More than once or twice, I've been told; If only I'd studied and done what you did, then I would do that too, but I'm not you, so I'm shit out of luck compared to you.

It happened again this week, and what I'm about to say might be career suicide, but that is of lesser importance compared to the essence of this post.

Most importantly - don't you ever again compare yourself to others and think I could or would do that too if only I had {insert your presumption}'.

Self-pity, envy, jealousy, and all that jazz are self-imposed limitations that bring you no good whatsoever. And even worse, more often than not, what you believe and think isn't even factual or reality. Let me show you why...

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Here's my bright light story as seen by others:

"Deani, wow. He worked at Slack for 5.5 years, can write software and design things, understands business, and does product development better than most. He built mobile apps for years before spending 3 years being responsible for the development and distribution of one of the world's most popular enterprise desktop apps called Slack. Before that, he led one of Slack's mobile teams for a few years. Later, Deani was even deeply involved in Product, Design, and Engineering operations and CxOI leadership with one of the European unicorns for a year before going off on his own. And adding to that, back in his distant past, he worked at an agency where he built apps for some of the largest companies in Denmark, and he has managed IT Infrastructure and done Business Intelligence, too.

A Swiss knife who can do it all. Now, if only that was me, then I would...."

All of the above is true, but let's add some much-needed nuance to tell the real story.
So let's break down my prerequisites for building my product company today..

‍Technical Chops: My technical learnings is essentially worth 0 with Microsoft quitting the native app, phone and tablet business - because Microsoft Apps was what I did for almost a decade. When Microsoft killed their phone and native apps business I spent 6 months building stuff with web technology. That's the extent of my web development knowledge. I can't write Python, barely know Typescript and CSS & Webpack is a city in Russia, and I have no idea how CSPs, Redex & build pipelines work. I can write basic SQL but the moment you say let's join some stuff, google is my friend. I've never written any code or apps for iOS or Android, though I know their respective design languages and platform capabilities quite well.

Most product-related software today is written using tools and languages I know very little about. I dare say that +98% of developers out there know more than me.

Design: I took 1 course at a university in basic graphical design. That's my background. I have opinions about visuals and can tell good from bad design, and I can draw & visualize some of it. I did spend some years designing Microsoft apps that other developers though. My background for doing so. None - I just figured it out anyway. And by the way, the university course came at the tail-end of my design career. 98% of the designers are faster and more capable than me.

Product: I've seen tons of PM work over the years. I witnessed how both good and bad work happens and remembered some of the mistakes others made and I now try to avoid most of them. Years of personal experience? Zero.

Business: Being in close proximity rubs off, no doubt. I've seen others lead big, make decisions, and steer large organizational ships. The secret to success: Bet on asymmetric upsides, do what's right for the company's needs, and keep building and maintaining momentum.

Management: I can hire, plan, lead, and drive most teams and projects better than most. I've managed up to almost 20 people at a time and led close and open-source-focused teams. I know how to talk to and interface with stakeholders at any level of an organization and how to treat and talk to customers of any size & scale. I can navigate hairy situations and lead incidents and crises of organizational and technical character.

This is cool but irrelevant when building a bootstrapped (solo) business from scratch. There's no crisis nor anyone to lead. There's just... Me.

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👑 What I do have is this...

I believe in my heart and bones that I'm not defined by what I have done in the past or what I have a background in. What defines me is what I do today, and by doing, nothing can stop me. Because what I do is I think critically, adapt, read & understand, figure out, try, fail, learn, grow, make mistakes, look at what others do, ask computers, the internet, and people for help, and do and keep doing. Even if I don't know what I'm doing, I'll figure it out anyway. That's the reality.

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Do I envy others of their skills, achievements or results? Fuck no. I congratulate and cheer those who grind, suffer, grow, learn, and do. If they succeed - good for them. If they don't - good for them. Either way I hope they get up, learn, adapt, share and keep doing.