4 ms·

Drew, what's your biggest challenge with shipping?

drewcrawford 14y ago
I could write you a small novel, but the short version is, by analogy, the knapsack problem. I can fit so many tasks into my bag for [time unit]. Which ones do I pick to meet my goals? On what basis? This problem can be cloaked in many different ways: What feature do I implement right now? Should I go to the Python meetup tomorrow? When should I read the sci-fi book that guy recommended? Do I push for the refactor that the code base really needs or the refactor that the client can afford? Should I be answering the phone more or answering it less? Should I cancel my Mixergy subscription? If I can time-afford to attend N events, what is the right mix between developer and non-developer events? I make a hundred micro-decisions a day that lead to me not shipping. For each decision or decision category, I can give you some reason that makes some amount of internal sense in its immediate context. But ultimately I think I am incapable of really rationally understanding how tens of thousands of tiny choices affect my trajectory over the course of a year at decision-time. The second generation of the problem is that other people have the problem, and it has a trickle-down effect. Jim irrationally wants to put out a short-term fire vs the long-term solution to the problem. He may do this over my protest. How interested am I in shipping the project, and how interested am I in not butting heads with Jim? It is extremely hard to get the mix right between acquiescing and putting out the fires, educating Jim, and cutting him loose, and that is literally the difference between accomplishing nothing and shipping dozens of products a year. It's really a problem with rationality in decision-making.
- dools 14y ago
  I'm trying to get people together for a Google Group of Mixergy members: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mixergy-inner-circle https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mixergy-inner-circle I think that it would be great to be able to discuss these types of problems with other entrepreneurs who are consuming the same material and going through the same types of challenges. I've made the group restricted only so that it doesn't get indexed by Google - ie. so that we can have some modicum of frankness in the discussion about our businesses, trials and tribulations without it being plastered all over the internet forever. EDIT: don't get excited, there are only 3 members currently (including me :)
- AndrewWarner 14y ago
  Drew, I picked a call slot off the calendar you listed on HN. Thursday @ 3pm Eastern Time. Let's work out a way to ship.

I could write you a small novel, but the short version is, by analogy, the knapsack problem. I can fit so many tasks into my bag for [time unit]. Which ones do I pick to meet my goals? On what basis? This problem can be cloaked in many different ways: What feature do I implement right now? Should I go to the Python meetup tomorrow? When should I read the sci-fi book that guy recommended? Do I push for the refactor that the code base really needs or the refactor that the client can afford? Should I be answering the phone more or answering it less? Should I cancel my Mixergy subscription? If I can time-afford to attend N events, what is the right mix between developer and non-developer events? I make a hundred micro-decisions a day that lead to me not shipping. For each decision or decision category, I can give you some reason that makes some amount of internal sense in its immediate context. But ultimately I think I am incapable of really rationally understanding how tens of thousands of tiny choices affect my trajectory over the course of a year at decision-time. The second generation of the problem is that other people have the problem, and it has a trickle-down effect. Jim irrationally wants to put out a short-term fire vs the long-term solution to the problem. He may do this over my protest. How interested am I in shipping the project, and how interested am I in not butting heads with Jim? It is extremely hard to get the mix right between acquiescing and putting out the fires, educating Jim, and cutting him loose, and that is literally the difference between accomplishing nothing and shipping dozens of products a year. It's really a problem with rationality in decision-making.

dools 14y ago
I'm trying to get people together for a Google Group of Mixergy members: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mixergy-inner-circle https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mixergy-inner-circle I think that it would be great to be able to discuss these types of problems with other entrepreneurs who are consuming the same material and going through the same types of challenges. I've made the group restricted only so that it doesn't get indexed by Google - ie. so that we can have some modicum of frankness in the discussion about our businesses, trials and tribulations without it being plastered all over the internet forever. EDIT: don't get excited, there are only 3 members currently (including me :)
AndrewWarner 14y ago
Drew, I picked a call slot off the calendar you listed on HN. Thursday @ 3pm Eastern Time. Let's work out a way to ship.