I was doing it wrong for 15 years and hereโs what I learned so you donโt make the same mistakes.
Mistake 1: Building tall before building wide.
I used to rush to scale. Get it big, get it fast. But without a solid foundation, things crack under pressure. Now I do the unglamorous work first. Architecture, structure, getting the basics right. Thatโs what lets you scale later.
Mistake 2: Thinking more resources would fix everything.
Some of my best work happened with the least resources. Limitations force creativity. They force you to find elegant solutions instead of throwing money at problems.
Mistake 3: Overcomplicating everything.
Weโre trained to think more is better. More features. More complexity. More everything. But often the real unlock is removing what doesnโt need to be there. Simplicity is hard. Thatโs why itโs valuable.
Mistake 4: Ignoring what nature already solved.
Whenever Iโm stuck now, I look at how natural systems solve the same problem. Billions of years of R&D, already done. Networks, flows, distribution. Itโs all there if you pay attention.
Solution: Speed of iteration beats perfection. Experiment, reflect, improve, repeat. Thatโs how you cut through decision fatigue and stop optimizing the wrong things.
Still learning. Still building.