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Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

Dean Irwin

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Worth it's own thread @MJ DeMarco ?

I second this. I think it would be a high-value discussion, not worth burying in random chats, especially after Dean's fabulous reply. I'd reply if it was its own thread.

While I appreciate the interest and I'm happy to talk about anything I mentioned, I don't think the post really could deliver more value in a separated thread. I posted that response to help someone who appeared to be on the search for something to grasp onto, and make tangible, which is honestly what I needed. A lot of the advice/wisdom you're given in high school is about being an adult which is generally irrelevant at that point in time...

I drop parts of the story in different threads whenever I see the value for it, but I don't really like the spotlight and attention of having people comment on "me". The GoalSumo.com story and The Dean Story is still very much a work in progress (and often takes a few steps backwards sometimes), and documenting some parts of it (and the resulting questions) would be somewhat stressful for me. MJ (and other members here!) are always super open about everything, but I tend to be a little more reserved.

I love reading other folk's progress threads on here, but I don't like the idea of having my own. A lot of members reading that thread have been GoalSumo.com members in the past, will be GoalSumo members in the future, or are currently GoalSumo members, and are therefore "monetarily invested" as a customer of my/MJ's product.

Anything I do or say would reflect directly on perception of our product, and while I've seen this work for other business founders (One of my biggest personal inspirations is ThinMatrix on Youtube, who is really good about producing amazing updates on his game development. I have watched him for 7 years now), I don't think it would work for me... It's so much harder to say you're frustrated or having a bad week when your audience is the people that are paying you to have a good one lol. This is also why I do not bother anyone in my personal life to become GoalSumo users, they would tear me to shreds at happy hour.

Rabbits don't eat the grass by their burrows. I hope my perspective on that matures as I get further along in my journey, and as GoalSumo and "Dean Irwin" get better (and older), I feel like I will have more fun sharing my stupidity throughout the years.

That being said, anything you want to know about GoalSumo, you can ask on our progress thread on the INSIDERS forum, or in the public thread that's stickied to the top of the recent list on the homepage. It's what we started those threads for :).

Anything you want to know about me, my DMs are open and I would love to get a message & chat (but it might take a few days to get a response, sorry lol)
 
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Last edited:

Dean Irwin

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(One of my biggest personal inspirations is ThinMatrix on Youtube, who is really good about producing amazing updates on his game development. I have watched him for 7 years now)

Seriously, this guy is someone to put on your Youtube subscriptions list as an entrepreneur. He made this retrospective video a while back about 10 years of game development, and his journey.

Without trying to spoil it, here are the highlights of his story:

1. Built his own game engine entirely from scratch in Java (HARDCORE. His code is down to the VAO memory!!!)
2. Kept rolling with the punches when his first game's kickstarter failed
3. Used an audience to help him produce his first production-ready game (that's an awesome game, Equillinox)
4. Got cancer somewhere in that time (while being one of the healthiest people I've seen, digitally of course, who knows if he eats twix bars off camera, right?)
5. Knew when to throw in the towel when a project wasn't working for him.
6. Keeps posting on a regular basis, and is on a continual pursuit of the grind.

Go check out this video to dip your feet into this channel, I don't think anyone here will feel like it is a waste of 23 minutes:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FStOT4pP2tc
 
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Matt Sun

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I've developed two python scripts with the help of chat gpt, one goes into a list of websites and looks for email adresses, (also looks for a contact page, gets in if there is one and looks for an email adress there).

The other python script sends a certain email to all addresses found and does it VERY fast.

The people I commented about this have been interested (asking things like hey where can I find that script I want it ). I'm thinking if I'm on to something here and I should develop some sort of service of this since there is legitimate interest.

