The internet has given us all incredible power. How will you use
it? What’s your passionate vision? Can you leverage your online
or offline social networks to launch you?
If you are a parent, teach young people about good uses of the
internet and social technology (such as building a billion dollar
102 Inside Facebook
Copyright, Karel Baloun, 2006. All rights reserved.
67 i just received an email “You have been invited to join a MySpace Group!” so I
open it and read “Hi K, You have been invited to join the sexy live webcams room
group on MySpace.”. Click on the link and, gosh darn it, I get a “Server too busy”
error. But that’s okay, because I get one just about every other day, like for
“kittys69 webcam group” which pointed to another porn webcam site. this type of
spam is almost never seen and vigorously fought on Facebook, but it’s my only
communication from myspace.
company with it) and understand when young people use it
differently.
If you are a technology professional, I hope you can benefit from
this experience, mostly to recover your youthful ambition and
inspiration. I address you all as young students now, whatever
age and in whatever situation you are. We can all share the
youthful ambitious drive, which propelled Facebook to amazing
results.
The world is waiting for your inventions. Busy looking at hot guys
and chicks wherever they happen to be, but otherwise waiting for
you, if you can break through that noise.
I said you can do Anything, not Everything. And I did say YOU.
Yes, you. Everyone, each of you.
Generation Debt: Why now is a terrible time to be young, by a 24
year old, has important data, a correct policy perspective, but a
terrible subtitle and even worse tone. I feel like crying in
frustration and sympathy as I read about hopeless young men and
women, trapped by debt, exhaustion, and inertia in low paying
jobs, unable to see a better future, clinging to regrets and blame.
It is indeed a terrible time to be hopelessly in debt, and certainly
kids growing up in the 50s and 60s had it easier, and certainly old
powerful folks (much older than me) have stacked the deck to
favor themselves and the powerful. But look, dammit, Facebook
shows us we don’t have to give in to that. Don’t give in.
Karel Baloun 103
I’ve found something to put here. Your turn.
When I graduated, I was such a financial idiot that I put myself a
few hundred bucks short of $100K into debt, and I sat
unemployed, without my part of the rent in my checking account,
and holding over half a dozen maxed out credit cards. I turned it
around68, and you can do so even faster and better. Read Your
Money or Your Life. Then be grateful. You have online tools and
opportunities I didn’t, and you are smarter than me. The two
things I did right were that I stopped spending money and always,
continuously, obsessively, passionately kept developing and
evolving whatever I thought could be useful skills. Indulge me as I
rephrase those two items.
I. Stop whatever you are obviously screwing up. Stop digging the
hole in which you are standing. First stop spending money, the
big items first. Then eliminate your blocks; remove your cement
shoes. A genuine positive attitude, based on absolute and
unconditional gratitude, is worth a million times its weight in
gold. Just weigh it and see. Seriously, I am grateful for whatever
happens, because I know it was meant for the best for me, for my
future. I even felt that way about my house burning down. If
nobody buys or reads this book, than that is because it sucked,
and thank god nobody saw it. Finally, any addictions must go.
104 Inside Facebook
Copyright, Karel Baloun, 2006. All rights reserved.
68 Obviously this is a long story. Catch me sometime here on my back deck at
2am, in the light of the full moon overlooking these beautiful californian oak
covered hills, when I’m tired of coding but not ready to sleep. The best book
available is Your Money or Your Life, which carefully teaches that not only do you
not _need_ that (whatever it is) but it is also costing your X hours of your life. The
tools it in were, literally, priceless and life changing. The only outdated bit is that
it tells you to buy bonds; don’t do that. See, you have it harder, and need to be
creative. Of every book I’ve introduced you to here, BUY THIS ONE.
Obvious ones like drugs, alcoholism, gambling are relatively easy.
Then continue on to snap thrill seeking, unsatisfying sex,
pointless web surfing, collecting this or that, and whatever else
takes your time regularly without putting you ahead, giving you
any long term value.
