
How can a road cost 12 million € per km to build?

A few weeks ago, I was visiting family in France.

On the news, they spoke about a small town’s 5km [road project costing 60 million €](https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/bas-rhin/ouverture-du-contournement-de-chatenois-apres-5-ans-de-travaux-20-000-vehicules-devraient-y-circuler-chaque-jour-3043998.html). That’s 12 million € per km. It feels like an outrageous amount of money.

In the startup world, 60 m€ corresponds to a Series C+ round. 60 million $ can get you sending [a lots of satellites to space](https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/). Coincidentally, a few days later, we have French statesmen ringing the alarm about the deficit. This got me thinking about capital efficiency in the public and corporate sectors.

As someone in the extreme opposite (bootstrapped founder), what can I learn from this? How can the difference be so stark?

## Complexity layers

The first thing that comes to mind are the many levels of subcontracting. You have an “orchestration layer” sitting at the top. I.e. construction management company. They win the contract, then hire consultants to spec things out and subcontractors to build the thing.

This inherently creates inefficiencies as separate organizations cannot collaborate as effectively as one. Each subcontractor is trying to maximize profits for themselves and often paid by time spent, thus incentivized to spend more time than necessary.

The same thing we see with companies like Boeing, who essentially evolved into orchestration layers for specialized subcontractors. Then companies like SpaceX come in and rethink the entire thing bottom up, managing to make things much cheaper and faster.

## Budgets and deadlines

Public projects seem to work mostly with budgets.

At the top is the state, who has a budget of X trillion for running the country. Then the budget gets split to the ministries, then downstream until it finds its way to projects like this (this seems to be the same thing with large corporations).

With a budget of 60m to capture and a deadline of 3 years, companies are incentivized to create work to fill those and capture a maximum.

This contrasts with startups, where each unused dollar and hour can be reinvested in growth. Incentivized to spend down rather than up.

## Relationships (or straight-out corruption)

A few months ago, I spoke with a family friend, a salesperson in the public sector for a large trash handling company in France. His job basically consists of taking city officials to the restaurant, buttering them up by offering expensive meals and wine, and talking about life for hours. Maybe even bringing a few gifts for the kids and the wife.

Those are personal relationships that take months or years to build. These kinds of deals are not awarded to the most qualified or efficient companies.

## Regulations

Regulations are a multiple-edged sword. In the case of this road, regulations add a lot of work around environmental studies, architectural studies, and require involving a lot of domain experts to ensure these regulations are met. All of this costs a lot of money.

They also prevent startups from entering these sectors as the friction to get started is just insane. This is especially true in Europe.

All regulations are not bad, especially in the context of something as safety-critical like a road, but I’m sure (at least in France) there is a lot of fat that can be trimmed.

## No clear ROI

In such public projects, you can’t set an ROI. It’s hard to say this 5km road will bring us x many more visitors, which in turn will grow our local businesses by x within x years.

In a startup, if you’re spending, say, $5000 for someone to do video marketing, it’s because you expect the ROI of that investment to be positive and bring more customers downstream. For public projects without clear ROI, numbers don’t get optimized as much.

## Ending thoughts

Here is a thought experiment: what if cities were set up as private structures and received minimal help from the state? They’d have to earn their own money (taxes) and spend it accordingly. Essentially, city startups. Similarly to capitalistic businesses, they would be incentivized to ensure projects cost less. Would the country run more efficiently?


How can a road cost 12 million € per km to build?

🛣️ 12 million € per km

Last week, while browsing Apple's website, I noticed the Vision Pro was available for "Pickup Today" at a nearby Apple Store. Considering I can resell it at no loss once I return to France, I couldn't resist.

So I went to pick it up. Trying it in the Apple Store I was quite disappointed initially with the demo. After getting home and struggling for hours to create a US Apple ID (since the Vision OS app store is US-only), I finally got to properly explore the Vision Pro.

The most exciting feature for me was the possibility of using it as a portable second monitor that I can use everywhere.

After using it for hours over the past week for work (mostly coding), here is my initial feedback.

### Focus

<YoutubeVideo loop id="vecG39OgbwY" ratio="1280:720" />

Working from the top of a mountain (with ambient sound & reverb) without visual distractions from people doing stuff in the background is really cool.

Even though the virtual environment feels very "unreal" / videogamey, the trick on the brain works quite well. It feels nice.

In airplanes or cafes, also nice to not feel people watching over your shoulder.

The narrow FOV has a nice side effect of increasing focus in my opinion (I remember Huberman mentioning using a hood to enhance focus in one of his episodes.)

### Text readability

Main issue for me is with the resolution. Watching videos, browsing, etc. is quite good. But focusing on tiny code in the IDE, my eyes start hurting after 30 minutes.

I realize this is state-of-the-art for VR, and it's definitely already very impressive.

It works fine for short session, but not really usable for long focused work sessions in my opinion.

(I don't use glasses and have no vision issues.)

A few tweaks to make the text slightly more legible:

- Bringing the virtual display window closer to me (makes text sharper but strains the eye muscles more)
- Increasing font size slightly
- Decreasing the virtual display resolution (but you lose half of the screen real estate)
- Enabling anti-aliasing in VSCode
- Increasing the contrast between text/background in my IDE

It's definitely "okay", but nowhere close to the Mac's built-in display in my experience. It's a weird feeling, like the eyes are close from being able to focus on the text, but not quite all the way.

Interestingly, some text such as on the terminal, does feel slightly easier to read as well. Could be a placebo; not sure what's going on there.

It gets worst when I'm tired and doesn't feel as bad when I'm just starting to use it.

