Persistence and creativity are more valuable than cynicism any day of the week, and I would assume so with start-ups as well.

In general, it seems to me that problems are a dime a dozen, and working imperfect solutions are gold. Perfect solutions are a marketing fantasy.

One of the things I’ve been contemplating is what my role is as part of an entrepreneurs “team”. Even though I’m usually only a temporary member of their party, my role as a developer helping them launch is pretty important. It’s tempting to try to change their vision and push them into an approach that seems more feasible, or scalable, or _________able, whatever. But I think it’s wrong to do that most of the time. It’s better to help them achieve their vision so they can test their assumptions, and build their business. If I get too pushy about what I think will work it becomes my vision and their money. This increases the risk that they will lose energy for the idea and that’s not good.

This post of yours cements that concept more completely – my role is to help entrepreneurs visions become products. Like you said, that takes generosity, empathy, and other characteristics that I generally associate with love. Love your clients!

I have a feeling there are two “accounts” here, one short-term, the other more long-term. I’m very sure the practice of sustainable pace contributes positively to the short-term account. But it feels to me that it is only necessary for keeping the long-term account in balance, not sufficient. I think it’s possible to be in deficit in the long-term account while paying heed to sustainable pace. It seems there’s something in the time-scale or the nature of activities that builds up or is accounted for differently, but I can’t clearly describe it.