I welcome this opening, thank you for the opportunity to teleport. Since this delightful memory popped up earlier today, I've actually been contemplating this very question. Tomorrow I embark on a brand new venture (outside of tech), one that has me again drawing outside the lines. And so of course, in this moment, I am given the opportunity to reflect on another time in my life where I did something outside the norm.
I don't think it's easy to appreciate just how "weird" it was to be in tech in 2004-2006 from our current perspective. I recall sitting in for a talk at UC Berkeley by PG in around 2004, promoting his "crazy" new idea. There were maybe a dozen people there at most. And I remember thinking "I don't really know what this startup thing is, but I know I want to be a part of this movement".
And doing something like starting a startup then was actually really hard. My family definitely judged me for making this choice, many of my friends didn't understand why I would go this route. But it was an excellent filter - the people who came to this space at that time were passionate about building something amazing. Very few of us had dollar signs in our eyes at the time, and yet many of the big names of today were forged in that fire.
None of us knew what we were doing, and that was the best part! Everything was new, exciting. But you also had to build most everything from scratch because the SaaS ecosystem wasn't there. In this early time, despite the challenge, there was room to explore and forge new paths. To make mistakes and be creative.
LikeBetter started as a dating app. The concept was simple - I thought that current dating apps at the time were stupid in that they asked users to fill out profiles (eHarmony, Yahoo Dating). You essentially had to trust that everyone was being honest, which was never the case. What if there was a dating site that "knew you" better than you even knew yourself, and matched you with people that were actually like you?
So we build a bifurcating personality classifier with the simple and addictive prompt "What do you like better?" and the choice between two distinct images. We had a responsive interface which felt unbelievably fast for the time, and people were just so drawn into this concept. We were featured on the front page of Digg (lol) and got a lot of press too.
We also launched with no data model whatsoever - we just presented "guesses" and allowed the users to correct us if we were wrong. But over time we were able to accurately guess all sorts of interesting things about a person's personality, just from their choosing between 20 or so pairs of images.
But as with many things, the course of my own life forged a different path. We were part of YC Summer 2006, back when it was in Boston. We relocated back to SF, my cofounder and I had a falling out, and we decided to shut down the company rather than raise capital. We had hit upon an exciting spark, but were not the right torch bearers to see it through.
The path in startup land that began with LikeBetter eventually led me to successful outcomes, and for that I am forever grateful. And it all started by being brave and joining a movement that I felt passionate about.
In your own life, it's so easy to follow the "head": what makes sense and will make me the most money? But I encourage you to look for those moments of passion and inspiration, even if they seem strange - for they will lead you to great things.
This is interesting. But I wonder, was this really a unique time or was it unique to you because you were young and you were discovering a new and unexplored part of your world at that time? What I mean is that what you described sounds very similar to stories from entrepreneurs in the 90s pre dot-com bubble, or founders of hardware startups such as Apple or Cisco in the 70s/80s.
Maybe in 2035 we'll look back at the 10s with the same nostalgia and sharing stories about how it was different and special "back then". It reminds me of an essay often posted on HN which I can't find now but that went something like "we always think this is the end of the story, there won't be new revolutionary startups/techs, and yet there's always new players who emerge that no one saw coming".
Anyway I like stories like yours about times long gone.
Ah, I’m sorry if I came across in that way, that these days where gone. I believe that all things go in cycles. And I believe opportunities exist all around to find what we want. I myself experienced a beautiful opening in my own life that required bravery, which has nothing to do with tech.
The freshness of a thing cannot stay that way - it must go stale and be renewed. It is this cycle that gives us contrast. When a thing goes stale, you can choose to either stay in that energy, wait until the freshness returns, or forge a new path.
> it was an excellent filter - the people who came to this space at that time were passionate about building something amazing. Very few of us had dollar signs in our eyes at the time [...]
This is interesting to me. Similarly, although I know "hiring" isn't quite the same thing, through that process, I've come to realise how difficult it is to find passionate and skilful people. I wonder if startups are as good a filter in 2021 as they were in 2006.
Passion is love. Love is the force of creation. When we love something unconditionally, we pour the energy of creation into it.
When we love with conditions/incentives (ie I love this be because I’m making money), that pure energy is distorted/blocked. The most powerful way to create something is by unconditionally loving it.
But how do we filter on passion, when incentives seem to be required to attract anyone these days?
That is so interesting! Thanks for sharing! I liked the example with dating apps. This would definitely be a huge step forward, cause there are so many ppl who just can't match with the right person. Me, for example, I'm not too successful with dating apps. That's why each time I register my new profile (like my last registration on https://megapersonals.one/), I add more truthful info.
Thank you for sharing; your insight is human and approachable.
I'd like to ask, though: looking back, what were (or have become) the best resources to you - read: books, articles, conference videos, etc. - which have unequivocally helped you in the years since?
My answer may go in a different direction than you might expect. But The most important gift I’ve ever given myself is being brave and facing my fears/demons. Taking a break from the flow of life, stepping outside of expectation, and turning inward. Of going to therapy for the first time, learning to meditate, and working through the childhood conditioning that was causing me to choose a life of “imprint” rather than “blueprint”. The imprint allowed me material abundance for which I am grateful. But the blueprint has given me my life’s purpose, my true calling, which is no less scary than the choice I made in 2006, but more valuable than anything on paper.
I’m always happy to connect more deeply and provide guidance if this resonates with you - PM me.
This is also what keeps me coming back: the frequent appearances of an insider to the events that are mentioned in an article or post.
I wouldn't be too surprised if in a comment thread about an article about the first moon landings Werner Braun would chime in with a few anecdotes and correct some errors in the article.
Could you say a little about the motivation behind your LikeBetter?