The Definition of Success
Would you do it again?
Listening to the podcast of David Senra interviewing Signal37 cofounder Jason Fried.
They talked about what the definition of happiness is.
Here’s two ideas from Jason, as well as Jobs.
Would I want to do that again? - Jason Fried
Did I make something I'm proud of? - Steve Jobs
These are such great yardsticks for measuring level of success. I can relate to both.
It’s not easy to device a single metric against which such a multifaceted, deeply subjective human construction is evaluated.
However, I did pause the podcast and applied both filters to my startup which I spent the past 3 years working on.
Did I make something I’m proud of?
I would think so. For now, I think our product is the best on the market on many fronts. And the product is what I think the best form for what product it’s solving.
It doesn’t compromise on qualities I think professional filmmakers need, and it achieves those with a large degree of transparency.
Would I want to do that again?
This is the question I hesitated, and thought about for a while.
I enjoyed the whole process of making this piece of software, it’s complex, it’s ambitious and it has its own character. I learned so many things building and rebuilding it, and I see the challenges as part of the appeal.
But I still don’t know if I would choose to do it again, it depends on if I am thinking of it from today’s point of view.
If you transport me back to when I started, I think I would definitely start again.
However if I lose the whole project today and have to start again knowing everything I know now, I would probably pick another thing to build.
As to what would I be building, I don’t know. With AI, every day is different. My understanding of the world is shifting faster than it’s ever been.
Because of that, I do see many more opportunities and exciting things I could build instead of the one I have been building. Sunken cost is a thing and I’m only human.
Is that success?
I can say for sure, regardless of where this ends up. I would consider this a success using these two tests.
I am doing everything I ever wanted to do given the circumstances, and I enjoyed the process(even though I want to tear my hair off all the time) with an intensity that a regular job couldn’t really provided.
Would you do it again? Whatever you are doing?