間上,你要在很多領域播種。策略上,因為人生的時間和空間,都十分有限,散播種子要有,先後緩急之分。相對於你自己來說,「種子結成果」機會越高的時空,就是越適合你的「田地」和「季節」。你就應該散播得越多「機遇種子」。

同時,你要從一開始就知道,絕大部分種子會,無疾而終。可能每一百萬粒種子之中,只有一粒有結果。然後每一百萬個果實之中,只有一個是美味的。

但是,即使你失敗了一千億次,只要有一次成功,你就永遠改變了歷史。

— Me@2010.03.21

— Me@2010.09.26

— Me@2012.02.20

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2012.02.22 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

種子論起點 11.0.1

這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 20 日的對話。

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剛才我講的那個理論,我們應該為它,起一個名字,以防日後討論問題時,需要用到它。

其實,根據剛才的討論內容,這個理論本來,可以叫作「種子靈感天線搞 gag 間書太極謀事在人成事在天可遇不可求有心栽花花不香無心插柳柳成蔭踏破鐵鞋無覓處得來全不費功夫原理」。

但是,這個名字實在太長,不適宜日常的運用。如果不是那麼長,又很難可以完全準確地,捕捉到它的神髓。這就是困難所在。

(安:根據你這個理論本身,如果你刻意地,硬要立刻想出,一個好的名字,你反而不能如願。)

— Me@2010.03.21

— Me@2010.09.26

— Me@2012.02.20

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2012.02.20 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Exploding Offer Season

2. If you get an exploding offer from a company that’s not your first choice, push back. Say, “I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to give you an answer until January 14th. I hope that’s OK.” Almost any company, when pressed, will give you a chance to compare offers. Don’t worry about burning bridges or pissing anyone off. Trust me on this one: there’s not a single hiring manager in the world who wants to hire you but would get mad just because you’re considering other offers. It actually works the other way. When they realize you’re in demand, they’ll want you more.

— Joel Spolsky

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2012.02.15 Wednesday ACHK

魔間傳奇 9

魔間傳奇 7.2

這段改編自 2010 年 3 月 6 日的對話。

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結論是,千萬不要害怕孤獨。更加不要因為害怕孤獨,而在情感或工作上,依附他人。

正如 Stephen R. Covey 在《The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People》所述,dependent 的人,不能與人有 interdependence;只有 independent 的人,才能與人有 interdependence。

依賴別人的人,不能與人真心相處。只有獨當一面的人,才能與人衷誠合作。

— Me@2011.12.08

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2011.12.08 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK