December 12th, 2023, Esalen

From as far as back as I can remember, I have been curious about knowing and understanding what it means to be human. My very elementary-level presentation on the topic of philosophy and Turing test from 2005 when I was in undergrad is proof. As is my rabbithole into neural networks and bio-mimicry in 2007 in GITAM. I intuited that the language of understanding and explanation would come through computer technology and machine learning specifically. I evaluated pivoting to Neuroscience after joining the most apt place for machine learning study at CMU. I didn’t because it needed me to redo an undergraduate degree. I did end up studying machine learning and eventually building a career centered around it. The third aspect apart from the human brain & machine learning which had my full attention was product management. The principles of Silicon Valley’s hot and popular career path or more straightforwardly art & science of building products came very naturally to me. You make a hypothesis based on observations of reality, test the hypothesis and use innovative ways of testing that to validate or invalidate the hypothesis. To what end? A hypothesis is a way of learning and inching your way to product-market fit (PMF). PMF is where you find flow. It’s presence. Growth of a product is a natural next step and that requires play. Is the play before and after PMF the same? What works before may not work after. You have more freedom before which requires and allows you to take big bets for hypotheses, however, after PMF it requires discipline, precision, forethought to grow and build. PMF is nothing but the moment in time and space that the model fits. Prediction is perfect. PG is when the product is willing and influencing the market. The model leads and the data follows i.e. prediction precedes reality. These are fascinating concepts and schools of thought which I, and I suspect, other humans, approach life.