We can safely see that every single person on the planet has been frustrated by something. The difference between doers, procrastinators and naggers is that doers have a bias for action, procrastinators tend to push forward deadlines to a mythical date when things will be perfect (spoiler alert: things will never be) and naggers find comfort in complaining incessantly.
Most of us happen to be procrastinators. All Network Capital subscribers are ambitious, curious and hungry. We don’t want to do things that don’t work or don’t scale. There is a reputation to protect and there is comfort in status quo.
Weekend projects and side hustles make us better thinkers by sparking lateral thinking. We are able to develop a broader perspective on the way the world works and what our unique role is in shaping it. Essentially we are able to connect dots better.
Even if there are no tangible benefits, we would have become smarter through experimentation. Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal, in his Network Capital masterclass, said that there are no failed experiments. We test hypotheses through a process of trial and error, we can’t go into them expecting the result we want.
The joy of discovery is indescribable. Weekend projects propel practical innovation, stuff that actually moves the needle. In addition, they add color to our coronavirus fatigued stay-at-home existence.
Gumroad, a company we invested in, was built over a weekend. Patreon, that recently raised $155 Million at $4 Billion valuation was set up in a few weeks of hacking. The first version of YouTube was ready within days as three former PayPal employees decided to act on their frustration of struggling with sharing videos online. The YouTube of today is far more sophisticated but its origin can be traced to a few weekends of trial and error.
You may or may not build the gazillion dollar company over a weekend project or a side hustle but indulging your curiosity in a failsafe fashion has no downside. We hope you consider it.
