๐ข๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐พ ๐ฃ: what I can ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐พ ๐ค: what I can ๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ผ๐พ ๐ข๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐พ ๐ฅ: everything else I can only ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐พ
Building a ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐บ๐๐๐พ๐ฝ ๐ ๐จ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐บ๐๐ has taught me this the hard way. One week the big players ship a new LLM update, the next week the pricing shifts, the API behaves differently, and some clever benchmark gets redefined. The ground really does move. You fix one thingโฆ something else wobbles. I make a cup of tea and, somehow, the models have changed again.
Thatโs where the circles help.
๐๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น: the care we put into our solutions, how we treat our team, the conversations we have with customers, our pace, our cash discipline, our ethics. ๐๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: partner choices, community ties, early clients feedback, how clearly we explain the problem weโre solving. ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ: the wider current. I canโt push it. I can only read it.
And that last bit is the art, isnโt it? ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐. Not clinging to measures that age like milk. The chart that looked heroic last Tuesday might be irrelevant by Friday. So we ๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. We prune. We simplify. We listen for pull.
For a ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ, ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ-๐๐ผ-๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ. ๐๐โ๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ป.
You plant small seeds, water them often, and resist the urge to yank the stems to make them taller. You watch for real signs: customers coming back unprompted, quieter users finally saying โthis saved me timeโ, someone forwarding your note to a colleague, a tiny pilot quietly turning into a second one. ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐. ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
None of this removes the anxiety. Some days it sits in your chest like a brick. On those days, I go back to the circles. ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐. ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ. ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐, ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป. Close the laptop. Walk. Breathe. Tomorrow we try again.
๐๐ด๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐. Do the work in Circle 1 with care. Nudge Circle 2 with patience. And for Circle 3โฆ let the tide be the tide. Read it. Respect it. Surf it when itโs kind. Sit tight when itโs rough.
If youโre building in this wild, wonderful field, Iโm cheering for you. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ, ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น.