When a side project stops being fun (Ricky Weekly #70)
This is where I share 3 things every week with my friends and anyone else interested.
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A picture from my life:
Ryan was in town and we went to K-Pop class last night. There was no AC so we were drenched in sweat…Bikram K-Pop?
A thing on my mind:
I started trying out “coaching” to upgrade my mental game. I don’t really know what I’m looking for in a coach. I’ve done virtual therapy in the past and I’ve talked my friends in-depth about their experiences during my sabbatical, but it’s difficult to pinpoint what I need today until I go through the process. For me, as an emotionally-driven person managing a fast-growing business, I think I need someone to acknowledge my inner turmoil and help me redirect it positively so it doesn’t hold me back. I think I need to tell new stories about myself to replace the old ones. I think I need to collaborate better with David so I can be my best self when working with him. I think I need to talk regularly to someone who understands the nuances of the startup journey and can ask the right questions. I think I’m looking for someone to apply performance rigor and project manage my personal development. That’s just from a going to two meetings, and some of this is a reaction to what the two coaches brought to the table. We’ll see.
Flow Club’s going great. We’re hiring if any of you are thinking about exploring new opportunities in the new year (or know someone who is). One thing I’ve been trying to get better at is product, which in my prior experiences with B2B tended to be more straightforward. Someone told me this week that, “I’m working on a side project that’s no longer fun, but I have to push through.” Working on a side project is a privilege, but at some point it can become an obligation. Is it right to push through? Or should you stop like how they say you don’t have to feel like you need to finish reading books? A product can help you go either way, and that’s kind of a delicate balancing act. We see this is many aspects of Flow Club, and need to get the balance right since consumers are not just buying features, but how a product makes them feel.
A piece of content I recommend:
Episode 33: On the Way to Dinner - This is Love
A heartwarming story to listen to on your Thanksgiving travels. I don’t want to spoil it, but here’s the episode description. “On August 28th, 2000, Danny Stewart got on the subway to meet his boyfriend Pete Mercurio for dinner in New York City. As he was exiting the station, he noticed something on the ground. It looked like a baby doll wrapped in a shirt. And then he saw the doll’s legs move.”
Bonus: Shohei Ohtani is the unanimous AL MVP
I started watching baseball again this year just to watch Shohei. It reminds me of the month of Linsanity when I’d leave work early to be home by 4pm to catch the Knicks play just to watch Jeremy Lin dominate a game in a way that was not expected from an Asian man (ie driving and finishing, taking and making the last shot, waving off Kobe, and even dunk). Shohei Ohtani brought the same thing to baseball. He’s not the first Asian MVP, Ichiro did it in 2001, but the way Ichiro did it wasn’t a narrative violation. Ichiro’s a small, skinny man known for his technique, discipline, and monk-like training. Gold glove, steals bags, gets on base, and hits for average. Eastern values, basically. Shohei is not that. Shohei is jacked, hits home runs, and on top of that he throws heat on the mound. I don’t know how else to explain it if you’re not a sports fan, but hitting home runs is like dunking on somebody in basketball, a very masculine thing that shatters the narrative about Asian men in America. Throwing 100+ MPH fastballs on top of that is just ridiculous and unheard of in baseball. Suffice it to say, it’s been amazing to watch and I agree with baseball media that this should’ve been a bigger deal.
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As always, you can find out what I’m thinking in more real-time on Twitter and my essays are on my website. My primary focus (and where I focus) is on Flow Club. We are hiring and offering a $10k referral bonus + VIP tickets to SFJAZZ or Sacramento Kings game.