Entrepreneurs need to start building today. The barrier to entry in tech is low, so start designing, start coding it, launch it, build prototypes, build a working version of it. The Internet has amazing powers of distribution. You can test your ideas. You can see if it works, if it doesn't work, whether it's fun, and whether you're sufficiently motivated. People who go into entrepreneurship to get rich aren't going to be happy. Itโs the building of things that makes you happy. You have to enjoy the process whether you succeed or fail.
Caterina FakeFailure is part of discovering the problem you need to be working on. If, as an entrepreneur, you are afraid to fail or to admit the failure of your efforts, then you completely lose any chance at being able to adapt and succeed at finding the problem that needs solving.
Caterina FakeIf the business were a play, Act One is: Woohoo, bright and bushy-tailed. We're going to make something great! Act Two is: We're six months behind on back-end development. We're trying to raise venture capital. We're trying to figure out what furniture we should sell to make payroll.
Caterina FakeA lot is gained through experience, but experience teaches some and not others. Effectiveness and excellence, whether or not they were attained by simply having the knack or through the school of hard knocks, is really what you want to reward.
Caterina FakeIt's the building of things that makes you happy. You have to enjoy the process whether you succeed or fail.
Caterina FakeInspiration is really all around us. I pay attention to a lot of different fields. I stay up on current events. I go to community meetings to see what concerns the people in my neighborhood. Paying attention to social interactions offline really inform interactions online. The real world is a bottomless source of inspiration for what you can build.
Caterina FakeBeing open and observant of people and the world around you is really important. People have the same desires and needs online as they do offline. The way that people are stays constant. You can change the format, make it easier for them to communicate or use photos instead of words but human necessities never change.
Caterina FakeIt's about doing things that you haven't done before, where you're still kind of a beginner, and not resting on your laurels.
Caterina FakeMake time less precious. We are way too efficient, making use of every hour, every minute. When you were a kid, didnโt you just spend hours poking sticks in the mud, climbing trees and sitting in them, looking at shells and seaweed that washed up on the shoreline? Time was not precious then, we werenโt trying to stuff an accomplishment into every minute every day, we had time for thoughts and feelings. That was good!
Caterina Fake