Compliments are harder than criticisms

One of the things I've realized about creating things (whether a web app, blog post, or something else entirely) is that criticism is actually really easy to take.  At first, you might think that being criticized is hard and requires you to have really thick skin, but I've learned that's not the case.

I suppose it doesn't hurt; I just don't think it's all that important.

When someone criticizes you, they might have different taste, a different perspective, or maybe they've just been doing it longer than you have.  So, it's really easy to shrug it off, defend yourself, or point out your view on things.  Most things are opinions anyway, and, odds are, anyone that's creating something themselves is probably less likely to criticize you in the first place.

What's hard though, which was unexpected to me, is being complimented.  When someone reaches out and says, "hey, that blog post really meant a lot to me", or "you taught me how to do something I didn't know how to do", suddenly, someone's made themselves open to making a connection.

And opening yourself up to making a connection with a stranger that compliments you is a lot harder than putting up a defensive wall against someone that criticizes you.

And this, I think, is where most of our challenges and opportunities lie. Not in arming ones self for attacks and criticisms, but by being open to being changed, making connections, teaching, and working to help others.

It's not easy - but as the saying goes - few things that are worthwhile are.

What to do if you're a PlayStation subscriber (or if you ever lose you're wallet)

It's been all over the internet today that Playstation had a major security breach, and is telling customers that subscriber information has been stolen, possibly including credit card information. They've even taken down their network at this point.

Playstation mentions in their release, but it's sort of buried, that consumers can call the fraud alert line of any of the three major credit bureaus. Here are the numbers:

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

If you're a PlayStation subscriber, call one of the above numbers, let them know to put a fraud alert on your SS#, and for a certain time period (I can't remember exactly, I think it's 6 months) they won't issue new credit under your SS# without calling you up first.

I mention this because I lost my wallet a few years back, along with my ID and credit cards, and doing this gave me a lot of peace of mind.

The PlayStation communication sort of makes it sound like it could be a big hassle:

Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity.

This is not a big deal.

It just means you won't instantly be able to get a credit card at the Gap or Banana Republic or Target. You don't really need that anyway, do you? And, if you're buying a car or a house, when they check your credit let them know you have a fraud alert on your account, and you'll have to approve it with the creditor. Again, not a big deal.

Any hassle you might have to deal with trying to get credit will pale in comparison to trying to dispute something later.

Podcast Episode #10: Lance Walley of Chargify, Engine Yard, Parallax and more

In my latest podcast episode I interviewed Lance Walley, who has been building businesses for over 20 years.  Most recently Lance co-founded Chargify - a recurring billing system, and before that EngineYard - a Rails application hosting company.

Lance spoke candidly with me about launching new ideas, scaling a business, failure, success, investing, and more.  It was great talking with him and he shared a ton of great information.  You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewalley.

As always, you can listen to the show right here on the blog, or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Thanks a bunch Lance!

(Once again thanks to The Smashing Pumpkins for the intro and exit music.)

Interview with Beyond the Pedway

There's a video podcast done in Chicago by a guy named Tim Jahn, and he interviews entrepreneurs about their work, their companies, how they got started and all that good stuff.

Tim interviewed me a couple weeks ago for his show, and we talked about creating things, how products can be a form of advertising, money, and how I define "success".

You can check out the interview over at beyondthepedway.com, or right here below.

Thanks again Tim, I had a blast chatting with you!

The foundation isn't physical

The things that mean the most to us, whether individually or as a whole, are built upon a foundation that doesn't physically exist.

The iPad is the outuput of Apple's idea that machines should be beautifully designed, and easy to use. Basecamp is the product created by 37signals' idea that software should be elegant and contain fewer features to distract a user with. Wikipedia is the result of an idea that the sum of all the world's information could be readily accessible to everyone, for free. And our homes are built upon the foundation of our relationships with the ones we love.

I think about this whenever I get stuck on a project.

The approach people often take is to look at whatever we're working on, and begin refining the physical product. Usually though, we'd be better served by refining the idea first, and to only then begin refining that which was born from the idea.

The more refined the idea, the more refined the output that's created. And so, the reason some products seem to be so great is primarily because they have their idea down so solidly.

I think it's important to remember that whatever it is we're working on, that they're merely the physical manifistation of our ideas. And that if we're not happy with our products, maybe it's the idea we need to be working on a bit more.