Shit_To_Remember.txt

The oldest file on my computer is called “Shit_To_Remember.txt.” This file is over 15 years old and even survived my move from PC to Mac in 2008. Over the years, as I learned from my experiences building a business or a product, I’d add a simple note to remind myself of it later.

Here are ten of the “truths” that I’ve learned over the years that I think are might be relevant today:

1. No job is beneath you. Clean the bathroom, handle support issues. Some of the best ideas good leaders have come from “doing the work,” and rarely come during expensive retreats.
2. Build a business that lasts. Stop glorifying serial entrepreneurs; they are tourists.
3. Humility is a skill. You have to develop it through constant practice.
4. Stop calling your customers “users.” It dehumanizes people and makes it easy to abuse them.
5. Bootstrap your ideas. Worthwhile ideas don’t require a VC’s money.
6. Growth hackers and salespeople do not dictate product decisions.
7. Don’t be a dick. Don’t be a dick. Don’t be a dick…
8. The best people on your team will almost always fail whiteboard coding tests and almost certainly won’t look like you.
9. Say “no” more, sometimes, even when you aren’t sure why.
10. Go home at the end of the day. Not only physically, but also with your mind and spirit. You will destroy everything you care about if you don’t.

Years later I still struggle with these at different times, but I’ve found that in most sticky situations, one of these will provide a clear answer.