Reflections on YC and Moving Forward(sohailprasad.com)
sohailprasad.com
Reflections on YC and Moving Forward
http://sohailprasad.com/reflections-and-moving-forward
6 comments
TL;DR:
I hate to say that, but after reading the article I get the bad feeling that you're not really hyped about joining Zynga.
It's a great company doing great products.
You say that you realized doing a startup was not doing what you love. I fear you are unconsciously doing the same mistake - doing something you don't love, because in your own words:
"I'll be honest: I realize that Zynga is no Charity: Water. I'm not going to be improving someone's everyday life like Dropbox (students, teams, everyone), Instacart (everyone), Amicus (nonprofits), or Gumroad (content creators). But ..." no buts.
Social gaming may be less ambitious but they do it perfectly and that alone makes it a worthy goal.
Love it or leave it.
EDIT: with your reply I think I now better understand your move. I was just worried- we sometimes do the same mistakes. I'm very grateful to friends who have avoided me doing the same mistake too many times :-)
It's a great company doing great products.
You say that you realized doing a startup was not doing what you love. I fear you are unconsciously doing the same mistake - doing something you don't love, because in your own words:
"I'll be honest: I realize that Zynga is no Charity: Water. I'm not going to be improving someone's everyday life like Dropbox (students, teams, everyone), Instacart (everyone), Amicus (nonprofits), or Gumroad (content creators). But ..." no buts.
Social gaming may be less ambitious but they do it perfectly and that alone makes it a worthy goal.
Love it or leave it.
EDIT: with your reply I think I now better understand your move. I was just worried- we sometimes do the same mistakes. I'm very grateful to friends who have avoided me doing the same mistake too many times :-)
Valid point, though I'm psyched to join Zynga.
To clarify: I loved building Hiptype and building a startup from the ground up. I still believe in Hiptype's vision, but as we wrote in our post, "In the [...] world of start-ups, [...] being too early is the same as being wrong" (http://sohailprasad.com/what-we-learned). When deciding what to do next, I realized that I didn't want to just "do another startup" for the sake of it.
I wrote about elements of improving someone's everyday life because it's something I keep in mind for my endeavors in the future.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to join the RMG team at Zynga, and trust me, I'm really excited about what we have in store. If there was any place I'd rather be, I'd be there.
To clarify: I loved building Hiptype and building a startup from the ground up. I still believe in Hiptype's vision, but as we wrote in our post, "In the [...] world of start-ups, [...] being too early is the same as being wrong" (http://sohailprasad.com/what-we-learned). When deciding what to do next, I realized that I didn't want to just "do another startup" for the sake of it.
I wrote about elements of improving someone's everyday life because it's something I keep in mind for my endeavors in the future.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to join the RMG team at Zynga, and trust me, I'm really excited about what we have in store. If there was any place I'd rather be, I'd be there.
> It's a great company doing great products.
And now, for the first time ever, they're a great company doing their OWN great products.
And now, for the first time ever, they're a great company doing their OWN great products.
'My real, “ultimate” goal was never merely launching a product (after all, anyone can do that)...'
Oh if only that were true. I had dinner with a friend last night who has just become the lead on a project where the two founders dropped out and essentially handed him an opportunity because they just couldn't see through to launching it.
I've launched probably 40% of the projects I've worked on.
I think that is a big difference between those who do and those who talk. Those who get it done see launching a product as just a small step that anybody can do. I wonder if those who are successful also think. Is it our own thoughts of the size of the challenges that lead to our failures/challenges?
Oh if only that were true. I had dinner with a friend last night who has just become the lead on a project where the two founders dropped out and essentially handed him an opportunity because they just couldn't see through to launching it.
I've launched probably 40% of the projects I've worked on.
I think that is a big difference between those who do and those who talk. Those who get it done see launching a product as just a small step that anybody can do. I wonder if those who are successful also think. Is it our own thoughts of the size of the challenges that lead to our failures/challenges?
Thanks for sharing your story. It's important to realize that "doing a startup" is not necessarily the same as "doing what you love". Picking a project that has the right mix of personal passion and monetizability is a very tough problem.
Good luck in your ventures!
Good luck in your ventures!
Real Money Gaming? The word is gambling.
To say you're "not going to be improving someone's everyday life" is an understatement.
To say you're "not going to be improving someone's everyday life" is an understatement.
Heads up, there's a typo in the first sentence: achieveing -> achieving
Got it. Thanks!