It would be challenging since I made it work with a very old email services provider and things like gmail seemed more difficult to implement (thought I didn't really try since I really didn't needed to).
 

loop101

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Ireland:
GNQJtomWIAIef9p

UK:
GNQOkVUWMAAVkZl

Scotland:
GNQLjGwXwAAU_Ze

Portland ME:
GNQqocUW8AAHfUz
 

Dean Irwin

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Ireland:
GNQJtomWIAIef9p

UK:
GNQOkVUWMAAVkZl

Scotland:
GNQLjGwXwAAU_Ze

Portland ME:
GNQqocUW8AAHfUz
Holy shit, that’s gorgeous! I hope one day I will see the Northern Lights in person. I have my own “fake” version of these in my apartment to romanticize until then.
 

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loop101

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Holy shit, that’s gorgeous! I hope one day I will see the Northern Lights in person. I have my own “fake” version of these in my apartment to romanticize until then.
You might see one this weekend:
tonights-static-viewline-forecast.jpg
tomorrow-nights-static-viewline-forecast.jpg
 
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loop101

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Bekit

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whats smth you can do in high school to help u on when you start your fastlane journey?

Realize that success is a by product of failure, and avoid anyone who is negative, criminal, or takes up all your time.

Worth it's own thread @MJ DeMarco ?

I second this. I think it would be a high-value discussion, not worth burying in random chats, especially after Dean's fabulous reply. I'd reply if it was its own thread.

While I appreciate the interest and I'm happy to talk about anything I mentioned, I don't think the post really could deliver more value in a separated thread. I posted that response to help someone who appeared to be on the search for something to grasp onto, and make tangible, which is honestly what I needed. A lot of the advice/wisdom you're given in high school is about being an adult which is generally irrelevant at that point in time...

I drop parts of the story in different threads whenever I see the value for it, but I don't really like the spotlight and attention of having people comment on "me". The GoalSumo.com story and The Dean Story is still very much a work in progress (and often takes a few steps backwards sometimes), and documenting some parts of it (and the resulting questions) would be somewhat stressful for me. MJ (and other members here!) are always super open about everything, but I tend to be a little more reserved.

I love reading other folk's progress threads on here, but I don't like the idea of having my own. A lot of members reading that thread have been GoalSumo.com members in the past, will be GoalSumo members in the future, or are currently GoalSumo members, and are therefore "monetarily invested" as a customer of my/MJ's product.

Anything I do or say would reflect directly on perception of our product, and while I've seen this work for other business founders (One of my biggest personal inspirations is ThinMatrix on Youtube, who is really good about producing amazing updates on his game development. I have watched him for 7 years now), I don't think it would work for me... It's so much harder to say you're frustrated or having a bad week when your audience is the people that are paying you to have a good one lol. This is also why I do not bother anyone in my personal life to become GoalSumo users, they would tear me to shreds at happy hour.

Rabbits don't eat the grass by their burrows. I hope my perspective on that matures as I get further along in my journey, and as GoalSumo and "Dean Irwin" get better (and older), I feel like I will have more fun sharing my stupidity throughout the years.

That being said, anything you want to know about GoalSumo, you can ask on our progress thread on the INSIDERS forum, or in the public thread that's stickied to the top of the recent list on the homepage. It's what we started those threads for :).

Anything you want to know about me, my DMs are open and I would love to get a message & chat (but it might take a few days to get a response, sorry lol)
Just to clarify - in seconding Andy's suggestion, I was meaning having Kavin's initial question and the responses that followed be their own thread.

Not that it wouldn't be interesting to have a progress thread by Dean - but I totally respect your reasoning about not wanting one.

My thought was that the thread & discussion would consist of various people's replies to give advice for what to do while in high school.

(I also know that this has been discussed on the forum in various ways before, so maybe it would be redundant to have another thread.)

I was initially thinking of waiting to respond with my thoughts until it was its own thread, but I'll just put it here.

whats smth you can do in high school to help u on when you start your fastlane journey?

1. Develop your work ethic.
How you do anything is how you do everything. Business is hard, and it's not for the faint of heart. Many potential business opportunities are missed simply because they involve work.

