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Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

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Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#101

Post by sytse »

swyx wrote: post #97
sytse wrote: post #88

Thanks for posting this. Happy to answer questions!

how do you handle GitLab + Kilo + all this personal work? what system have you figured out? sorry if you've written about this somewhere, i think there's a meta lesson you have that we all can use.

All of these companies (including the Even One Ventures and Open Core Ventures ones) have CEOs who run them day to day. I try to help with positioning and setting ambitious goals. Y Combinator really opened my eyes to how helpful setting clear and hard to reach goals is.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#102

Post by gen_1 »

appstorelottery wrote: post #96
gen_1 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fellow Australian with Peyronie's here. Do you know about Dr C Love? I have just had a PIG surgery with him. It is too early to make a definite statement on the result yet, but things are looking a lot better than before.

I live in the EU at present, I haven't heard of Dr C. I've seen a little Doctor Worship on Reddit, but no doctor who can deal with Chronic conditions. In the NL the only option was Tunica albuginea plication (TAP) which results in a loss of length. I've read that PIG in 44% of cases fixes this, however... ugh... surgery. From the bottom of my heart I wish you success in this, and I'd love to stay in contact and hear…

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Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#103

Post by bglazer »

pavas wrote: post #43
SoftTalker wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty much a pessimest when it comes to fighting cancer. I think it's just one of the bugs in our genetic code that evolution didn't shake out. I say that not as a biologist or anyone who has done any work in the field. But I've seen people close to me die of cancer and it seems like the treatement is almost worse than the disease. I agree that the standard first attacks are very crude and have broad systemic si…

> I think it's just one of the bugs in our genetic code that evolution didn't shake out. I say that not as a biologist or anyone who has done any work in the field. I'm just curious, do you know what the opinions about this stuff are from people that work in these fields, or that have dedicated their lives to it?

I work in this field. It’s more or less correct but kind of lacking in detail. Cancer is a property of all multicellular life. I think it’s best understood as the behavior of a dynamical system that loses the feedback control that keeps cell growth under control.

Check out this paper from the Lander lab: https://elifesciences.org/articles/61026

It’s a bit jargon heavy but it’s a nice case study in how tumor growth is controlled through all the same mechanisms that normal tissue growth uses. Even cells with an outright cancerous gene mutation are basically still just doing normal growth and development.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#104

Post by sytse »

HorizonXP wrote: post #75
menno-sh wrote: post #15

There's a crazy story in here where Sytse invested in a click chemistry cancer research startup (Shasqi) in 2017 and ends up becoming a customer six years later. I sincerely hope it works out for him.

Also helps we were all batchmates in W15, so the serendipity is even higher.

Yes, it felt like the universe provided in this case. I invest in my batch mate. We end up becoming best friends, our wifes become best friends. Biotech VCs are afraid click chemistry isn't hot enough. I lead multiple rounds and become the biggest investor and it becomes my biggest investment. The year I get cancer click-chemistry wins a Nobel prize. And I become a patient. Unbelievable.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#105

Post by sytse »

appstorelottery wrote: post #40

This is the most supremely motivating post I've seen in a long time. I know what it is to be diagnosed with cancer, being rushed to surgery - it's amazing how quickly the medical-industrial complex can move once you've got a diagnosis (at least in Australia). I had a short period of contemplating terminally, because cancer claimed the life of most of my family. Thankfully, after surgery it was gone. To see Sid use hi…

Thanks for you kinds words, glad to hear you recovered from Peyronies.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#106

Post by sytse »

manmal wrote: post #84
allpratik wrote: post #70

Wish the best for Sid! My father was unlucky with his TP53 mutation which resulted in AEL and he passed away suddenly. 100% fit to vanishing away straight in 8 months. It was pretty rough for me especially to see how these doctors (most of them but bot all) are so non-experimental in their attitude. Sid is right, Staying alive is our own job and definitely what he is doing will give him and his loved ones enough hope…

I guess experiments will get a doctor sued.

Certainly hospitals are in the business of minimizing liability while patients would prefer maximum survivability. Those are very different goals.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#107

Post by SilentM68 »

appstorelottery wrote: post #40

This is the most supremely motivating post I've seen in a long time. I know what it is to be diagnosed with cancer, being rushed to surgery - it's amazing how quickly the medical-industrial complex can move once you've got a diagnosis (at least in Australia). I had a short period of contemplating terminally, because cancer claimed the life of most of my family. Thankfully, after surgery it was gone. To see Sid use hi…

"Anything is possible," is the correct mindset when it comes to chronic or incurable diseases.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#108

Post by dangus »

Sounds like some lame ass tech founder bullshit if I’ll be honest.

If I had cancer the last think I’d be thinking would be to make a slide deck about it.

Can these robot people come back down to earth and have a genuine human experience for a chance? Not everything has to be framed in the view of a startup company or a data analysis exercise.

Maybe focus on spending time with your family and friends? If they still like you after years of being an insufferable tech bro.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#109

Post by sytse »

markphip wrote: post #92

It was hard to tell how he is doing and whether any of these treatments are working, but I sincerely hope for a good outcome for him. He has always seen like a genuinely good person. Cancer sucks.

Thank you! I've been cancer free for 10 months now. If you're curious please see https://osteosarc.com/timeline/ > MRD > Personalis.

Re: Founder of GitLab battles cancer by founding companies

#110

Post by jwardbond »

moralestapia wrote: post #54

"maximum diagnostics" Love this! This is the way! And he proved it correct. I remember one time I mentioned this in a casual conversation only to get back very low IQ responses with some fatuous arguments that the tests caused the disease or something. There was this one guy Tomas something (can't remember the last name, a weird one), doesn't matter, what I do remember is how he was desperately trying to explain how…

Could Tomas something have been referring to some of the risks mentioned here [1]? Particularly the overdiagnosis bullet.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_screening#Risks

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