I found the best distance is to have the virtual display window just a little bit further of where I'd normally have my Mac's screen.

![Passthrough](1.jpeg)

## Typing

Speaking of typing, in 100% virtual environment I'll definitely make typing mistakes.

By enabling the virtual environment at ~50%, I can still see where my Mac's keyboard is, which fixes the issue.

![Passthrough](2.jpeg)

It'd be nice if there was an option to go 100% into the virtual environment but still passthrough the keyboard or area around the hands.

Also, I find myself sometimes using the eyes & pinch gestures on my Mac screen inadvertently at times until I remember it's not a VisionOS app.

### Weight

It does take a bit of adjusting the straps to find a comfortable position. The dual loop one is better for longer use but I'll still feel pressure on the nose and cheeks.

I start to feel the weight a lot after 45 min, and after 1h30 it becomes very uncomfortable (expect red "snow goggles" marks on your face when taking it off).

I can't see myself using it for more than 1h30 hours straight without being in layed down position.

So not perfect, but not a deal breaker for me by taking breaks.

The eye fatigue on the other hand is the real limitation for me. When working with code, I'd say I need to take breaks from the headset every 30 mins max to rest my eyes.

### Apps & window limitation

I'm not too disappointed by the limitation of having 1 virtual screen.

For my workflow, multiple screens can be more of a distraction as I like to focus on 1 thing. It'd still be nice to spin out the terminal or Spotify on a separate window so I don't need to switch desktops. Also, having multiple screens would mean swiveling of the neck, which is felt more with the weight of the headset.

### Other thoughts:

- no noticeable latency from the display with both my MacBook Pro and Air
- the "seamless" input sharing between Mac and Vision pro works 1/2 of the time for me, so not always usable
- it doesn't re-connect to the Mac automatically after taking the headset off, which is a bit annoying
- audio is really good and immersive, feels like having headphones without something in your ear. spotify in the browser works fine.

### Conclusion

We're close but not fully there yet.

I can see myself using this very occasionally at home or in places where I need to focus but the environment isn't suitable (cafes, planes or crowded rooms if I can overcome the embarassement of being that guy ^^).

But this definitely won't become my main working environment just yet.

In 1 or 2 generations, as the pixel density of the screens increases and the weight of the device decreases, I can see myself spending a lot of time working with this.

Also, it could potentially replace my traveling setup: keyboard, trackpad, and laptop stand:

![Traveling setup](roost.jpeg)

Early thoughts on coding on the Apple Vision Pro.

🥽 Coding on the Vision Pro


The other day I got this theory: the "healthier" I get and the less chaos I introduce in my body, the weaker and less resistant to change I become.

A few examples:

**Food**

Now that I've cut almost completely processed food out of my diet, eating 1 McDonald will make me feel terrible and dirty.

A few years before, I really didn't feel much difference between eating a salad and a dirty burger, as long as I ate enough to not feel hungry afterwards.

**Sleep**

I've got many examples there, but just one:

Since the Airpods Pro were released, as my sleep is [very light](/sleep), I've been using them with ANC to fall back asleep in noisy environments.

After months (years) of getting used to sleeping with them, now when I don't have them I will be even more sensible to noises and will be much more intolerant to noise than before they existed.

**Sport**

I used to really hate exercising just for the sake of exercising. I still kinda do, but I changed my mindset to enjoy the fact that I hate it but still do it.

Now that I exercise almost daily, not exercising for a day or two will make me morally feel weird, my sleep will be worse, and I will feel less productive.

--

Am I still better now that I've implemented all those healthy routines? Of course. I feel better, happier, more productive, etc..

But I'm also weaker in some way and a part of me doesn't like that. My body really doesn't like disruption to routine. That makes it harder to go on adventures with friends, change environement, travel to countries with lower comfort standards, etc.

So every once in a while I will introduce some chaos into the routine.

Eat that meal full of carb. Sleep on that friend's couch with my back hurting in the morning. Go drinking with friends. Stay up late longer than usual. Travel on a bus. Just to remind my body.


🥦 The Curse of Healthiness

Things I tried to improve bad sleep quality.

😴 Improving sleep

## The iPad Pro 13 could’ve been the perfect device but it’s not.

At the end of last year, I purchased an iPad Pro 12.9 in Malaysia, where Apple products are a bit cheaper. Including the keyboard case and the Pencil, it totalled around $1600.

However, I'm quite disappointed with it. The device has good potential, but with such software, it's unusable for anything serious.

![](front.webp)

Here's a roundup of what I wanted to use it for:

### 👉 Travel-friendly secondary display

Sidecar actually works perfectly. I found a good setup with the Roost stand to fit just below my main screen.

![](setup.webp)

What I didn't anticipate is that it would be mostly useless. I don't have much use for a second smaller screen.

I prefer to have only the task I'm focusing on in front of me. The Mac OS spaces are already designed for secondary things.

The only good use is having the terminal or Spotify on the secondary display while coding so I don't need to switch spaces to change the playing song or debug something.

It doesn't really justify having to carry a second device.

### Notepad with backups and shareability

Note-taking/drawing with the Pencil is good, but is it better than a $2 pen and notepad? Not really.

Sure, I can draw something to explain a concept while I'm on a Zoom call with the team, but I've only used this feature twice.

And, don't get fooled by Apple commercials:

![](pub.webp)

VS reality:

![](notes.webp)

### 👉 Reading/watching support for articles/videos, etc.

It's quite good for reading and annotating articles and PDFs. It's slightly more convenient to use in bed and on the couch than a laptop.

