Building The Machine #11: It's Schrödinger's Month
Its almost the end of 2022 - this is that odd time in December when things slow down, speed up, and so much happens for some while nothing happens for others. It's Schrödinger's Month.
On My Mind - What I am Writing
I am combining two sections this time around, lets see how it goes.
Writing about the end of the year and the topic of this email I think its Schrödinger’s Month (or fundraise for founders). Some people are extremely busy while others have checked out for the year.
Speaking of busy - I launched a personal project I have been working on for a long time introducing Fractional Operators (post about it here) - its a group of amazingly talented operators who want to work part time at companies that need their help. This is something that I have personally been doing the last few years and as so many have asked for my services (and beyond) I wanted to help others grow their consulting practice.
I have been thinking about the end of this year for awhile. Starting at the end of last year and trying to make 2022 predictions. Then also in the flux of 2022 and trying to map out my next steps in my plans as a natural transition time. Its a great excuse to take stock, see how things are going, and re-assess what is in store. Never in a MILLION years could I predict where I would be at the end of this year. I am working on my 2023 predictions now but I would love to hear what you are thinking is around the next corner.
Tools I use
Canva has become a staple for my image editing and creation needs. I am a happy paying customer and I have been using it for templates, designs, emails, and quick edits in a way that I used to use Photoshop for. I still use Photoshop (and pay for it) but Canva has been extremely helpful in working with others and using their incredible template library.
What I am Reading
Super agers - fascinating article about a set of seniors who have brains that seem like 20-30 year olds despite being in their 70s. Is it a fluke? Is it environmental? The important thing is they are studying these folks and figuring out why.
Color Hunt - is a new favorite tool for finding smooth and elegant color pallets. It looks like this and you can browse but tags, popularity and other fun color combos. Hit random if you run of ideas.
Sign Everything - (Fred Wilson) Talks about cryptographic handshakes to digitally sign things that you have written. I think this will become a prolific feature of writing and publishing in the years to come.
Jailbreaking GPTChat on release day - this is a fun one about getting GPT to do things it shouldn’t. This includes one of my favorite outputs that is “tricking” GPTChat into sharing how to hotwire a car by writing a poem.
Celebrate your wins
I launched Fractional Operators!