Where have I been

For past 4 weeks, I've been helping out on a friend's project. We got really close to "hitting it off," but in the end decided to go separate ways. Met so many different people in that four week period, and to say the least, it was a very enriching experience.

The problem space was about AI-native games and how it can apply to kid-education, and this particular topic interested me very much. Previously, I've built ToyToon which is an incredible-machine inspired game which allows kids to solve physics puzzles (rube goldberg machines). When I was a kid, this kind of games really inspired me and really drew me into science. And so, making ToyToon happened almost inevitably. I didn't even have to try. So for me this inspiring kids was near and dear topic as probably with many others.

The project without disclosing too much was built on top of farming simulation. If ToyToon's goal was to make things happen using physical properties and careful placements. The project's premise was to ask users to use agents to solve problems rather than just static or scripted objects.

This problem is very intriguing. Now, you are not solving just a puzzle. You are building relationship and you are building a community with living agents. Super exciting stuff. The closest thing currently on the market is Simile and they seem to be on a roll and lots of what is happening is still behind the curtains.

Now, this issue of "social simulation," and its applications are genuinely interesting and I want to be part of it somehow. But then, why didn't I continue?

Yeah, why didn't I continue. I got scared right before we were in talks of becoming cofounders. Past four weeks were like roller coster ride. It was fun, but also draining. It was exciting and then at the same time excruciating. Why? The project is fun but at each moment we are challenged at existential level. We had large dreams but a small team. Folks coming in and out in just that 4 weeks. Imagine you had someone coming in and then leaving in 2 weeks. It is like feeling hopeful then being left lonely.

At first, I kind of thought the whole project thing as a "summer project" or something like a classroom team final project. I mean that's lighthearted and kinda limited time horizon project where you're expected to deliver whatever you can deliver in 6 weeks or so. And the team, once a team is built, even if the team sucks they are stuck together for the duration of the course. So, they figure things out. In startup situation where you meet people, you are kinda in a perpetual tug of war. Literally like meeting someone for dating. How do you trust the other person even if you just met for 2 weeks. And there is this chicken and egg problem where if you don't commit, you wouldn't really be able to experience what it would be like to be with that person. It is kinda like you have to almost move in together to see if you are really a match or not.

Yeah, I'm portraying this a slight bit dramatic to make it more visceral but yeah I really think unless you commit, you can't see fully what's ahead. So, I spoke to my partner that I would commit 6 week to see if we can become a cofounder and said why don't we present ourselves as a cofounder to investors and try to get investment on this project. Honestly, the project seemed promising, and it would have been terrific to present that project together to investors and even if we don't get anything would have been a multi-year worth of concentrated learning experiences.

So, again, why didn't you continue, other than just saying that you were scared? I think, for me, it is still the roller coster analogy. My partner was very capable and extremely social person with lots of connections. High paced, able to handle many things at once, great communicator and great people's person with ambition. That's perfect for my situation. I am slow, eccentric, loves coding, loves solving small problems. He can the fifty thousand feet view and I can take care of details and actually building things out from ground up. I think it is genuinely decent pairing.

But, for me to take part in that project was little out of my comfort zone. If I had more chance to get to know my partner, it may have been easier to ride along but with limited time (2-3weeks) of spending time together (mostly remotely), I simply could not go along.

The picture is not entirely accurate but what I mean to portray is that to be an outgoing founder is to be vulnerable. You don't have to be explaining yourself but you need a steel plate on your face. Me? I'm a scaredy cat honestly. And while I need a cofounder who is more outgoing and has energy, for me to go along with them I think I needed to have built more trust with the partner.

However, this 4 week experience kinda really opened my eyes. What it takes to be a founder is one. But more importantly, it really opened my eyes on seeing another dimension to the entrepreneurship. That it is not easy to find the perfect match, but the returns are boundless.

I think we were about 80% match + 20% uncertainty. Real time we spent on project was only 2 weeks but within that just 2 weeks we achieved something phenomenal. At least for me, I think we have achieved more in 2 weeks than what I achieve normally for 20 weeks. That is 10x returns. It was no longer a project I work alone but a project with real user and real potential for investment.

What it thought me is that if I stay alone, I am a kind of founder who would spend infinite amount of time figuring things out. And that, if I stay alone, I am as well as dead in this market. Finding the match is hard but if you don't stick together you die in this market. I do need to find a co-founder. And that I need to do so fast.

So far, my friend was a spiritual match but I need someone slightly more advanced in his career than I am who can lead on the team with confidence and stability.

And that is going to be hard. And because it is hard, that makes the serach more meaningful. Finding the matching cofounder is probably much more eventual return than finding the matching project. I need to put things out there and gather people who would be interested and start working on building a team rather than building a project.

My friend posts LinkedIn regularly even when the product is not done. He is in constant meetings, and he is presenting whatever chance he gets! This consistency really really is important. More so than any technology.

What else did I learn? Is that entrepreneurs are not like rare mystic creatures. They are just people with vision. They are from every corner of the world. You don't need to be the best talker. You don't need to be the best builder. You don't need to have master's degree on something. If situation allows and you have a vision and you work towards it, you are an entrepreneur.

Now, for me to find the right match. I think I will start with LinkedIn. I was never good at social media. Never even posted on social media much. My college group is often very critical people (Ivy League, FAANG), but how do you even make a friend if you are scared to go out.

I think… One potential is to find a coach who can help me out or discipline myself. But I don't have one, so I will try out on LinkedIn.

Why not Instagram? Why not YouTube? Why not Reddit? I need to build my muscles. And I have almost no audience in Instagram, zero audience Reddit, zero audience in X and Reddit. But, I have 780 professional connections in LinkedIn.

So, if my goal is to find a cofounder or generally people whom I can work with, then LinkedIn seems like a no-brainer.

It scares me to bones to say this but I will post daily on LinkedIn whatever it is.

-- Sprited Dev 🐛