2. Learn as many business principles as possible by doing.
Sell something. Even if it's not fastlane initially. When I was 15, I offered piano lessons, and at first I felt incredibly awkward creating an invoice or a receipt for the parents of my students. But taking these actions showed me that it wasn't that hard, and it helped me get comfortable with basic skills and business practices in a way I never could have done by reading books.

3. Learn to identify needs.
When I was in high school, I kept wishing that I had a better way to make money, but I kept asking the wrong question. I was asking, "What's a business that someone my age could do?" What I should have been asking was, "What's a need that I have the power to fill?" I think I could have identified something viable a lot sooner.

4. Don't let people take advantage of you because of your age.
Take yourself seriously. Don't let people convince you to give them free work. It's one thing to make a sample for free, but people shouldn't expect you to donate your time endlessly. If I hire a 12-year-old to mow my lawn vs a 30-year-old, and the lawn gets mowed exactly the same way, should I pay the 12-year-old less? (I might hire the 12-year-old over the 30-year-old BECAUSE the 12-year-old can charge less, so price could be a value skew the 12-year-old can use to their advantage, but that's a different question.)

5. Keep yourself healthy.
Watch your physical and mental health. Take care of them. Health issues can derail the best of plans.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Anybody ever buy a car on Carvana? I hate car dealerships and as soon as I hear a salesperson utter the phrase, "What kind of car payments are you looking for?" I'm likely to be arrested for assault.
 

Kevin88660

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Anybody ever buy a car on Carvana? I hate car dealerships and as soon as I hear a salesperson utter the phrase, "What kind of car payments are you looking for?" I'm likely to be arrested for assault.
Assume Close. Sell or be sold!
 

socaldude

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Anybody ever buy a car on Carvana?

I looked into buying a car from Carvana, and it looks like it's just an overpriced used car dealership dressed as a vending machine. Their business model seems to be subprime lending and transportation fees.
 
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socaldude

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Sounds like "Simulacra and Simulation" by Jean Baudrillard and the Matrix. LOL

I'm bringing this up again because I feel like a lot of people need to hear it.

We live in a world with tremendous noise. "Read this book! No, read that book! Should I Listen to Joe Blow on Instagram?"

So for those of you who didn't know, The Movie "The Matrix" was inspired by a work called "Simulacra and Simulation" By Jean Baudrillard. A French Philosopher who of course smoked cigarettes like Gilles Deleuze.

I feel like a lot of people didn't know that. Which is totally understandable given the chaos of our modern day.

So what is a "Simulacra"? A Simulacra is a bogus or counterfeit representation of something eternally real. Kind of like Platos idea of the "Forms" and "Beauty".

Kind of like when you go to a carnival or fair and there always is this artist that draws people in this not-so flattering cartoon style compared to being drawn up like a Mona Lisa. Yeah, it's you, but its not the true you. Which makes it both believable and false at the same time.

One of the things Baurdrillard mentions is that your idea of "Value" has been shaped into "Simulacra".

This is one reason why people have trouble spotting opportunities or understanding value.


You are scrolling through social media all day trying to see what every influencer or Joe Blow entrepreneur is doing. Well bad news, social media is Simulacra.

The American Economy has been shaped by "Simulacra". It's very important to unravel and understand that.

Simulacra is keeping you from thinking and perceiving in this clear and powerful way. I feel like a lot of people needed to hear that.
 
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Xeon

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MJ DeMarco

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Rent free living is phenomenal, and worth the risk. In the world of homeless living, she had the penthouse. Pretty smart. Inflation and impossible housing costs is why squatting is also becoming an option for those who lack any moral fiber.

My guess is the lady will find another similar spot to habitate, if you have access to an electrical outlet, all sorts of comforts are possible.
 
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Kevin88660

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Rent free living is phenomenal, and worth the risk. In the world of homeless living, she had the penthouse. Pretty smart. Inflation and impossible housing costs is why squatting is also becoming an option for those who lack any moral fiber.

My guess is the lady will find another similar spot to habitate, if you have access to an electrical outlet, all sorts of comforts are possible.
How does she bath?
 

