The Dao of Startups
The ancient text has been an ever-renewing well for me. Here are several of its verses that I have found helpful for me in my tumult through a number of startups.
道可道非常道
The path that can be followed is not the path.
The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.
The further one goes, the less one knows.
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.
Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.
Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.
So it is that some things are increased by being diminished, and others are diminished by being increased.
There is no calamity greater than lightly engaging in war.
Be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete.
