Let Go and Haul: belonging no place, every place
Week 20, 2018 – San Francisco / Los Angeles
Journey: where we’re at
This week we got a ton done, and we’re ready to hit the ground running in June:
We hired three contractors and 2 summer interns (thanks NYU!)
We built out a comprehensive “north star” product doc and roadmap
We hit a serious progress milestones with our fundraise!
And, we did it all from different places. Anton was on the east coast. I was on the west coast, and Gen was in Mexico. I can’t wait to start introducing you to the new folks in the TRASH fam. From investors to individual contributors, I think we’re working with some of the coolest humans I’ve met.
Remember how just a few weeks ago I was like “we just finished Vision Camp, let’s raise money?” Feels like a year ago, but it was only the middle of April. Damn! On Friday night I cut off my work at 7pm, opened a bottle of wine in SF with some friends to celebrate progress, and decided to take the weekend off in LA. I have some business to attend to here, but I also needed a low key break, and LA is a place I always feel creatively recharged in. I haven’t let myself take a whole weekend “off” since the beginning of January, and wow, what a feeling.
Journal: what I learned
This week’s section is going to be short and sweet. It’s about a universal truth, one we all know, one we all aspire to, and is easier said than done.
On Monday I had a partner meeting that was exciting for a number of reasons but the most important was how it felt to me. It was the first time I felt like I pitched as my most true and authentic self. I know all you New Yorkers are probably like *eye roll she’s been in California too long*, and I know how that sentence might sound, but that’s the honest truth.
There a lot of things about who I am, where I’m from, what school I (didn’t) go to etc. that I used to feel uncomfortable about in pitch meetings. I was told so many times how important “pattern matching” is, and would gloss over all the things I felt like I “didn’t have”. I think people sensed I was holding back, so they would as questions, and and my “not good enough” monster showed up every time I tried to answer them. As a result I ended up making myself smaller not bigger, and while I was doing okay at pitching the product, I was doing a disservice to myself.
This week was a combination of “fuck it” – I’ve got to give this everything I’ve got, and if that means showing my truest self then let’s do it. I believe there is power in vulnerability, and so with my let’s-experiment-and-collect-data-points-hat-on, I just went for it and opened up the meeting with:
Based on all the facts, I probably shouldn’t be here right now.
Which is exactly why I should be here.
Because, despite all odds (I’m a woman in tech, I’m queer, I’m an immigrant, I didn’t go to a fancy school, I got to where I am with very little mentorship or coaching) – and despite all that, not only have I managed to have a successful career in tech, I’ve done it in one of the most nuanced, difficult and volatile parts of the industry: the crosshairs of emerging tech and consumer media platforms.
And then I hit next on the title slide and did what I usually do.
And it felt so good.
And the people in the room were like “damn, ok you got our attention”
“You only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.” – Maya Angelou
Jams: what I’m into
I’ve been pretty into video apps from China this week: Kuiashu, Tik Tok, Xigua Video.
This is like woah (from SIGGRAPH 2018)