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What do you do when crossing the road at a complex intersection?
I look the oncoming drivers straight in the face.
You'd think I should be calm, as the traffic light is green for me, and the driver is obliged to let me go first according to the rules. Other pedestrians have enough of this knowledge, and they walk undisturbed without turning their heads. For me, however, the danger only passes when the pedestrian crossing ends, even if there are no passing cars.
Strangely enough, this behavior of mine is a result of riding a motorcycle. The thing is, a pedestrian and a motorcyclist are very similar in their vulnerability towards those steel machines ready to crush them at any moment. It's just that statistically, a motorcyclist feels their helplessness more often like a cheetah finding itself among a herd of elephants. To the one who got trampled, it doesn't matter who was right. Such asymmetry in the consequences of a collision makes the motorcyclist default to the assumption that everyone around is trying to kill him. That's why at the intersection, I look the drivers in the eyes to make sure they really see me.
Andy Grove, the founder and CEO of Intel, cleverly titled his book "Only the Paranoid Survive." Like a motorcyclist on the road, an entrepreneur also operates in an extremely aggressive environment. And the earlier stage the company is in, the more forces there are in the market, capable of crushing it by intention or by accident. Thus, the fundamental qualities for founders are:
1) recognizing their vulnerability,
2) being paranoidly vigilant, and
3) making difficult decisions quickly.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
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