How I Decided What I Want to Do With My Life
summary
Co-founded Spectrum in 2017, initially on Firebase, then rebuilt with a custom Node.js backend; a persistent memory leak fix under 100 lines stops daily crashes, restores growth, but lack of monetization leads to acquisition by GitHub. Later co-founds GraphCDN: demo shows caching that cuts a 900ms graphql response to 30ms with mutation-aware invalidation and 300s max-age. Decision process comes from a coached inventory of values — connection, agency, prestige — and choosing startup risk over salaried stability.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:46What do I want to do with my life?
- 10:01Pre-seed round
- 14:03Memory leak
- 19:13Database connection errors
- 19:23Hourly database crashes
- 23:04Running out of money
- 24:09Nobody cared
- 24:32GitHub?
- 25:01Due diligence
- 25:12Hundreds of questions
- 26:08Sleepless nights for months
- 29:39How do I get back to 11/10?
- 34:54Talking to friends
- 35:41What does it mean to "fail"?
- 36:48I cannot "fail".
- 38:12What do I found and with whom?
- 38:46Remember when I talked to friends?
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