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I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

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Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#41

Post by frownie »

tegeek wrote: post #35
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

It also helps your brain to release stress & depress. Over the years I've discovered that cooking is the most enjoyable hobby that saved me going into constant stress & depress.

Amen.

As a "hacker", I think a lot, all of the time.

So I cook to think about something else. Washing the dishes without dishwasher is also a moment where I let my mind wander.

Definitely not some time lost (to be honest I don't enjoy washing the dishes as much as cooking, of course, but I feel that connecting my brain on something "easy" is rahter good for me, else I'd jump on my computer right after eating...)

stf

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#42

Post by chao- »

tegeek wrote: post #35
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

It also helps your brain to release stress & depress. Over the years I've discovered that cooking is the most enjoyable hobby that saved me going into constant stress & depress.

Same here w.r.t. destressing. And when I need to cook but am not particularly in need of the mental break, I'll load up Ruby Rogues or another dev podcast and get some learning or inspiration added to the mix.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#43

Post by ncarroll »

mseebach wrote: post #36
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? What's the hacker angle on cooking? In my experience, cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise, which doesn't make it very 'hackable'. Personally, I'd recommend start with something like these [1][2] - good, fast, cheap, nutritious food has been focus for many others than hackers, for qui…

I always thought the hackable angle on cooking is patterns. A whole lot of stuff that you might cook for everyday eating is, in fact, a pattern and once you know that, you can riff off whatever is in your fridge.

Take soup, for instance. You need a certain amount of liquid, veggies and meat are optional in their type and amounts and you need to apply the correct methods and tools.

I've had a domain and plans to write about this for years but never gotten around to it. Maybe 2015 is the year - even casual interest around here would hitch it up on my priority list.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#44

Post by pavlov »

mseebach wrote: post #36
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? What's the hacker angle on cooking? In my experience, cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise, which doesn't make it very 'hackable'. Personally, I'd recommend start with something like these [1][2] - good, fast, cheap, nutritious food has been focus for many others than hackers, for qui…

... cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise ...

Most programming is that way too, really: putting ingredients together in a way that makes sense for the end user.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#45

Post by Luyt »

mseebach wrote: post #36
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? What's the hacker angle on cooking? In my experience, cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise, which doesn't make it very 'hackable'. Personally, I'd recommend start with something like these [1][2] - good, fast, cheap, nutritious food has been focus for many others than hackers, for qui…

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

...featuring a novel kind of diagrams which show you when to do what, for example, look at the bottom of http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/227/Ratatouille

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#46

Post by MrMattWright »

mseebach wrote: post #36
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? What's the hacker angle on cooking? In my experience, cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise, which doesn't make it very 'hackable'. Personally, I'd recommend start with something like these [1][2] - good, fast, cheap, nutritious food has been focus for many others than hackers, for qui…

http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Chef-Learning-Anything/dp/0... is quite fun and as much a book about learning to learn as about cooking. It's sort of a hackers guide to cooking. Or agreed...Jamie is a good start too. One of the original ones (http://www.amazon.com/Return-Naked-Chef-Jamie-Oliver/dp/0718...) got me started.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#47

Post by bobcostas55 »

mseebach wrote: post #36
thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? What's the hacker angle on cooking? In my experience, cooking is much more of a craft than an intellectual exercise, which doesn't make it very 'hackable'. Personally, I'd recommend start with something like these [1][2] - good, fast, cheap, nutritious food has been focus for many others than hackers, for qui…

Check out Nathan Myhrvold's work, cooking is (or at least can be) very much an intellectual exercise.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#49

Post by tegeek »

frownie wrote: post #41
tegeek wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also helps your brain to release stress & depress. Over the years I've discovered that cooking is the most enjoyable hobby that saved me going into constant stress & depress.

Amen. As a "hacker", I think a lot, all of the time. So I cook to think about something else. Washing the dishes without dishwasher is also a moment where I let my mind wander. Definitely not some time lost (to be honest I don't enjoy washing the dishes as much as cooking, of course, but I feel that connecting my brain on something "easy" is rahter good for me, else I'd jump on my computer right after eating...) stf

I actually learned almost entire lambda calculus, partial application, currying & tons of other theoretical CS while cooking.

I usually buy a book (these days I'm reading "Elements of Programming") read a chapter and then build the mental model while cooking. Cooking is a double edge sword for me.

Re: I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me

#50

Post by ruidelgado »

thenomad wrote: post #28

There's one takeaway - no pun intended - that leaps out from this. Learn. To. Cook. I run a small, scrappy company that's been in startup mode multiple times over the last 20 years. Being a good cook might well be the most valuable skill I've used over those years. It lets you drop to very low personal expenditure very easily - far lower than you could manage on all but the junkiest of ready food - whilst still eatin…

You're absolutely right and thank you for your suggestions! I would totally see a "How To Cook for Hackers" video series.
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