David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH)

Like I think of myself as a long-term thinker.

I'm playing a child's game compared to the game that Jeff is playing.

Like when I looked at

Amazon's economics around the dot-com boom and bust, they looked ridiculous.

Like they were losing so much money.

They were so hated by the market.

They were... No one believed that it was going to turn into what it is, but Jeff did in a way that that level of conviction, I really aspire to.

And I think that's...

One of the main things I've taken away from that relationship is that you can just believe in yourself to that degree against those odds.

That's ridiculous.

He did that at so many times our level that it's pathetic if I'm doubting myself.

That's exactly it.

Sure, I think it's an easy case to make.

What I also think is that the price you pay to be one of the greatest companies in the last hundred years is a lot of detractors, a lot of pushback, a lot of criticism, that this is actually order restored in the universe.

One of my favorite teachers in all the time I've been on the internet is Kathy Sierra.

I don't know if you know her work, but she was active for only a few short years before the cruel internet ran her off.

But she wrote a blog called Creating Passionate Users.

And she carved into my brain this notion of balance in the universe.

If you're creating something of value that a lot of people love...

You must create an equal and opposite force of haters.