MJ DeMarco

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How does she bath?

Could be a gym membership, or a homeless shelter.

If she has a normal job, a lot of options are available when you live rent free.

I highly recommend it — it truly makes you feel rich, even if you aren't.
 

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How does she bath?
There are a bunch of videos on YouTube on this topics, just search for van life.

Honestly, even though this seems unimaginable to me, mostly not having a bathroom to take a morning dump in. In a weird sort of way I respect those people for going for it. That's truly Unscripted way of approaching life.
 

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socaldude

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If she has a normal job, a lot of options are available when you live rent free.


I was talking to a homeless guy a few months ago and he was telling me he got an apartment through some drug rehab program in California.

I asked him where the apartment was at and it was a $2k-$2.5k/Month luxury apartment. He says he pays $200/Month.

Not bad. Then if you are getting CalFresh EBT you can eat for free.

This guy has more freedom than a fresh college grad with student loans and no job.
 

mikecarlooch

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NOTE: This is purely just some philosophical thinking I do, because it's fun. This topic is a deep fascination of mine.

In a world of thousands of business books, I think all of us in the apprenticeship phase of our career are trying to find answers to what to do. The question is, what is the root of all of the advice? The following excerpts, I feel, are really the root of what we're all trying to get to.

They come from a few of Nassim Taleb's books, and one of Robert Greene's books:

From Antifragile:

"The side effect of this lack of struggle is a lack of personal growth, of artistic expression, and in many cases, of valuable lessons. Without the randomness and danger of life, there’s no chance for us to benefit from antifragility. For example, one learns a language best by being immersed in it, by making mistake after mistake before learning how to communicate effectively. However, to avoid that embarrassment and struggle, we teach languages in classrooms using books and rules, and we get much worse results."

From Antifragile:

"Decisions made based on traditional intelligence - which is to say - book smarts - tend to be fragile. They can easily go wrong if you misunderstand something, or incorrectly apply your knowledge"

From Skin In The Game:

"Taleb is adamant that knowledge gained through direct experience is far more reliable than knowledge sussed out through abstract reasoning. Individuals improve by learning from painful failure. An actress could read a million books on acting theory, but if she doesn’t go out and risk falling flat in auditions or on stage, she’ll never improve."

From Fooled By Randomness:

"People tend to see examples of enormous success as representative of the kind of success any person can expect in that industry. This is called the “survivorship bias,” by which we see only the people who have “survived,” that is, thrived in any given situation, and we extrapolate lessons from their survival: mainly, that wild success can be reasonably expected. For example, when an investor strikes it rich or a writer lands a multi-million-dollar movie contract, we often internalize those successes as a likely possibility for anyone in those fields. However, to accurately evaluate the potential for success in any venture, you must consider not only the observable results but also the invisible alternatives: the possibility that those successful people might have failed had they experienced unluckier circumstances. So, to properly determine the likelihood of getting rich as a trader, you must take into account the many people who’ve attempted it and failed, not just those who’ve made a fortune. To properly judge the likelihood of getting rich through writing, you must consider all the authors who couldn’t find a publisher, or those whose published book garnered few sales, not just those who penned bestsellers."

From Mastery:

"When a system malfunctions you do not take it personally or grow despondent. It is in fact a blessing in disguise. Such malfunctions generally show you inherent flaws and meant of improvement. You simply keep tinkering until you get it right. The same should apply to an entrepreneurial venture. Mistakes and failures are precisely your means of education. They tell you about your own inadequacies. It is hard to find out such things form people, as they are often political with their praise and criticisms. Your failures also permit you to see the flaws of your ideas, which are only revealed in the execution of them. You learn what your audience really wants, the discrepancy between your ideas and how they affect the public."

-

Some of these things seem a little controversial and counterintuitive, especially the excerpt from Fooled by randomness.

These excerpt remind me of some things that are helpful to think about:

#1 Apprenticeship (DOING)

It's probably true that we can in essence hack time by being deeply on someone successful's side and having them invested in our success.

