The author describes an interesting framework. The problem I find in praxis is, that founders know about principles Paul Graham or Peter Thiel talk about, but they have not internalized them and still fail to act according to them. The more complex the framework gets, the more opportunity is given to misjudge and fail to act on them.
Founders try to make something people want, they just misjudge what people want. They know, that they should fail fast but end up playing business anyway, because they are scared of talking to people and to actually fail.
I therefore think, that complex frameworks are interesting to look at but short catchphrases are more useful in praxis, because they are already hard enough to act by.
Absolutely agree with the first part, have seen this too often, considering it's such an obvious mistake to make. People end up making an 'MVP' that is a whole-cloth beta of what they think people will want, releasing it and seeing it fail, without the necessary focus to get feedback. They are failing fast, but only relative to a big corporation.
I would say, you can struggle with such a task because of two different personal shortcomings: Missing skill or "psychological reasons".
If it is just missing skill: Find the best way for you to practice and practice. Just retrying will get you somewhere.
If it is not a missing professional skill, but a psychological reason, which blocks you, is different. I would say, you first need to realize the exact thing, which hinders you. After you identified that, find a way to circumvent it. This is more difficult, but everyone faces it, so there are many resources about. I personally think acknowledging that your brain is just a human machine, which acts in some situations in some way and can get triggered into different states is key. Most of the time it is not about willpower.
Thank you so much for this. I have encountered this POV before, and it makes a lot of sense, though I have had some difficulty assimilating it fully. Oddly, I feel better hearing it from somebody else (more data points, maybe?). I really appreciate it.
Founders try to make something people want, they just misjudge what people want. They know, that they should fail fast but end up playing business anyway, because they are scared of talking to people and to actually fail.
I therefore think, that complex frameworks are interesting to look at but short catchphrases are more useful in praxis, because they are already hard enough to act by.