to mercedes' island
THE ISLAND
One of my favorite life mottos is paraphrased from Shopify CEO Tobi Luke:
"Live on an island. Originality stems away from the mainland."
Inspiration
In the depths of my island, I sometimes wax philosophical. Like on the meaning of life. I have several answers, but one is about getting to ground truths with people. Quotes that inspire me to get there:
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
- Arthur C. Clarke
Every no gets me closer to a yes
- Mark Cuban
Fish don't know they're in water
- DFW
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.
- Dr. Seuss
People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou
As long as you are governed by that desire [to be part of the inner ring] you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain…
- CS Lewis
I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed
- Michael Jordan
Professional Values
At the core, these are some of the professional values that guide my working style:
- Be a student of greatness everywhere.
- Ruthless focus.
- Compress timelines - speed speed speed.
- Get to ground truths.
- Pattern match and Break patterns (lean into contradictions).
- Challenge the premise.
- Use every part of the buffalo.
- Don't take ourselves too seriously. Invest in silly.
- Trust is the foundation.
- Act like an owner.
- Put your colleagues first: Uplift others.
- Be transparent, honest and authentic.
- Always bring data.
- Builders first - run like a startup.
- Treat others how you'd want to be treated.
- Give others grace.