But the quote from fooled by randomness talks about survivorship bias. Should we disregard mentors and apprenticeships solely because of survivorship bias?

Probably not. It feels that while there might be an element of unpredictability in someone's outcome, and we probably shouldn't feel some kind of guarantee that we will be worse (or better) than our mentors, they still have followed some general guidelines, and inevitably do have experience that can help us move along quicker than they may have.

Being under them likely is infinitely better than reading books it seems, because their feedback and encouragement makes us feel purpose in taking action, and since they get behind what steps they are telling you to take, we feel more purposeful in our actions.

#2 System

If we embrace the "falling on our face" methodology + apprenticeship, and combine it with the right system (for us here on the forum that system is CENTS), it drastically improves (but does not guarantee) our chances of success.

But if we don't get lucky and win on the first try, and then decide to quit, that means that we have chosen to disregard..

#3 Probability & Grit

If we roll the dice enough times, and on each of those attempts we give it a REAL shot, and persevered on each attempt but were forced to give up on the business because it wasn't going to work, there's probably a likelihood that we're going to succeed on one of them.

The grit allows us to use those failures and understand that we have more ability than we did before taking our previous failed attempt to failure, and now can create something even better than we could previously.
 

Black_Dragon43

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In a world of thousands of business books, I think all of us in the apprenticeship phase of our career are trying to find answers to what to do. The question is, what is the root of all of the advice? The following excerpts, I feel, are really the root of what we're all trying to get to.
Very interesting comments overall, thanks for sharing.

I’d say the search for answers continues up to at least the $10M revenue level for those in creative businesses. I know I’m still searching, still unsure.

Maybe if you’re at $1M in a boring old school business where not much changes — maybe then you have a clear picture of what you need to do and it’s just a matter of executing.


However, to accurately evaluate the potential for success in any venture, you must consider not only the observable results but also the invisible alternatives: the possibility that those successful people might have failed had they experienced unluckier circumstances.
The irony of this is that imo it makes sense — IN THEORY. Taleb is supposed to be the Skin in the Game dude and not some fragilista… and lo and behold…

Anyhow — I don’t think probability has anything to do with success. A business doesn’t have “better odds” than another. It’s sort of like driving a billiard ball in a pocket… if you hit it in the right way, it WILL go into the damn pocket. Probability doesn’t even come into play.

Same as chess — a move is never “probably” better than another. It’s either better, or not.

As a result, it’s never about the “odds” of making millions as a writer. It’s all about if you have the skill, connections and infrastructure required to make the book a best seller. If you don’t, then F*ck, even with the best “odds” you will fail. Guaranteed. Which is why most writers are poor.


Being under them likely is infinitely better than reading books it seems, because their feedback and encouragement makes us feel purpose in taking action, and since they get behind what steps they are telling you to take, we feel more purposeful in our actions.
Personally I don’t know. I never had a mentor. In the early stages of my career when Is tarted out as a copywriter I did get hired by a direct response agency and the owner did take a liking to me and taught me a few things, for say 2-3 months. But that’s ALL the mentorship I got. Nothing else.

Imo, the biggest benefits of a “so-called” mentor isn’t his know-how — but access to his resources in the form of capital, connections, and opportunities. If you look at most people who benefited from a mentorship, THIS is the real thing they got.

There are a lot of present-day rich people who got rich because they had a gay but rich mentor (no joke), or they helped some old dude with their smarts, and so on. Just as some women became successful business owners after they married the right guy…

Same for people who worked under big, famous politicians. Putin was one of them. He remarked himself because he had the balls + lack of morals to solve problems that others were afraid to touch. Look at him today, President of Russia, from carrying the briefcase of the mayor of St Petersburg.

Imo THAT is the only real thing a mentor can give you, and usually it involves quite a lot of compromises to get.
 
