Let Go and Haul: ways of understanding, July playlist
Week 31, 2018 – Brooklyn
Journey: where we’re at
First alpha is out of the gate! We got some really helpful feedback this week but need a lot more, so we have our work cut out for us with user research and community building.
Contrary to what many people believe – that you need to be motivated to take action, it’s the other way around: action creates motivation. The combination of play week + release got us all really excited about video effects, and playing with looks and DaVinci Resolve so there are some fun new things coming soon.
If you want to dive deeper into this world of nerdy video fun, follow Anton on Twitter!
Journal: what I learned
Yesterday I got to see my oldest friend on planet earth. I’ve known Nicole since before I could talk! What I find the most special about a relationship like this is how much can go unsaid in a conversation. You can take a lot of liberties, make a lot of assumptions… just speak less… because this person knows so much about you. There is a deep familiarity and shared understanding of the context you both come from.
As an immigrant and someone who’s moved around a lot, this is really precious to me, because normally I have to kind of be “on” in a certain way – did I say that word the right way, is this reference going to make sense… ah I need to explain where I’m coming from in this circumstance etc.
This experience had me contemplating the importance of understanding – this thing that is so core to the human condition. We’re all just looking for other people who understand us.
On the phone tonight with my sister Sophie who’s in the process of relocating from Berlin to Vancouver, this theme popped up again, and the importance of having different friends you can relate to about different experiences, contexts, parts of your life.
Understanding was a big theme while I was fundraising, because of course I’m trying to share a concept in a way that is understandable as quickly as possible, but more importantly all parties in the conversation are looking for a point of understanding, a point of connection. I think this is one of the more nuanced challenges about fundraising as a minority in your field, you might really have to dig deep for the points of connection because similarities are not going to be as obvious.
Understanding is again a big theme with the software we’re building. The better it can “understand” your video, the more magical it’s likely to feel. Every time I hear someone exclaim “ah, how does it know me so well!?” when talking about an app, I start to listen more carefully, there’s that deep human desire, the desire to be understood on some level.
Understanding was also a big goal of this newsletter – one of the reasons for starting it was to feel less along, and to feel more understood when I did get precious moments of time with friends and family. The outcome has been pretty cool – I find myself having to “pitch” Trash to my friends on a weekend less and less, because they know what’s going on! This is something I deeply appreciate, because as excited as I am about what we’re doing, I need Saturdays too :)
Jams: what I’m listening to
It’s playlist time! This month is extra long. I’m not sure why, there was just a bunch of good music. Enjoy the VIBES.