I thought it would be the perfect device to watch YouTube while cooking or exercising.

But:

- The MacBook is already capable of this.
- You need a stand to hold it.
- iPadOS means no uBlock, SponsorBlock, etc., so the YouTube watching experience is terrible.
- In bed, it won't replace the Kindle for melatonin, eye strain, etc.

### 👉 Minimalist work station for weekends, planes, etc.

This is where I had the most hope, working from a smaller device than my bulky MacBook Pro 16.

I tried, really tried, to make it work. But it's impossible. Because of iPad OS.

Coding on iPadOS, for example, is hell. Forget your familiar environment.

The only options are:

- To connect via VNC to a remote machine and endure the lag.
- Use one of the native iOS code editors and Git clients, which cost about $40 per app. The experience is way subpar compared to MacOS, you don't have extensions, etc.
- To use a remotely hosted (vscode.dev) instance of VSCode. This is the least worst option, but a lot of extensions are not supported, and you still can't work without internet.

I hate everything about iPadOS: the fact that we can't have a normal browser with normal extensions, that none of my muscle memory shortcuts work, that none of the actually good software for my work is on the store, stage manager, etc.

Call it iPad Pro all you like but it's far from a device usable by pros.

So, in terms of work, the only thing it can do well is basically answer emails, take notes and preparing the occasional presentation. Such a waste of M2.

Here's the other thing: the iPad by itself is quite lightweight. But add a keyboard case, and it's heavier than the MacBook Air.

| Device | Weight |
| --------------------------- | ------- |
| iPad Pro | 0.64 kg |
| MacBook Air 13 | 1.25 kg |
| iPad + "Magic" Keyboard | 1.35 kg |
| iPad + Logitech Combo Touch | 1.42 kg |

All the more lightweight keyboards, like the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio, are terrible to use. The good keyboards (~$300) are okay to type on, but just try to use them on your lap, and you'll feel the pain.

![](keyboard.webp)

You can use your normal Mac magic keyboard/magic mouse (that I already carry everywhere) with the iPad, but you have to unpair it every time, or it will still the connection to the Mac, and the experience won't be good in general.

### Conclusion

It's really frustrating knowing the iPad has all the necessary hardware for powerful work (M2 processor) but the software heavily limits it. MacOS running on this thing would be game-changer.

For the past few months, I've found myself reaching it only for the occasional game, taking notes or facetime calls.

Then when you take the price into account... I'm selling mine! 😙

The iPad Pro 13 could’ve been the perfect device but it’s not.

📱 Broken dream of the iPad Pro


Recently I thought about what would happen with my data in two of the worst-case scenarios:

- Loss of all my devices at the same time
- Death

Do I trust Google and Apple to help my family fully access my data in case of death?
What about all those services that are dependent on my Google account?

So I started thinking about a way to safely backup

### Ideal requirements

- Recoverable only by me and direct family
- Easily updatable
- Location-independent (in the cloud)
- "Gun-on-your-head" proof
- Malware-proof (ideally)

It would contain:

- Dump of my passwords and 2FA seeds
- Crypto private keys
- A breakdown of where my financial wealth is stored. Some are easy to find (bank accounts, stocks) others are less obvious.
- Will/message in case of death

#### Apple recovery contact

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/secafa525057/web

> "Later, when a user needs to recover their account and iCloud data, they can request help from their recovery contact. At that time, a recovery code is generated by the recovery contact’s device, which the recovery contact then provides to the user via a different method (for example, in person or over the phone). The user then enters the recovery code on their device to establish a secure connection between devices using the SPAKE2+ protocol, the contents of which aren’t accessible by Apple. This interaction is orchestrated by Apple servers, but Apple can’t initiate the recovery process.
> After the secure connection is established and all required security checks are completed, the recovery contact’s device returns their portion of the keying information and the previously established authorisation secret back to the user requesting recovery. The user presents this authorisation secret to an Apple server, which grants access to the keying information Apple is keeping. Providing the authorisation secret also authorises the account password reset to restore account access.
> Finally, the user’s device recombines the keying information received from Apple and the Account Recovery Contact, and then uses it to decrypt and recover their iCloud data.
> There are safeguards in place to prevent a recovery contact from initiating recovery without the user’s consent, which include a liveness check on the user’s account. If the account is in active use, recovery using a recovery contact also requires knowledge of a recent device passcode or the iCloud Security Code."

So can't recover if you die.

#### Apple legacy contact

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208510

> "The data may include photos, messages, notes, files, apps you've downloaded, device backups, and more. Certain information, like movies, music, books, or subscriptions you purchased with your Apple ID, and data stored in your Keychain—like payment information, passwords, and passkeys—can’t be accessed by your Legacy Contact. "

Start process there: https://digital-legacy.apple.com

> To file an access request after you pass away, they'll just need:
> -The access key that you generate when you choose them as your contact
> -Your death certificate"

### Google

https://support.google.com/accounts/troubleshooter/6357590?hl=en

-> Can't request access
-> Can setup inactive account manager, potentially risky

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546

### Solution

GPG encrypted tar archive with shards.


Setting up a safe backup in case of death or total loss of devices.

🗝️ Digital identity backup for worst-case scenario

> ⚠️ Disclaimer: Contains light spoilers about the books' universe. Probably do not read if you plan to read « The Dark Forest » soon. Oh and I have no scientific background, this is pure observations of interesting ideas.

I recently finished the book The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin. It's now one my favorite sci-fi books.

An advanced alien civilization discovers Earth as an alternative to their dying world, prompting them to embark on a centuries-long interstellar voyage to our planet.