II. Passionately do good things for yourself. Figure out something
you are good at, and then uncover what you need to do, today, to
be better. Repeat. Persist. Whatever you try your best at, if it is
good for people, it will be one of your valuable stepping stones.
Luck always favors the prepared. So prepare yourself to be lucky.
What to do? What skills have value? What jobs are likely to be
around in 10-20 years, so that your first (or next) steps towards a
(new) career pay the highest dividends? What are people likely to
need? Especially people who are likely to be rich, powerful,
respected or skilled at that time, or the people who will be closest
to you to serve! (these may be a very different group of people
than today.)
Friends and community are critical to your success. Do you have
the right people around you? Facebook can help you here, as long
as you are an active creator with whatever tools you have. Surfing
endless profiles and photos doesn’t move your life.
Your attitude determines your opportunities. The economy for
you is what you personally think it is. Whether you believe you
will succeed or fail, you’ll be right. As Abraham Lincoln said,
“Most folks are about as happy as they set their mind to be.”
Karel Baloun 105
I’ve found something to put here. Your turn.
Facebook, Dell, Microsoft were founded by college dropouts. But
Google wasn’t and I personally don’t recommend it. Zuck and
Dustin were just ready to move ahead, that’s why it worked for
them. Most people are not ready to give their entire heart, soul
and 18-20 hrs/day to an idea, or don’t have that idea available to
them. Give that same passion to something, while finishing your
degree. Those somethings will be your ticket, as Japanese was for
me. Drop IN. Don’t just go along with what advisors say, be
satisfied completing your English, Women’s Studies, Psychology or
Business degree, and realize that you don’t know what to do with
it. Study agriculture because you want to be a farmer, or biology
because you are passionate about nano-bio-tech, or math
because you want to compute better climate models to save us
from global warming. Drop IN, with some passion in your studies.
Don’t just major in Business; do the business. Don’t just major in
Creative Writing; publish some creative writing. Skills based
majors are wise, in that they keep your options open, and are
usually harder. With learning and personal growth, if its quite
easy is likely not too valuable. Drop IN.
it? What’s your passionate vision? Can you leverage your online
or offline social networks to launch you?
If you are a parent, teach young people about good uses of the
internet and social technology (such as building a billion dollar
102 Inside Facebook
Copyright, Karel Baloun, 2006. All rights reserved.
67 i just received an email “You have been invited to join a MySpace Group!” so I
open it and read “Hi K, You have been invited to join the sexy live webcams room
group on MySpace.”. Click on the link and, gosh darn it, I get a “Server too busy”
error. But that’s okay, because I get one just about every other day, like for
“kittys69 webcam group” which pointed to another porn webcam site. this type of
spam is almost never seen and vigorously fought on Facebook, but it’s my only
communication from myspace.
company with it) and understand when young people use it
differently.
If you are a technology professional, I hope you can benefit from
this experience, mostly to recover your youthful ambition and
inspiration. I address you all as young students now, whatever
age and in whatever situation you are. We can all share the
youthful ambitious drive, which propelled Facebook to amazing
results.
The world is waiting for your inventions. Busy looking at hot guys
and chicks wherever they happen to be, but otherwise waiting for
you, if you can break through that noise.
I said you can do Anything, not Everything. And I did say YOU.
Yes, you. Everyone, each of you.
Generation Debt: Why now is a terrible time to be young, by a 24
year old, has important data, a correct policy perspective, but a
terrible subtitle and even worse tone. I feel like crying in
frustration and sympathy as I read about hopeless young men and
women, trapped by debt, exhaustion, and inertia in low paying
jobs, unable to see a better future, clinging to regrets and blame.
It is indeed a terrible time to be hopelessly in debt, and certainly
kids growing up in the 50s and 60s had it easier, and certainly old
powerful folks (much older than me) have stacked the deck to
favor themselves and the powerful. But look, dammit, Facebook
shows us we don’t have to give in to that. Don’t give in.
Karel Baloun 103
I’ve found something to put here. Your turn.