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mikecarlooch

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Very interesting comments overall, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for responding! I think you're one of the best "sparring partners" on the forum, always willing to challenge and create interesting conversation
The irony of this is that imo it makes sense — IN THEORY. Taleb is supposed to be the Skin in the Game dude and not some fragilista… and lo and behold…

Anyhow — I don’t think probability has anything to do with success. A business doesn’t have “better odds” than another. It’s sort of like driving a billiard ball in a pocket… if you hit it in the right way, it WILL go into the damn pocket. Probability doesn’t even come into play.
Right, but is success really predictable like that?

I'm assuming you've had businesses in the past before your current one where you thought "this is DEFINITELY the one".. But it ended up not being the one.

So then you tried another thing, and it worked?
Same as chess — a move is never “probably” better than another. It’s either better, or not.

As a result, it’s never about the “odds” of making millions as a writer. It’s all about if you have the skill, connections and infrastructure required to make the book a best seller. If you don’t, then F*ck, even with the best “odds” you will fail. Guaranteed. Which is why most writers are poor.
But to have that type of judgement/forecasting, you probably have a long history of finding out what does not exactly work, no?
Personally I don’t know. I never had a mentor. In the early stages of my career when Is tarted out as a copywriter I did get hired by a direct response agency and the owner did take a liking to me and taught me a few things, for say 2-3 months. But that’s ALL the mentorship I got. Nothing else.

Imo, the biggest benefits of a “so-called” mentor isn’t his know-how — but access to his resources in the form of capital, connections, and opportunities. If you look at most people who benefited from a mentorship, THIS is the real thing they got.

There are a lot of present-day rich people who got rich because they had a gay but rich mentor (no joke), or they helped some old dude with their smarts, and so on. Just as some women became successful business owners after they married the right guy…

Same for people who worked under big, famous politicians. Putin was one of them. He remarked himself because he had the balls + lack of morals to solve problems that others were afraid to touch. Look at him today, President of Russia, from carrying the briefcase of the mayor of St Petersburg.

Imo THAT is the only real thing a mentor can give you, and usually it involves quite a lot of compromises to get.

I can see how a mentor could not be helpful like you're saying in some circumstances but from experience with having someone like this, aside from their resources, they got me to take meaningful action towards a specific goal, with a hint of certainty behind it.

For example, this first true sprinkle of success I've had in business (that failed recently), if I didn't have my partner/mentor, who has a lot of experience in RE, giving me an insight into the opportunity AND leading the vision, I don't think I would have pursued it. I had a hard time trusting my own judgement (i didn't have any), but I did trust his.

And it probably led to the same amount of tinkering that it would've taken had I done it myself, but his expertise led me to feeling confident that we could make it work.

Whenever I would say "Sh*t, this is not working", he always just comes back to me and says "You're overthinking it. Just do it this way" and it's like an "Ohhhh" moment.

So you get access to their resources, and also their judgement.
 

Black_Dragon43

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Right, but is success really predictable like that?

I'm assuming you've had businesses in the past before your current one where you thought "this is DEFINITELY the one".. But it ended up not being the one.

So then you tried another thing, and it worked?
I don’t think it’s predictable in that sense. But imo it’s all due to our lack of knowledge. Fundamentally, success is deterministic. Do the right thing(s), succeed. You may not know what the right thing is, that’s true, but this doesn’t mean success is probable/improbable. Much rather that success wasn’t possible with X idea/execution combination.

So yes, I have failed with many businesses.
But to have that type of judgement/forecasting, you probably have a long history of finding out what does not exactly work, no?
Agreed.
Whenever I would say "Sh*t, this is not working", he always just comes back to me and says "You're overthinking it. Just do it this way" and it's like an "Ohhhh" moment.

So you get access to their resources, and also their judgement.
Great point!
 
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How can i become highest member? is free or need to pay ? i don't have guidelines can someone suggest me, how can i become a pure member of this forum?
You can join the INSIDERS forum by clicking on "Join INSIDERS" at the top of the page: Fastlane Insiders

There's a subscription fee, it tells you the various options when you've read the page and clicked on "Subscribe".
 

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