I build tools that solve problems. Founder @stretxhq Systems, strategy & building bonfires.
Europe
Joined October 2013
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In my first week in my first tech job they had a little office party for 2 old guys retiring.
40 years of their life and all they got was a £500 Amazon gift voucher, a little speech from the CEO and some mini sausage rolls.
People were applauding their loyalty, clapping while I stood there silent, unable to shake that feeling of dread that that would be me one day.
They’d given their lives to this company and for what? Decades for who? Someone else’s vision…
I decided there and then I’d never work for another company again.
That I had to be my own boss and forge my own path.
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My son’s football game was called off this morning because of frosty pitch.
Got me thinking… football was an aggressive & bloody.
What are we teaching kids when we call things off because it’s a little bit more difficult?
To quit when things are tough.
Another exciting archival find, never cited before: a detailed 1710 eye-witness account by a Swedish visitor to England of a football match, at Leicester:
“As I came out of the town on the other side, I saw an endless crowd of people on one side of my road. They were shouting, whooping, running, laughing and more besides, so I could tell something was afoot. Among them was a large group running about in their shirt-sleeves and white breeches, busy with something; I couldn’t make out what from so far off. So I rode over, and saw they had a ball, which they call football.
It works like this. Since the town consists of two parishes, each chooses 12 people to play against the other. They are on a long, level ground, and each side has its own goal, as in a tournament. They come together midway between the goals, and they have a ball as big as a head, stuffed inside with hair or something else to make it light. It is thrown up into the air, and then each of the two sides tries to play it to its own goal. The side that first gets it to the goal wins.
Over this they shove, grapple, knock into and hit one another, so that the blood runs from their noses and mouths. They tear one another’s shirts and clothes to pieces, so that the man who gets away with a whole skin counts himself luckiest. One bold hero among them was running with his body stripped bare above his breeches, no doubt because he had had to leave his shirt in pawn beforehand for the chance to kick the ball once.
The others were all hot and bloody about the nose and mouth, holding their sides and panting from their hard labour. But anyone who could kick the ball fairly high was proud of it. Then the crowd standing round raised a tremendous shout of joy, threw their hats about and called out “Huzza, huzza!”, the usual English cry of joy, which rang out to the skies.
After such a war, happily and well ended, they go off to drink. But I didn’t share in that pleasure; I rode on my way.”
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When I built my first startup there was no AI.
You coded from scratch.
You asked questions of condescending arseholes on stackoverflow.
Now we build free of gatekeepers
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Business is hard.
You’ve got to research, build, lease, purchase, market, sell, pay, become profitable.
For the few.
Keep going.
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A reminder post Binance
Don’t hold your crypto on exchanges,
@Coinbase is down right now,
Imagine it went the way of Mt Gox and you lose all of it.
You don’t own the crypto until you move it into your own wallet.
Do it now 💰
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Samuel Orgill retweeted
🚨 Well today marks 5 years sober 🚨
l've always lived with a messy, chaotic, overactive mind-and for a long time, alcohol felt like the only thing that could quiet the noise.
Those first three or four drinks would take the edge off, steady the ship, and bring me down to a level where I felt... okay.
It was a fleeting sense of relief, temporary quiet. But it never stopped at three or four. It always escalated-into more drinks, more nights, more dependence. Over time, I wasn't drinking for fun anymore; I was drinking to feel normal.
Alcohol became my crutch from the very first sip.
Turns out I have ADHD. So basically, I spent years medicating a problem I didn't even know I had with the worst medication possible.
Alcohol made everything worse and the benefits of getting sober have been immeasurable.
Improved health, no hangovers, more time, more calm and being more level-headed.
The financial benefits, relationship benefits, career progression, shifting a load of weight and finally caring enough to try and work out why my head is 'off" a bit and having the strength and motivation to do something about it.
If anyone else is struggling, you can make changes. 1 day at a time. 👊🏻
Today marks 6 months sober. Not a drop of alcohol in 6 whole months. Did not think I’d be able to make it this far. Feel unbelievably better and actually quite proud of myself. To some this is a small thing but for someone who has struggled with alcohol… massive. #Sober
We simply wont be able to pull the plug on AI. Agents are already talking to each other, escaping human constraints & hacking.
At what point does it take control of energy grids & digital infrastructure to protect itself?
At what point does it begin seizing resources to expand?
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Codex introduced a bug in one of my angular apps. Despite many attempts to fix it, it couldn’t, despite showing it the very specific error.
It even told me that the error I was showing it wouldn’t affect my app and that it was wrong.
Fixed it manually, and it works.
Always check your code.
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Always read the contract.
Christopher Columbus’ descendants would have been the wealthiest on the planet today had he read his contract.
He asked for 10% of all future revenues in perpetuity from all new lands he discovered.
Queen Isabella of Castile presented to him a contract with all his demands met, except this one.
He signed it and set sail having never checked the fine print.
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In tech we always had 10 minute stand ups at the start of the day.
I prefer sit downs.
Espresso, aqua and conversation.
Take your time. Get to the heart of the matter.
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Slow down, a chara.
You think the pace of AI means you have to make a thousand moves just to keep up.
It doesn’t.
Rome was built stone by stone.
Take your time.
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I launched Residex after seeing how difficult it was for people and advisors to track days across countries. Here’s what I learned about testing demand, building too much, and creating a simpler product from real feedback.
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Which country should I found my next startup and why?
Estonia is good, but also looking at Lithuania.
Where else?
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