When I graduated, I was such a financial idiot that I put myself a
few hundred bucks short of $100K into debt, and I sat
unemployed, without my part of the rent in my checking account,
and holding over half a dozen maxed out credit cards. I turned it
around68, and you can do so even faster and better. Read Your
Money or Your Life. Then be grateful. You have online tools and
opportunities I didn’t, and you are smarter than me. The two
things I did right were that I stopped spending money and always,
continuously, obsessively, passionately kept developing and
evolving whatever I thought could be useful skills. Indulge me as I
rephrase those two items.
I. Stop whatever you are obviously screwing up. Stop digging the
hole in which you are standing. First stop spending money, the
big items first. Then eliminate your blocks; remove your cement
shoes. A genuine positive attitude, based on absolute and
unconditional gratitude, is worth a million times its weight in
gold. Just weigh it and see. Seriously, I am grateful for whatever
happens, because I know it was meant for the best for me, for my
future. I even felt that way about my house burning down. If
nobody buys or reads this book, than that is because it sucked,
and thank god nobody saw it. Finally, any addictions must go.
104 Inside Facebook
Copyright, Karel Baloun, 2006. All rights reserved.
68 Obviously this is a long story. Catch me sometime here on my back deck at
2am, in the light of the full moon overlooking these beautiful californian oak
covered hills, when I’m tired of coding but not ready to sleep. The best book
available is Your Money or Your Life, which carefully teaches that not only do you
not _need_ that (whatever it is) but it is also costing your X hours of your life. The
tools it in were, literally, priceless and life changing. The only outdated bit is that
it tells you to buy bonds; don’t do that. See, you have it harder, and need to be
creative. Of every book I’ve introduced you to here, BUY THIS ONE.
Obvious ones like drugs, alcoholism, gambling are relatively easy.
Then continue on to snap thrill seeking, unsatisfying sex,
pointless web surfing, collecting this or that, and whatever else
takes your time regularly without putting you ahead, giving you
any long term value.
II. Passionately do good things for yourself. Figure out something
you are good at, and then uncover what you need to do, today, to
be better. Repeat. Persist. Whatever you try your best at, if it is
good for people, it will be one of your valuable stepping stones.
Luck always favors the prepared. So prepare yourself to be lucky.
What to do? What skills have value? What jobs are likely to be
around in 10-20 years, so that your first (or next) steps towards a
(new) career pay the highest dividends? What are people likely to
need? Especially people who are likely to be rich, powerful,
respected or skilled at that time, or the people who will be closest
to you to serve! (these may be a very different group of people
than today.)
Friends and community are critical to your success. Do you have
the right people around you? Facebook can help you here, as long
as you are an active creator with whatever tools you have. Surfing
endless profiles and photos doesn’t move your life.
Your attitude determines your opportunities. The economy for
you is what you personally think it is. Whether you believe you
will succeed or fail, you’ll be right. As Abraham Lincoln said,
“Most folks are about as happy as they set their mind to be.”
Karel Baloun 105
I’ve found something to put here. Your turn.
Facebook, Dell, Microsoft were founded by college dropouts. But
Google wasn’t and I personally don’t recommend it. Zuck and
Dustin were just ready to move ahead, that’s why it worked for
them. Most people are not ready to give their entire heart, soul
and 18-20 hrs/day to an idea, or don’t have that idea available to
them. Give that same passion to something, while finishing your
degree. Those somethings will be your ticket, as Japanese was for
me. Drop IN. Don’t just go along with what advisors say, be
satisfied completing your English, Women’s Studies, Psychology or
Business degree, and realize that you don’t know what to do with
it. Study agriculture because you want to be a farmer, or biology
because you are passionate about nano-bio-tech, or math
because you want to compute better climate models to save us
from global warming. Drop IN, with some passion in your studies.
Don’t just major in Business; do the business. Don’t just major in
Creative Writing; publish some creative writing. Skills based
majors are wise, in that they keep your options open, and are
usually harder. With learning and personal growth, if its quite
easy is likely not too valuable. Drop IN.
No comments:
Post a Comment