AI Generated image of my dream house I have serious doubts about all the AI hype. It’s like my doubts about evolution. It’s not that I don’t believe it, but I don’t understand it. By common sense, it doesn’t seem like the story adds up, but in this case, there might be more than just my ignorance to explain my suspicion. The constant message since the start of this hype train is that AI is going to make software developers extinct. Don’t learn to code, because AI will make pr

By Hieronymus Bosch - www.google.com/culturalinstitute : Home : Info, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22174600 I wish there was a rule that said once you reach $1,000,000 you’ll be happy. Wouldn’t that make life so much simpler? There is a scientific study that showed that happiness plateaus after $75K a year. Phew! Now we have our goal post. But more recent data suggests that more money might actually make you happy… back to the drawing board!

Lünersee, Austria - Daniel Waldner How can I build a strong work ethic? I don’t know but it seems like there could be a couple paths to get there: A: Poor circumstances + grit B: Competitive environment + insecurity A: Cool, calm and collected B: Macho, chip on the shoulder, something to prove A: Humble B: Prideful A: Quiet B: Babbling A: Wise B: Rash A: Strong B: Muscular A: Wealthy B: Rich A: Toyota B: Maserati Which one are you? I want to be A, but if I’m honest, I often h

Hand-drawn animation by Doina Titanu Fiverr profile: https://www.fiverr.com/s/NNv0PXZ Here it is! The prototype of my first app, Bonobo Budget, is ready to go! If you’re on iOS, you’ll have to download “TestFlight” to get the app. If you’re on Android, I have to add you individually for the time being, so please reach out if you’re an Android user. Open the following link then click the relevant app store button and it will take you where you need to go. https://www.nathanhoe

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic Life is full of paradoxes. For example, perfectionism has been a blight on my career trajectory. Obsessively agonizing over grades and being afraid of failure doesn’t exactly lend itself to action. However, in the same breath I can praise my perfectionism for giving me a career trajectory. Grades got me into my university program, which helped me land internships, that gave me experience and money, which gave me confidence, that lan

Snowy Forest - Bronwyn Beley One of my longest standing interests since 'coming online' in high school is minimalism (primarily facilitated by Matt D’Avella). The two proponents of this ideology that have most resounded with me are: Declutter your possessions to make room for the things that are most important to you. Consumerism and the cult of home ownership are optional. The goal isn’t stoicism and a monk-like discipline. It’s simply to remove the things in life that don’t

Married 9 months ago. Didn’t take a honeymoon. Too tired. We said we’ll travel next year. It is next year. Still too tired. Probably won’t enjoy it. Maybe travel One Day. Want to start a family. Families are expensive. Want to buy a house. Houses are expensive. Want to retire. Retirements are expensive. Maybe travel One Day. Take the risk. Touch down in Milan. Pasta, pizza, wine. Swim in the Ligurian Sea. Pasta, pizza, wine. Held up Pisa. Pasta, pizza, wine. Confession at the

I’m writing from a train between Sarzana and Pisa. My wife and I have been backpacking through Italy this past week. There’s something so freeing about carrying all your belongings on your back and depending on public transportation. It’s true, we’re missing out all the fun that comes with road trips: Marital tensions rising after that missed turnoff. Anxiously scanning the curb for enough space to park. Locals leaning on the horn as a long line of cars stacks up behind me.

There is something to be said for rash over-confidence. Steven Bartlett often talks about how you can bend the world if you believe that you can. Sounds a bit cheesy and it is but I think it’s largely true. My friend Adam is a perfect example of this. He moved to Canada from Ireland with nothing, he’s 26, no degree, started his career late, got married young, has two kids, single income family, but he has a higher net worth than 90% of guys his age! Unless there’s some sketch

Over the past week I’ve been reflecting on this story from the Gospel of Mark (don’t worry this won’t be political but if you aren’t a fan of mysticism you can tune out): As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall n

https://unsplash.com/@florianklauer It’s hard to call what I do publishing since the word implies I have an audience and a platform. For all I know I’m writing into the void. That’s fine with me though because that isn’t the point. I hope some people do connect with my story but regardless, publishing helps me validate my ideas and stay accountable. Accountability: continuing to write these articles is contingent on me having valuable things to say which is contingent on me t

Anna here, Nathan’s wife. Nathan thought he’d get me to write this week’s post since he tends to be the dreamer in our relationship and I’m often the risk-averse, practical gal in our discussions (it’s all about balance, kids). I have no desire to start a business like my husband does, but I do know what it’s like to have dreams (despite my mindset being largely practical most of the time). I always wanted to be an actress (being a theatre kid will do that to you). However,

Primavera - Botticelli As someone who uses AI every day, I know how freaking capable it is and I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface. Outsourcing critical thinking, memory, creativity, and even navigating relationships becomes a really tempting prospect, but we need to make sure we hold on to things that are authentically human. An example of this: I needed art for my app. I could have sold my soul and just used AI but I hired a real artist, and paid her real money. This i

Photo by Andrey Andreyev on Unsplash In the past couple weeks, I’ve had precious little time to work on my side project and that’s ok. The metric for success on something like this is progress not perfection. I’m married. I have a job. I love my wife. I love my job. I have higher priorities than starting a business right now. But I don’t want to put it on the back burner either. The back burner is where dreams and projects go to die. My solution is to check off one TODO eac

By Rdevany - This is a digital photograph that I took, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23263964 I’ve clicked a few buttons, had a few conversations, prompted AI, and now I have ‘Inc.’ after my name. I started a business sans business plan or viable product, like a kid playing pretend. But I think this was a valuable lesson. From my experience, knowing that something is possible is half the battle. And I don’t mean knowing that it’s theoretically

For the past couple months, I’ve been listening to copious amounts of The Diary of a CEO (DOAC) podcast. I’ll boot up my Switch and run around aimlessly in Minecraft while Steven Bartlett discusses entrepreneurship, personal finance, and self improvement with a myriad of successful people. For whatever reason, entrepreneurship + Minecraft hits the spot for me. There are definitely issues with podcasts as a medium so let’s start there. It’s super easy for me to lapse into "con

The dreamer in me has come up with a million business ideas over the past year and the realist in me has shot them all down. It’s easy to feel like these are opposing forces but I actually think they’re conspiring together to ensure I never accomplish anything. Think about it: both of these attitudes have the same effect. The realist is most comfortable if I never take a risk and the dreamer is constantly jumping from one idea to the next, never willing to commit to anything.

I’m Nathan Hoehne. I’m a 25 year old software developer in Canada. I’m just a normal guy. I’m not a genius. I'm not a millionaire. I’m not a salesman by nature. I’m not the guy from your high school that you thought would become an entrepreneur. But I’m starting a business. I’m not going to pretend to know the future or make predictions but I use AI every day and it keeps getting better and better. Maybe I’m watching too much Diary of a CEO, but it feels like AI is this giant