4 ms·

> It feels like our culture’s impulse is to wring every last cent possible out of any creative endeavor — or at least leave open the possibility for more from t

> It feels like our culture’s impulse is to wring every last cent possible out of any creative endeavor — or at least leave open the possibility for more from the outset. It's easy to criticize other people for wanting to ride their success after they've peaked But I can't really blame them. We only get so many big wins in our lifetime. When someone hits on something successful, riding it as far as they possibly can makes a lot of sense. Some people get lucky and hit success with different ventures throughout their lives, but I suspect most successful people may only get a small number of opportunities to capitalize on. Seize them while you can. Ignore the critics.

Retric 4y ago
Success breeds success. If you’ve created one successful book/startup/song/etc and suddenly a great number of doors open up. However, riding something to failure taints that legacy. As the saying goes, always leave them wanting something more.
- leygo 4y ago
  In what way does a legacy help me? Who's to say what I perceive as a legacy will even be perceived that way by others later?
  - Retric 4y ago
    Would you prefer to offer seed funding to someone who sold their last startup to Google for 100 million or got 100 million in funding before crashing and burning? That’s what I meant by a legacy. It’s possible you walked away from each of those startups with the same money, but the perception is very different.
zeruch 4y ago
It's also about what is "success" at different scaling. People can enjoy different levels of success at different stages and not always chase the same big targets. I remember seeing an interview with a band that had some major hits in the 80s (the Fixx) whose members effectively have day jobs now, but they still successfully tour smaller clubs every year or other year, and do things at a scale they can manage, still make money at, and thoroughly enjoy. They get to be what they enjoy, and make a living at. The fact that they arent playing arenas/on MTVs equivalent/etc is orthogonal to that.

Retric 4y ago

Success breeds success. If you’ve created one successful book/startup/song/etc and suddenly a great number of doors open up. However, riding something to failure taints that legacy. As the saying goes, always leave them wanting something more.

leygo 4y ago
In what way does a legacy help me? Who's to say what I perceive as a legacy will even be perceived that way by others later?
- Retric 4y ago
  Would you prefer to offer seed funding to someone who sold their last startup to Google for 100 million or got 100 million in funding before crashing and burning? That’s what I meant by a legacy. It’s possible you walked away from each of those startups with the same money, but the perception is very different.

zeruch 4y ago

It's also about what is "success" at different scaling. People can enjoy different levels of success at different stages and not always chase the same big targets. I remember seeing an interview with a band that had some major hits in the 80s (the Fixx) whose members effectively have day jobs now, but they still successfully tour smaller clubs every year or other year, and do things at a scale they can manage, still make money at, and thoroughly enjoy. They get to be what they enjoy, and make a living at. The fact that they arent playing arenas/on MTVs equivalent/etc is orthogonal to that.