Issue 026 // Learn to Surf
Thoughts on catching the right wave, the two sides of Artificial Intelligence, and one of my favorite people in tech talking about company-building.
Hello mi gente ☀️
Ignacio here.
Thanks for taking the time to read another issue of 121 a newsletter of reflections, resources and frameworks to help you work and build better. This time we’re diving into some thoughts on surfing, craft, and opportunities.
Let’s get to it:
Issue 026 //
Thoughts on surfing, the two sides of the AI coin, and Scaling People
1️⃣ Reflection:
Learn to Surf
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2️⃣ Swipes from the internet:
Bill Gates on The Age of AI
Elon Musk’s petition to put a pause on AI
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1️⃣ Curveball:
Claire Hughes Johnson on how to scale better
Learn to Surf
Growing up we used to go to the Ecuadorian beach any chance we’d get. We lived in the Andes, but our family has a special bond with the ocean. We all love it.
Being in the water was part education, part family tradition, part right of passage. Some of my earliest memories are of waves that felt monstrous, pulling me in while my mother counted down for us to dive under. We’d come out on the other side, unscathed, almost every time.
I spent countless hours in the water. It taught me respect for the ocean, patience, and built up my fascination for the aquatic unknown. I never learned to surf well, but we learned to ride a wave since we could swim, with or without a board.
Those memories are burned into my brain. Wading in, waiting patiently, letting the small waves go past as they splashed us across the face.
I can almost feel the anticipation of seeing a big wave form on the horizon. It never seems like much at first, but you can sense it when it’s the kind of wave that can take you all the way to the shore. You bide your time, you turn around, and you time your paddling so you’re able to give it everything you’ve got, just long enough to catch that wave.
I’ve been thinking about this deeply, sporadically over the last few months. The memories that come back to resonate with how I’m thinking about my life in broader strokes.
It’s really easy in life to go after every shiny thing that pops up - to bounce around jobs or chase after opportunities that are - almost always - too good to be true and turn out to be a whole lot of nothing.
It is much more difficult to take the time to learn to surf,to catch the kind of wave that gives you the biggest bang for your buck - the kind that takes you all the way to shore with a grin spread wide across your face. It’s more difficult, but it’s worth it.
Learning to surf isn’t just about standing up on the board. It’s about learning to differentiate a good wave from a bad one. It’s about developing the patience to sit out in the water. And it’s about putting in the work on the ground to build the skills to get up on that board once you’ve caught it.
To pull us out of the (extended, I know) analogy - I think life, especially around work, is a tight-knit parallel. To be the best you can be at what you do you don’t have to do everything, or take every opportunity. That’s exhausting and counter productive.
To grow into that best version of yourself, you need to learn to surf.
Give yourself the headspace to consider whether an opportunity is really good. Reflect and look back to figure out to refine how you gauge those opportunities. Build patience by practicing it - don’t think in weeks, months or a year. Think in decades as much as possible.
And put in the work. Do the reps. Break down your craft into skills, and take the time to learn them and hone them however works for you.
The only way you’ll know what kind of wave is right for you - what kind of wave will be fun and challenging to ride, is by spending time out on the water. You’ll know through a mix of practice and observation. By taking chances and being willing to fail.
When that perfect wave comes, you’ll have a lot more fun riding it a whole lot further. Ultimately, it probably won’t even be about how far it takes you, but rather, how fun the ride was. There’s more beauty in process than outcomes.
You did the work up front, the wave takes care of the rest for you.
Happy surfing, mi gente.
2️⃣
When it comes to AI, Bill Gates is (cautiously) optimistic.
We are living technological breakthroughs like we haven’t seen in decades. If you haven’t caught up on anything in the world of Artificial Intelligence, Bill Gate’s essay is a great place to start. It’s not very technical, but it starts to give you a sense of the magnitude of importance of the technology in the grand scheme of things.
And Elon doesn’t think we’re being cautious enough.
To illustrate the darker side of the technological revolution we’re living, take some time to read through Musk (+ co’s) petition to pause the development of more advanced AI models. The risk is the tech will take over the world.
1️⃣
Something to Read: Scaling People
Claire Hughes Johnson is awesome. I’ve been a big fan for a long time - since she left Google to join Stripe as COO.
She’s an incredibly effective leader - but maybe more importantly, does it in a kind and systematic way that’s replicable. You can read her book, or check out her this interview to start swiping some frameworks:
Have an idea/question/suggestion for 121? Give me a shout.
Writing is much more fun when it’s interactive and the best content so far has come from questions and conversations with the 121 community.
If you want to get in touch. You can DM me on Twitter or reach out over email at ignaciosemerene@gmail.com. I’ll answer every message.
Stay curious and keep building.
Abrazo,
Ignacio
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