The sequel to the Three Body Problem goes on to describe what happens on Earth, including the technological development to anticipate the alien arrival.

I liked the technological concepts proposed by Liu Cixin, as many of them are not too far-fetched in light of our current scientific understanding.

Here are some interesting ones.

### Space elevator for low-cost space access

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113153109.webp)

It's a crazy concept, but it's being seriously studied.

While it could cost $10+ billion to build, it would reduce the cost of putting things into orbit from ~$7,000 per kg today to as little as ~$50 per kg.

Basically we'd have a satellite in geostationary orbit with a tether inside, like a tape measure. The tether would be extended up into space and down towards the Earth’s equator at the same time, keeping a balance between the two.

On Earth, the station could be made mobile (ship on the ocean) to work around hazards like lightning, wind, hurricanes, space debris, and meteorites.

One challenge is in the strength of the cable – scientists believe that carbon nanotube material could be the answer.

[Preliminary work seem to be underway](https://mashable.com/feature/space-elevator-future).

| Material | Tensile strength (MPa) | Density (kg/m3) | Specific strength (MPa)/(kg/m3) |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------- |
| Steel | 5,000 | 7,900 | 0.63 |
| Kevlar | 3,600 | 1,440 | 2.5 |
| [Carbon nanotube](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube "Carbon nanotube") | 130,000 | 1,300 | 100 |

One company in Japan, Obayashi Corporation, [reportedly](https://www.groovyjapan.com/en/space-elevator/) started working on one following a breakthrough with carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

### Aneutronic fusion spacecraft propulsion

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113144000.webp)

A spacecraft propulsion system that utilizes aneutronic products of nuclear fusion directly as the exhaust jet would bring us closer to deep space.

From what I gather, this seems to be about the best propulsion method we could achieve with our current theoretical physics framework.

I found this report written at NASA: [Aneutronic Fusion Spacecraft Architecture](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2011_aneutronic_fusion/#:~:text=The%20object%20of%20this%20proposal,human%20and%20robotic%20space%20exploration).

Some extracts:

> It can be easily argued that the most important factor in drastically changing the paradigm of space exploration is the development of a new, radically more effective in-space propulsion system. Every other technology development would appear merely incremental compared to that of a new propulsion paradigm that, for any given payload, could increase the ratio of mission distance to trip time by a factor of ten or more.
>
> 
> […] A fusion reactor with net power production capabilities has yet to be demonstrated,
> but fusion is no longer an exotic technology. It has reached a high level of scientific
> and technological maturity through a half-century of remarkable progress.
>
> 
> [...] In order to achieve game-changing mission capability a stand-alone aneutronic
> fusion reactor is not sufficient, nor is it enough to develop only an efficient
> advanced (electric) thruster. A deep integration of spacecraft power and propulsion
> management is required. Thus, to reach this goal, the proposed research is investigating
> the feasibility of a system that allows direct conversion of the products of aneutronic
> fusion reactions into useful thrust.
>
> 
> [...]The proposed architecture approximates an ideal propulsion scheme, wherein
> a high-density primary energy source directly ejects mass (the propellant) in the
> direction of thrust. This concept is based on aneutronic nuclear fusion as the
> high-density primary energy source. Some energy is then extracted from the fusion
> reaction products via direct energy conversion to recirculate power as required
> for the operation of the fusion core. The remaining flow of reaction products is
> ejected into space for producing the required propulsive thrust. At this final
> stage, the ejected beam will have been conditioned to achieve the actual values
> of thrust and specific impulse that are required for a given phase of the mission
> profile.
>
> 
> [...]A new propulsion paradigm that enables faster and extended space travel is
> arguably the technology development that could have the largest impact on the overall
> scope of the NASA mission, essentially enabling the most defining and important
> aspect of the agency’s role.

### Common use of hibernation as a form of time travel

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113122057.webp)

People are frozen at -50°C and their body fluids replaced by a special cryoliquid, allowing machines to take over their cardiovascular functions and organs to slow to a minimum.

Some opt for hibernation to seek a cure for an incurable illness, while others are sent to lead long-term projects or explore. Though this technology raises moral issues related to the wealthy seeking immortality, these are easily forgotten when the future starts looking grimmer.

Today, the closest we have seems to be Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest (DHCA).

Body temperature is reduced to 20-25°C and blood circulation and brain function are stopped for up to an hour. It's used when blood circulation to the brain needs to be stopped for delicate surgery, or when surgery is needed on large blood vessels leading to or from the brain.
DHCA is a form of carefully managed clinical death and can be tolerated for up to 60 minutes in infants, but only 40 minutes in adults.

### Devices powered by ambient electricity fields

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113143821.webp)

Wireless charging is already a reality, but what if we could take it to the next level?

Could we power all of our electronic devices, from phones to cars, with ambient fields, doing away with batteries and charging plugs?

While the technology has been around for a while, the power-loss over any significant distance is simply too high.

Could fusion energy and improved device efficiency make this a viable option? I also wonder about potential health effects to consider.

### Breathing fluid for high-G space travel

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113151933.webp)

Without our ability to withstand high G-forces, manned space exploration would stay limited and unable to reach farther, more exciting destinations.

Depending on the duration, a typical person can handle ~5G before passing out, but with a G-suit and training, fighter pilots can sustain ~9G.

Liquid immersion provides a way to go higher and is used in the Libelle G-suit which can handle up to 15-20G.

To go beyond 20G, one solution might be to fill astronaut's lungs with a fluid allowing acceleration forces to be distributed equally and simultaneously in all directions.

Finding a breathing medium of similar density to water that is compatible with lung tissue seems to be difficulty here.

