#17 Get what you deserve

Hey friend,

I'm sending this a bit late because I just finished an improptu game of golf. I hit a personal best score! I also looked at engagement rings and watches with the girlfriend. Tiffany's by the way is genius, they allow you to trade up as long as the new jewelry is at least 2x your item's price.

🔥 Highlights

I finally resolved the government challenge phase 2 prize equity split. I ended up getting 50K for my efforts in November and December which was the lowest number I was willing to accept. Ultimately I'm at peace with it and am stoked to be starting something new.
My friend John raised 4 million in seed funding for his NFT startup. He's asked me to join as their lead front end engineer and I'm considering it right now.

💔 Lowlights

Our kitchen fridge broke again and my parents had a big fight about whether to get a new one (2-3K) or just fix it ($300). I think repairing it is the more economic choice, but buying new also saves you the pain of having to deal with it again in the future. If I had enough money to not even blink at a couple thousand, I thought about how many arguments it would preclude. But then again, new arguments would probably spawn.
I'm giving up on the 3D lumosity game I mentioned in the past 2 newsletters. Sorry but not sorry, I was just not motivated at the end of work days to wrestle with it. It was a fun exercise while it lasted though.

🎯 Goals

Settle on a new project idea, one that I can preferably work on with friends and is a bit more serious than the games I've been messing around with the past month.

🎙️ Podcast
Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups with Ali Tamaseb So many myths about great founders debunked here. You don't need to be an industry expert, don't need to be young, don't need multiple cofounders necessarily, don't need to be solving your own problem, etc.

📖 Book
World Travel by Anthony Bourdain Most of the "How to get there" sections are skippable. I mostly enjoyed the bolded parts that were taken from past seasons of Tony's tv shows. I got some serious wanderlust, and have concluded Singapore is the next place I must visit.

🔗 Link
Red Bull Music Sample Challenge These are music producers in a cool room intercut with screen recordings of them using production software. It's really well edited and enjoyed seeing their process even though I don't touch music production software.

🎵 Song
Seasons by Brainstory Some smooth instrumental music by a new band I'm a fan of

I learned through my protracted negotiations for prize money that you only get what you are willing to ask for. You can confidently ask for more by doing really fantastic work, and more importantly having the guts to do it. Other parties have their own interests in mind first, and they will never fully see things your way no matter how hard you try. What's one thing in your life you aren't asking for? Or not getting what you fully deserve? I'd love to hear from you.