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My ADHD founder toolbox

hypatia.ca

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Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#11

Post by bitexploder »

triggercut wrote: post #9
ttcbj wrote: post #2

I saw the guy who founded kinkos speak at Babson business school about 20 years ago. Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. He got up and in the first 30 seconds said he thought ADHD had helped him, didn’t think of it as a negative, and just came because he wanted to tell his story. Like so many founders (esp of retail businesses, I find), he was super charismatic a…

> Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. Can I ask why you find that weird? ADHD is, and is also comorbid with other learning disabilities. ADHD has so many dimensions and interrelationships between those dimensions that everybody's lived experience is different. If you know one person with ADHD, then you know one person with ADHD, you don't know everyone with ADHD.…

I feel the ADHD is a strength not weakness mentality is generally harmful. There are some aspects of it that can help, especially when you are not deep working on one thing, but in general, I think it is unequivocally not a benefit to almost anyone who has it.

edit: I would add there is some survivorship bias to it too. Successful CEO says ADHD helped? Huh. Cool. There is a reason alcoholism and substance abuse have significant overlap with ADHD communities. For example, I built and sold an infosec consulting firm and I have ADHD. I could tell you stories about how in some limited circumstances operating a business it helped. But that ignores all the times I struggled and had to dig deep into my well of ADHD management skills to stay focused and efficient on chores I don’t like doing.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#12

Post by ultrasounder »

ttcbj wrote: post #2

I saw the guy who founded kinkos speak at Babson business school about 20 years ago. Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. He got up and in the first 30 seconds said he thought ADHD had helped him, didn’t think of it as a negative, and just came because he wanted to tell his story. Like so many founders (esp of retail businesses, I find), he was super charismatic a…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvqIkJfYzX8.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#14

Post by vbad »

falcolas wrote: post #6
vbad wrote: post #5

> After meeting the founders last summer during their YC batch, I’ve been pretty consistently using the app InFlow, which I described to a friend as “super chill easy cognitive behavioural skill-building around ADHD.” I feel like I’ve made real progress using it. This blog post reads like an advertisement for InFlow (YC S21), which was roundly criticized for being exploitative of people with ADHD, when it was posted…

They mention it once... and cover a lot of other things. So while I agree with the linked threads, this doesn't really read as an ad for InFlow any more than it reads as an ad for CBT or Intuniv. My impression.

The author mentions it right after the introduction, with no criticism whatsoever, only praise. Unlike the rest of the piece which is more balanced. It certainly set the advertisement alarm bells ringing in my mind.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#15

Post by klysm »

ttcbj wrote: post #2

I saw the guy who founded kinkos speak at Babson business school about 20 years ago. Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. He got up and in the first 30 seconds said he thought ADHD had helped him, didn’t think of it as a negative, and just came because he wanted to tell his story. Like so many founders (esp of retail businesses, I find), he was super charismatic a…

I don’t think referring to it outright as a strength is a useful thing. It has negative and positive consequences, and the impacts on your life depend upon a huge number of factors.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#16

Post by klysm »

nyanpasu64 wrote: post #3

I tried signing up for Inflow, but noped out when it asked to fill out survey questions and supply an email address.

How do you expect to go about the modern internet without supplying an email address to sign up for something?

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#17

Post by [deleted] »

bitexploder wrote: post #11
triggercut wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. Can I ask why you find that weird? ADHD is, and is also comorbid with other learning disabilities. ADHD has so many dimensions and interrelationships between those dimensions that everybody's lived experience is different. If you know one person with ADHD, then you know one person with ADHD, you don't know everyone with ADHD.…

I feel the ADHD is a strength not weakness mentality is generally harmful. There are some aspects of it that can help, especially when you are not deep working on one thing, but in general, I think it is unequivocally not a benefit to almost anyone who has it. edit: I would add there is some survivorship bias to it too. Successful CEO says ADHD helped? Huh. Cool. There is a reason alcoholism and substance abuse have…

[deleted]

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#18

Post by hypatiadotca »

vbad wrote: post #14
falcolas wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mention it once... and cover a lot of other things. So while I agree with the linked threads, this doesn't really read as an ad for InFlow any more than it reads as an ad for CBT or Intuniv. My impression.

The author mentions it right after the introduction, with no criticism whatsoever, only praise. Unlike the rest of the piece which is more balanced. It certainly set the advertisement alarm bells ringing in my mind.

Hey there! I used inflow for like a year and liked it, but churned for now. I’ll probably use it again in the future though, it’s a good app. I have no affiliation with the founders aside from meeting them through YC, fwiw.

If it was an ad it wasn’t a very good one, lmao (it was not an ad)

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#19

Post by kritiko »

vbad wrote: post #5

> After meeting the founders last summer during their YC batch, I’ve been pretty consistently using the app InFlow, which I described to a friend as “super chill easy cognitive behavioural skill-building around ADHD.” I feel like I’ve made real progress using it. This blog post reads like an advertisement for InFlow (YC S21), which was roundly criticized for being exploitative of people with ADHD, when it was posted…

I feel like if the author actually uses the app daily, that’s a pretty strong endorsement.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#20

Post by firecall »

klysm wrote: post #16
nyanpasu64 wrote: post #3

I tried signing up for Inflow, but noped out when it asked to fill out survey questions and supply an email address.

How do you expect to go about the modern internet without supplying an email address to sign up for something?

It's more than that...

It's not even clear what you are signing up for, and they start asking a bunch of personal questions...

My ADHD brain noped out of there in an overwhelmed browser closing act of defiance! :-)

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