## Dynamic display clothing

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113123857.webp)

An intriguing idea: in the future, everyone is wearing clothing that changes colors to showcase emotions with dynamic, abstract images.

Whether it's a soothing sunset, darker hues when you're not feeling up to conversation, or multicolored patterns at a party, this would be a great way to either stand out or blend in a crowd.

Or you can just project a jean texture and be done with it.

This might also be seen as a continuation of the current trend of sharing one's life on Instagram Stories.

Technically this does [kinda already exist](https://www.led-t-shirts.eu/articles/led-tshirts-with-programmable-led-scroolable-display-via-smartphone).

### Capturing gas from Neptune to restore Earth's ozone layer

![](Pasted%20image%2020230113131510.webp)

After climate change left much of the Earth's surface barren and uninhabitable, a mission is launched to bring back hope of restoring the planet's climate.

Huge spaceships are sent to harvest gas from Neptune, with the intent of releasing it into the atmosphere, restoring some of the ozone layer and cooling down the Earth.

Despite the lack of details and all the obvious difficulties, I found this one also intriguing.

--

_All images generated with Midjourney._

Highlight of cool technologies mentioned in "The Dark Forest".

🛰️ Liu Cixin's technologies of the future

I've had two experiences with sociopathic manipulators.

It usually goes down like this:

1. They "discover" you. They praise you, make you feel great at a point where you crave opportunity.
2. They do a few nice things for you (intros to other people, give you 'advice', invite you to nice restaurants, etc..) and make you feel 'the life'.
3. They start using you while making you feel like you owe them.
4. They pull shady stuff, usually money-related: putting you in a bad business deal, straight out stealing money, etc.
5. When you call them out or ask questions, they'll instantly dismiss or attack: say that you owe them, wouldn't be where you are w/o them. They'll tell you they know better and you're the one doing something wrong. They'll make you feel dumb about raising questions.

I think being young and ambitious, craving opportunity and exposure, makes you particularly vulnerable.

In a recent YC video, Dalton talked about "Fake Advisors" which resonated with this.

<YoutubeVideo
 id="DOez-RwJ7mg"
 start={1035}
 end={1232}
 loop
 autoplay={false}
 muted={false}
/>

> [Dalton]: a lot of the folks who are most approachable when you're a first timer [...] or you're trying to break into the industry [...] are often the most exploitative and [...] whose business model is just squeeze you [...] and you feel like they're doing you a favor while doing it [...] there's folks who really aggressively sell themselves to newcomers and part of the pitch is "oh I'm really important I know all these important people I can open doors for you [...] here's some other people that I know I can introduce you to" [...] and sadly the story [...] is you learn the hard way that those are people you want to **not** talk to. [...]
> A lot of the people were like medium famous and had some social media clout, they did enough to seem successful or drive fancy cars or seem rich that you would think they did actually know people.

(I've stripped the stories of details which would make them 5x longer and omitted the names. But I think the important lessons are here.)

## First experience

5 years ago. I was 18, still in college. Building a few side-projects. One day, after a [ProductHunt launch](https://www.producthunt.com/products/eliopay), a guy (let's call him H) contacts me telling he loves what I do and wants to hire me for his startup in NYC.

We talk for a bit. At first I wasn't really convinced by what they were building. But H was a super optimistic guy, selling just by talking. After a while, he convinces me that this is really worth it, he cites famous investors he's working with, tells me of his previous startup which was pending acquisition for a couple Ms, etc.

At some point he tells me it's now or never. I say fuck it and go, and leave for Manhattan instead of starting my college semester.

![](IMG_20180824_040110.webp)

_H showed me their office on 5th Ave straight when I arrived, at 2am_

Things are bit crazy. H shows me the good NYC life. With him and 2 other guys we get an apartment 2 blocks from Times Square. We work a lot, party,... It was a dream come true for me. Felt like I made it.

H takes me and 2 other guys and say he wants to build a side venture, an investment strategy. We follow him. I work on the tech.

A while after, H starts convincing investors to send money directly to him so he'll invest it. He doesn't tell us exactly what is going on but things start to look a little bit sketchy.

Long story short, he (mysteriously) loses most of the money ($150k+). People that sent him money start to be suspicious.

Then he got fired from his own startup.

At this point, we (I and another guy who came on the project from UK) start questioning the situation. H tells us everything is alright, it regards only him and we shouldn't worry about a thing. We should continue working on that thing, outside of the startup and we'll form our own company with all equal shares.

He tells us the investors don't understand how these things work and they're stressing for nothing.

Because we both wouldn't be here without him and didn't want to leave the US like that, we're like: "alright, you know better, deal with your shit so we can continue working on cool stuff".

Then he makes us understand that he couldn't access any money right now to continue working on this thing. But if we can just find a way to stay afloat a couple weeks, he has some cash coming in that would fix it all (from his prev startup being sold).

That's how he got us into doing super sketchy stuff (tldr: mine crypto on cloud providers) to try and cover for the time.

It was soon clear that wouldn't cut it. Also that money supposed to be coming in? Turns out it wasn't about to land. He had been fired from that previous startup and they were disputing his shares for negligence or something.

When the investors who lost their money started pressing, lawers and legal threats started to get involved, the UK friend and me finally got the fuck out back to Europe.

A few years later, I get a text from a federal agent.

<Large width={500}>![](IMG_7535.webp)</Large>
Doesn't look real right? it was though

When I called the federal agent I learnt he was arrested on counts related to fraud.

## Second experience

This one hurt me more because of how fast it went from: you're my friend to oh, you're downright fucked-up. Let's call him X.

