Yesterday I had an interview, a sort of getting to know you session with a couple people. They were interested in getting together and working on a startup style project. This startup project sounded interesting for a number of reasons. Here is an email I sent to David Cohen of TechStars.
Update: 10/13/2012:
Yesterday I was hanging out with my family and my sister (an actress) told me there's some movement on a project that I wrote for her. She's pretty great though we have a rocky relationship at times. I wouldn't say rocky but I would say it's like a roller coaster. It has it's extreme ups and downs. Pretty turbulent at times. But when it's good it's pretty good.
Nonetheless, she told me that the project that I wrote is starting to move through the channels of show business. I don't like show business or rather I'm not used to show business. But more importantly I am making good progress on my technical projects. I don't want to be distracted.
I told her I would leave her to it. And I will. I will not be involved and when something arises (if something arises) I will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then I am going to put my head back down and focus on the thing that I'm doing. Simply working on this and nothing else. Now is the time for me to focus on what I'm doing. This will exercise my power to focus. I will.
Question: I'm interviewing with four people for a startup they're looking to do. I'm interested in the idea. It's a good idea. It can scale.
Drawbacks:
1. They're bringing me in pretty much as the technical lead (backend and middle layer as well as mobile). While I've got some technical skills I'm not awesome yet. I've developed for companies before on different technologies and I'm good. But as far as this technology stack LAMP/iPhone I'm not where I need to be. I'd hate to go into something in what I consider half baked.
2. I'm currently working on a project. It's a project I can work on at my own pace in order to technically get to where I need to be.
Advantage:
1. I don't really know many people in the technical scene and am looking for designers to partner with on this project or in the future. This project has two.
2. I like the idea of working with others on a project. Maybe I can get that at a couple hackathons but still.
Sorry for the long email but do you have any advice.
David's advice was to trust my gut. And as I was on my way to work today I asked my gut, what should I do. Specifically I asked my gut what was the biggest risk that I was taking by doing this project. The risk: time.
There's an African saying: If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together. Well, at this point I need to go fast as opposed to far. I need to learn as quickly as possible. The time I would consume in actually working on a project when I am not yet a ninja and I have not yet completed the task that I've chosen to do would be non-productive. Not only would I not be perfecting the skillset that I've chosen and building things that I want to build but I would also be subject to psychic drain.
I've just gotten past psychic drain with my sister. I can't afford another bout of psychic drain. It's silly. I must remain focused.
An Aside
I noticed that whenever one is focused on a goal and is getting closer to achieving that goal inevitably distractions arise. I was working on my GFM iPhone app one night and someone called that was truly a blast from the past. Yesterday I was tempted with an offer to work on a different project. I am a firm believer in finishing what you start, ignoring everything else by the wayside and finishing what you start. It's not just a matter of principle but for me it's a way of life.
I find that the opportunities you turn down strengthen your resolve to complete your goals in the way you know how. Every no you say to something marginal seems to increase your resolve toward the one yes that you've made.
Update: 10/13/2012:
Yesterday I was hanging out with my family and my sister (an actress) told me there's some movement on a project that I wrote for her. She's pretty great though we have a rocky relationship at times. I wouldn't say rocky but I would say it's like a roller coaster. It has it's extreme ups and downs. Pretty turbulent at times. But when it's good it's pretty good.
Nonetheless, she told me that the project that I wrote is starting to move through the channels of show business. I don't like show business or rather I'm not used to show business. But more importantly I am making good progress on my technical projects. I don't want to be distracted.
I told her I would leave her to it. And I will. I will not be involved and when something arises (if something arises) I will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then I am going to put my head back down and focus on the thing that I'm doing. Simply working on this and nothing else. Now is the time for me to focus on what I'm doing. This will exercise my power to focus. I will.
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