#5 ๐งโโ๏ธ๐งฉ๐๐๏ธโโ๏ธ๐โ
Grown-up mountain, contributing in the right role & team, new employee onboarding, the future of shopping malls, podcast with Substack CEO and 3D Chess
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Today I have some longer mini-posts, ranging from maturing as a thinker to the future of shopping malls. Thereโs also a survey and some videos. I hope you enjoy it ๐
Also, in the last post I mentioned our trip to Mendocino with a group of friends a couple weeks ago in a town called Ukiah just two hours north of SF. Itโs quiet and full of nature. We rented an Airbnb on a big piece of property and spent the weekend doing arts and crafts, light hiking, watching silly movies like Shrek and Airplane!, playing board games and enjoying hanging around the outdoor fire pit.
Hereโs a shot of our setup from my friend Ericโs drone (which I got to fly for the first time and it was surprisingly easy):
Whatโs not depicted is me falling into the freezing pool later that night - fully dressed and in 40 degree weather - while trying to reach the stairs from the fire pit on the bottom right side of the photo. I woke up the next morning to find my AirPods at the bottom of the pool ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ
Luckily, Eric works at Apple and got me a discount on a new pair. Thanks, Eric! ๐
๐งโโ๏ธ Climbing Grown-up Mountain
Tim Urban from WaitButWhy shared this graph recently that really resonated with me. Itโs a journey from high conviction / low knowledge (Childโs Hill), down to low conviction / low knowledge (Insecure Canyon), and on to higher knowledge with higher conviction (Grown-up Mountain).
Looking back, I was in Childโs Hill until around the age of 23. I thought I knew everything and was very confident about it. Then I had a very humbling experience starting a company and making all kinds of mistakes. In reality, I knew very little.
When I shut down my startup, I stumbled down Insecure Canyon. I took a low-paying job at a startup and felt pretty embarrassed about my failed attempt at even getting a startup off the ground.
Over the last seven years in SF, Iโve been steadily working my way up Grown-Up Mountain. Iโm building up knowledge and confidence in a gradual way. It feels like building on solid foundations. I love saying โI donโt knowโ when I donโt understand something and ask lots of questions.
I have no plans of ever reaching the top of Grown-Up Mountain. I think of it more as a decades-long journey across Grown-Up Mountain Ridge.
This framework captures the long-term, sustainable path for maturing as a thinker.
Childโs Hill? Good riddance.
๐งฉ Contributing in the right team and role
I think itโs impossible for someone to find meaning through contribution if theyโre not in the right role on the right team.
In other words, meaningful contribution is enabled by playing a specific role on a team that values and appreciates the unique strengths you bring to the table.
Think of Toy Story. The toys need Andy, Andy needs the toys, and the toys need each other. They each have a unique role to play. Buzz Lightyear canโt truly play Woodyโs role and vice versa.
Or the Avengers. They know theyโre stronger together when they play to their strengths. Individually, theyโre weaker. In unclear roles, they fight one another. We even had a civil war chapter in the Captain America storyline. The Avengers can only beat the bad guys when theyโre coordinated as a team. Thatโs why the Avengers came together in the first place - the biggest challenges canโt be tackled individually.
I regularly question whether Iโm playing to my strengths, in the right role, on the right team. I used to think that this question would come up only if I was unhappy. I know now thatโs not the case; itโs always there. Even when things are going well.
Questioning how Iโm doing and looking for areas to improve is just an ongoing conversation in my head. It doesnโt mean anything is wrong. Itโs just continuous self-inquiry. Itโs a loop Iโm always running in the background.
I know a lot of people who repress this type of reflection rather than embracing it and fully exploring the answers. Some see criticism of the present as unproductive and as a result rationalize staying where they are without honestly questioning it.
To be clear, staying where you are is, indeed, often the right move. But not always. And the exceptions make the questioning worthwhile.
The important thing is being open to an honest internal dialogue with yourself about whether you can do better in a different role, on a different team, or a combination of the two.
๐๐ปโโ๏ธโฆโ๏ธโฆ๐จ๐ปโ๐ง New employee onboarding
Iโve been digging into the new employee onboarding problem space. If youโve been involved with onboarding in any capacity at a startup, it would mean a lot to me if you took 5 minutes to complete this survey.
A new employeeโs onboarding path in startups looks something like this (some of the middle steps can be shuffled around and the drop-offs arenโt at the right scale):
offer letter extendedย ย
offer letter signed
shows up on start dateย ย
confirms work eligibility w/ ID
sets up direct deposit / payroll
enrolls in benefits
Gets access to tools
makes contribution as employee
contributes consistently
helps others contribute consistently
Many employees donโt advance all the way through the โhappy pathโ. I believe most of the time itโs not the employeeโs fault; I see it as the companyโs responsibility to set employees up to be successful. And unfortunately companies often donโt know how to set up employees to be successful.
Another issue in fast-growing startups is that often people are hired into roles that nobody knows how to do yet. So itโs not about onboarding them into an existing role, but about setting them up to define what that job means at the company.
In addition, hyper-growth startups that double headcount every year end up having new people onboarding new people. This can work well with deliberate planning and thoughtfulness but is definitely a risk with onboarding large volumes of new employees in a short timeframe.
If youโd like to share your thoughts with me, please take the survey ๐
๐๐๏ธโโ๏ธThe future of shopping malls
Iโve been seeing fitness studios popping up everywhere. Crossfit gyms, bootcamps, yoga studios, etc. The size of the studio determines the cap of members. Thereโs a boxing gym on our street that costs ~ $300/month. Which feels crazy to me.
The growth trajectory of e-commerce makes it likely that people will no longer be going to physical stores for most of their shopping in 10-20 years. This shift is already underway. Thereโs even a term for abandoned malls: dead malls.
As I think about these two trends - growth in demand for gyms and death of shopping malls - I can see a future where these empty malls are re-purposed into indoor physical activity hubs, full of CrossFit gyms, yoga studios, indoor parks, etc.
Since gyms needs to be easily accessible as part of oneโs routine and most dead malls arenโt within walking distance from dense population centers, my prediction is that this will most likely impact suburbs where people can reach the malls within 10-15 minute drives. People in major cities like SF or YC wonโt even know itโs happening.
To be clear, this is an optimistic outlook: using massive indoor spaces for recreation and fun rather than for endless consumption.
๐Podcast with Substack CEO
I recently listened to a podcast with the founder/CEO of Substack, the service I use to publish this newsletter. Itโs always interesting to get into the mind of the person who created something I value using. If you want to learn more about this newsletter platform, youโll enjoy this conversation.
+ Jason Calacanis (the host) is one of my favorite people in tech. Heโs honest and says whatโs on his mind without worrying about being politically correct.
โ 3D Chess
I learned how to play chess a few years ago and enjoy playing every chance I get. Chess time is time to think competitively. It really puts my brain to work.
Iโve heard people talk recently about โ3D chessโ and asked myself, isnโt regular chess already 3D chess since a knight can jump over pieces?
So I googled it.
And I found this gem from Vice/HBO. Turns out 3D chess is a real thing. But itโs not quite what I expected.
Note: the brief intro in the video alludes to politics but Iโm not making any kind of statement about politics. This isnโt a political newsletter.
๐ถ Song Iโve had on repeat this week
Thatโs it for this one - thanks for reading! If youโre new here, feel free to check out prior posts:
#4 Remote work, R&R, George-inspired tweets & books ๐จโ๐ปโฐ๐ฆฎ๐
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