I knew X since a couple of years. He had a startup studio. One day in Paris, after lunch he invites me at his office so I could have a place to work.

There, I met a guy (he'll be Y) working on a project cofounded by the studio for 3+ months but who didn't have much to show for it.

In the past few weeks, as a side 'agency' venture he had closed a bunch of customers. I found this impressive.

We went to eat, hit it off and decided to give it a go doing that together. I would handle the tech. We shook hands for an equal % of share. (33/33/33 him, me, the studio).

After a few weeks, it became obvious that we didn't want to build an agency anymore and decided to pivot to building an (unrelated) product. We brought on two more friends to help.

When we called X to redistribute shares (20% each), he went ballistic, insulting everyone and telling us all to fuck off.

First we were like "wtf dude ?! just wanted to talk, never tried to remove you" but then it got to "ok there might be something wrong about this guy".

Then he sent audio messages. It was scary because he was super calm yet saying very hurtful things like:

- we comploted to get them off the cap-table, we are manipulating Y to quit him.
- without him we would go nowhere and end up "tearing each other apart"
- we're shit wannabe's entrepreneurs and won't go anywhere
- all the good things that happened to us where because of him. we are little shits who can't see the value in what he gave us
- we don't know anything about how startup studios work and their deal was great

Here is the really shady stuff that became very clear:

- when Y started closing deals a while back, X told him to use the studio's bank account to receive the money.

His excuse was "it's easier while we incorporate the company". So X got full control of Y's money. About 80.000 €.

When shit hit the fan, X just disabled the cards/access he had given us.

(Today Y started legal action for this.)

- X was to incorporate our company since the beginning but kept delaying.

He used excuses like, 'haven't had the time this week', 'yes our lawyer is prepping the docs', blabla). We ended up just doing it ourself but a lot of the $ was still in his account.

- Starting from when I joined, X's startup studio accompaniment could be resumed to: access to their office, a weekly call with out-of-context ideas and some intros (which led to 2 of our worst customers btw).

No $ investment, no execution help. In exchange for 30% shares.

Compare that to any other incubator/studio. At the time we didn't even think about it as we trusted him.

- A couple days after he told us all to fuck off, X contacted Y telling him he would "forgive him" for his treason if he abandonned us and came back to him.

Like wtf?? crazy abusive girlfriend type of shit.

- Before that, there were little warning signs with the way he treated people:

Diminishing what they did, calling them by wrong names after meeting them 5 times, looking at his phone while we were talking with him, etc.

In retrospect and talking with other entrepreneurs, all predatory behaviour with many warning signs. I honestly felt sad as I had though X was a friend prior to that.

Y, the other guys and I continued working together for a couple months after that (until we went our own ways as we wanted to do different things).

## How to protect yourself

At the end I don't really regret those experiences.

Despite the bad stuff, I can still see the good those people did to me. One doesn't necessarly cancel the other. I met great people through them who I'm still friends with.

I always 'escaped' before real damage could be done. I didn't get very hurt apart for a bruised ego. And now I feel like my bullshit-detector is better adjusted.

Some advice I keep for myself:

- Never get in a position where another person owns you.
- If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
- Only work with people who show high integrity with their action.
- Look out for warning signs:
 - how they talk about/treat other people. how other people talk about them.
 - lack of emotions in weird situations
- When you try discussing a sensitive issue and they just dismiss it implying they know better and you should let them handle it → run.
- When presented with a deal, even if you trust the person, ask experienced people if it looks fair. It's okay to not give an answer directly (and to negotiate).

Experience with manipulators during my startup journey.

🤫 Manipulators

Since living nomadly I’ve been dreaming and looking for the truly best backpack that I can use as a one-bag.

> "Onebagging" is a minimalist approach to travel and packing. The idea is to pack all belongings into a single bag, rather than carrying multiple bags / suitcases. This makes for more efficient travel with less clutter. Moving gets much easier around and no more lost checked bags.

I even built a [website](https://onebaglist.co) around this.

For me that means a bag I can use all the way from daytrips to a full carry-on for my months-long trips.

The ATD1 seemed the best shot as these. After months of eyeing it, I finally pre-ordered it and received it in July 2021.

> I went with the XPAC version for the extra waterproofing and the substentially lesser weight than the Cordura version.

<Large>
 ![Day-mode during a light hike. Comfortable enough to carry
 shirt-less.](hike.webp)
</Large>

Been traveling with it ever since and now feel ready to review it.

It was with me on rough road-trips in the jungles and deserts of Colombia, in the trunk of the Jeep in US national parks, to weeks long van-trips in Europe and during a 3 weeks motorbike trip around the south of India.

![](IMG_3788.webp)

It’s the one getting crushed at the bottom.

## Build quality

I’m not very careful with it. It often ends up thrown on the floor, in the sand or stuffed under an airplane seat. I often carry it by one of the side handles, applying direct pressure on the main zip opening.

I can say the backpack is built solid. 1.5 years later, the wear it shows is limited.

Even though the Xpac version was supposed to be less abrasion-resistant, the fabric of the body is still in very good state.

One exception is at the bottom angles of the bag, where understandably it gets the most ripped. (Bottom is the only part in Cordura thankfully.)

![](IMG_0138-copy.webp)

Some of the seams are starting to show usure. For example this one on the main shoulder strap.

![](IMG_1522.webp)

The metal pieces used for the compression straps are rusting a bit (replaceable though).

![](IMG_0118.webp)

So while it is built really solid, it might not really last a lifetime of hardcore travel.

## Extendability

What this bag has for itself is extendability.

