I spent 6+ hours trying to make the perfect logo for this blog. And blog is the key term here, because originally I wanted to do this on Wordpress, with my own custom theme.
As you can see, I’m publishing this on Substack, and while I like the logo, it’s not as ornate and crafty as I’d like.1
There’s a lesson in all of this — you must ignore things that don’t matter and focus on what does. Move fast and break things is one of Silicon Valley’s fabled catchphrases, and in my case, it was a needed reminder that the best thing you can do is begin, and the next best thing is to stop what’s preventing you from beginning. Most projects of mine start with an aesthetic, and in this case that pursuit of perfection was holding me back.
Move fast and break things, like all pieces of advice, has its own failings and shortcomings, which is a great encapsulation of why I’m starting this Substack. I’m incredibly interested in founders, startups, and solutions to hard problems. Many people are. But one of the things that most intrigues me is how often the observations about these things fall apart. What works in one situation rarely works in another. Move fast and break things is a great motto for a social network company that needs to ship quickly. It’s a horrible motto for a robotic surgery startup.2
Trade-offs lie at the center of every decision we make, and I’d argue that in the world of startups they can be even more pronounced because oftentimes the world is structured to impede their progress. This makes the paradoxical observations about this industry so fascinating. Startups need every advantage they can get, which is one of the reasons why people are so eager to share advice with them. But if that advice is just taken at face value, it could very well kill the experiment.
This substack is my ongoing effort to examine and explore the world around me. And in this case, move fast and break things is exactly what I need: a senses of urgency that encourages me to write, publish, and keep compounding on my curiosity.
There are inherent trade-offs with this approach. But in my case, shipping faster isn’t about choosing the perfect color for a boat. It’s about sharing ideas I’m thinking about.
See you out there.
— O
To give you a sense, I wanted to combine the design for The Odysea (the publication) and Odyseaus (the profile).
It also, arguably, was ill-suited in the later stages of that social media company’s existence.