From carrying the strict minimum for a day of cruising to 50L of heavy stuff.

Thanks to side compression straps and the huge roll-top, the capacity is easily adjusted.

As a day bag, it works mostly great except for two things:

**1. It looks a bit weird**. The roll top cannot be hidden and gives a bit of a "croissant" feel to the bag.

![](front-compact.webp)

"Croissant" style.

![](IMG_0141.webp)

> 👉 Suggestion to designer: if we could just have little strap/velcro to attach the top of the bag body to the part just above the top handle, that would allow to stuff and keep the rolltop _inside_ hen not in use. It might limit a bit access to the main zip, but worth it imho
>
> Might try implementing that myself with a sewing machine.
> ![](no-croissant.webp)
>
> Would fix the croissant effect:
> ![](IMG_0151.webp)

**2. The bottom hip belts cannot really hidden** and they end up dangling around.

![](hip%202.webp)

> 👉 Suggestion to designer: I would be nice to be able to stuff them inside the water-bottle pockets like it’s possible for the compression straps. Just another small hole in the pockets.

Then the bag can be stuffed to some legendary levels:

![](packed-af.webp)

The super extendability makes it perfect for unexpected purchases when you're out and about.

Whether you're traveling with all your belongings or just a laptop, you can easily grab groceries for the week without having the hassle of carrying them in an extra bag.

## Main opening

The bag sports an almost-360 zip opening. Great to access any item wherever it's located in the bag.

Very useful with airport security to pull up the laptop from the top / side in a sec.

![](IMG_0129.webp)

## Webbings

I love that the bag webbings come with little velcro extras - they keep the extra rolled up so they don't dangle around.

![](camphoto_959030623.webp)

## Side water-bottle pockets

Edit: this was fixed in the latest iteration of the bag 🎉

~~One of my biggest gripe with the backpack is the side water-bottle pockets: they're not expandable, rendering them useless.~~

~~It's difficult to access or put items inside when the backpack is stuffed.~~

<Large width={900}>![](IMG_0542.webp)</Large>
~~*See how when the bag is packed, the side water-bottle pockets don't offer any
capacity.*~~

> ~~👉 I remember reading somewhere the designer said this was intentional to ensure long-term durability.~~ > ~~Isn’t there some kind of high-quality material that can give some stretch and maintain it over time?~~

## Quick access pocket

On the front of the bag, the quick access pocket is great and I love the soft fabric inside.

It's perfect for sunglasses, a laptop charger and even a Kindle.

![](IMG_0466.webp)

The key hook is quite useful.

One slight annoyance I noticed is when the bag is fully opened via the 360 opening on its back, this pocket is difficult to access, as it ends up at the bottom of the bag.

![](IMG_0469.webp)

Over time the fabric has stretched a bit. While I guess that's expected with frequent use, I often found the pockets aren't tight enough and things I put there don't stay well put. Same for these mini pen/toothbrush pockets. When opening I'm carefuly small things don't fall of.

![](IMG_1521.webp)

## Comfort

The bag is okay to wear. Comfort of wear hasn't been an issue but hasn't been an highlight either.

The shoulder strap could use some extra & softer padding for when the bag is fully packed, but they aren't uncomfortable by any means.

![](IMG_0138.webp)

The lumber area of the bag in XPAC makes it a bit sweaty at times.

I find myself often pushing the bag away from my pack with my hands to allow air to pass.
That said, I live in hot places and I'm not sure how that could be improved without a full ventilation system.

Oh, and that bottom handle is great in to pull the backpack in the airplane top compartment.

# Conclusion

Overall, and despite the flaws I mentioned, this bag is still the best I found on the market for my needs.

If Attitude Supply addressed some of the details like ~~the side pockets,~~ being able to hide the rolltop during daybag mode, improved a little bit the comfort and inside fabrics, I would jump on the upgrade.

![](small-angle.webp)

Did you find your perfect backpack?
Would love to see yours :)

Review of the Attitude Supply ATD 1 backpack after 1.5 year of heavy use.

🎒 ATD 1 backpack long-term review

As part of the Web 3 project I'm building, I needed reliable and fast RPC access to 10+ blockchains, parsing in realtime all the blocks 24/7.

The idea is to offer realtime, multi-chain monitoring:

<Large width={400}>![demo alt0.io](address.webp)</Large>

I need to parse tx, logs and contract data for each block.

On some chains like Arbitrum there's ~ 10 blocks/s & ~200 tx/block.

That's a _lot_ of requests, hitting the rate limit for public nodes and going well above the free plan on Alchemy, Infura & co.

I could've ran my own nodes, but I want flexibility to add more chains w/o server overheads.

So I built this meta provider for Ethers.js:

[](https://github.com/vincelwt/super-provider)[https://github.com/vincelwt/super-provider](https://github.com/vincelwt/super-provider)

I feed it with a lot of rpc endpoints (via WebSocketProvider & JsonRpcBatchProvider).

Then it:

- benchmark providers speed regularly
- keep only the fastestt
- split requests between them to prevent overload
- handles rate-limiting and errors with smart retries

<Large width={900}>![term screenshot](term-screenshot.webp)</Large>

It handles my ~5k req/s beautifully.

Now I get:

- ✅ Super fast queries
- ✅ 0 data lost due to rate limiting
- ✅ No need to run servers or pay \$\$ for dedicated nodes

That's how I do near-realtime block scanning on ~10 chains.

Other benefits of decentralising the providers:

- you get more privacy as requests are split between node providers
- resilience, if [Alchemy](https://alchemy.com) goes down tomorrow the platform will run as if nothing happened.

Check it out if you ever run in limitations with public/shared RPC's or want to make your dapp more resilient.

Also, I added a 🐇 'parallel' mode when absolute speed is needed:

Instead of cycling through providers, it sends requests in parallel to the fastest ones and returns the first reply that comes back. (Tradeoff is higher network usage)

Realtime monitoring of 15+ blockchains without downtime or running nodes.

⛓️ Fast & resilient blockchain calls

Progressive guide to kitesurfing interlaced by short stories.

🏄‍♂️ Kitesurfing

I speak fluently 🇫🇷 French (native), 🇺🇸 English, 🇪🇸 Spanish, 🇵🇹 Portuguese, have street-conversation level in 🇩🇪 German and 🇮🇩 Indonesian.

I'm currently retrying to learn 🇹🇼 Mandarin, which to me is a harder challenge than all the previous ones.

My language learning is optimised for speed and enjoyment.

I truly think it’s possible to reach basic conversational level in most languages with around 3 months and ~1h per day. (not saying mastery).

## Learning Apps

Apps like Babbel & Duolingo are only good to get you started with the basics, getting you familiar with the structure of basic sentences.

They’re not going to teach you to speak or understand real-life talk.

I practice with Duolinguo for the first 2-3 weeks of learning a language. After that it’s only occasional.

> ⚠️ The danger with these apps is getting in the routine of _only_ doing that as it makes you feel like you're progressing. You're _not_ (ok you're veryyyyy slowly) progressing. I've seen that with a lot of people, especially with Duolinguo and their streak-shaming.

Also if you look up videos of natives reviewing Duolinguo curriculums, you'll see that the vocabulary it teaches often doesn't always **feel** right to them.

Once you feel like you have a basic hang on the language, it’s time to get serious.

There are 3 components I believe you can't go without: **speaking**, **acquiring vocabulary** and **getting comprehensible input**.

## 🎙 Speaking

To me that’s the most important and underrated component, without which it’s virtually impossible to get to conversation level.

It solidifies your vocabulary and creates the pathways in your brain so that each time you speak it gets a bit easier.

I spent 6+ months on Mandarin with very little to show for because I omitted this step. I went to China and Taiwan thinking I would be able to practice there directly with locals. Reality was brutal.

It’s easy to procrastinate around that, but really once you get the ball rolling with a teacher you like, it’s easy to stay in the routine.

Go on [iTalki](https://www.italki.com/i/ref/GDDHAG?hl=en&utm_medium=user_referral&utm_source=copylink_share), you’ll find plenty of teachers from 4 to 10 bucks an hour.

<Large>![](itlaki.webp)</Large>

1-1 online classes have nothing in common with the language classes you had in school.

You can do them from your bed and there is no grading aspect to it. The goal is just to get you speaking and hearing real-life talk.

I personally like to do 30 or 45min lessons every ~3 days or even more frequently if I have time. Whatever works for you.

A good teacher should:

- ask you lots of questions to make you speak
- correct your biggest mistakes, not interrupting too much the flow of the conversation (sending you the mistakes in the chat as you speak)
- make you practice pronunciation
- later, teach you slang/idioms

Take quick notes of the mistakes you make and new words you learn. You’ll feed that to the flash cards.

## 📖 Acquiring vocab

A good place I like to start is the 80/20 rule. You can get ahead of most people learning a language by focusing on words you’ll actually use in daily conversation.

Here is a guy talking about it on YouTube (he pushes it to the extreme by giving himself 24 hours only)..

<YoutubeVideo id="r3wiEHX8QdU" start={210} end={328} ratio="1280:720" />

Don't know where to start? Go on Google and search for “_Top 100 words spoken portuguese_ (or whatever)_”_ and note these down.

These are the most common words and “fillers” that you’ll need to know.

Then search basic sentences and common words around the topics you’ll want to talk about most:

- 🧍‍♂️ describing yourself
- ☁️ weather-style small talk
- 🌮 ordering food
- 🧭 getting directions
- 💰 asking for price
- etc..

You really want to focus on the words that give practical use from Day 1.

To cement all that in your memory, make Anki flashcards.

Flashcards have 1 side with the word/sentence you want to learn and the translation on the back.

<Large width={400}>![](anki.webp)</Large>

You can use public decks, but I don’t recommend that because the words won’t be fully relevant to you, and you might not know the context in which to use them.

Plus making the cards yourself actually makes you memorise them a little bit already.

> 💡 **Anki tip:** when you review your cars, enable the “double side review” mode so cards are presented to you half the time with the back first.

I personally use the original [Anki](https://apps.ankiweb.net/) app. It syncs between my laptop and phone but costs something like $30 on iOS. There are plenty of other Anki apps you can find if that’s too much.

> 💡 For words you have trouble memorizing, make the conscious effort of finding a mnemonic reference in your native language.
> For example I had trouble remembering “Sekitar” (about) in Indonesian. I associated the french mnemonic “C’est qui Tar ?” and now every time I see the “about” card, "C’est qui Tar" comes to mind. After a while the mnemonic fades in favor of the actual word.

You need to practice these flashcard **every day.** Setup a 10-15 min daily routine to practice those.

You will begin to see great progress after a month of doing it.

## 🎧 Exposure (comprehensible input)

That’s the easiest part as it doesn't require any active "learning". The goal is to learn to read and train your ears to the sound of the target language.

**Reading**

Finding easy content to read at the beginning isn't very easy.

The keyword for books with simple vocabulary is "graded readers". You can find plenty online.

A website I like, to find easy content is LingQ. It's a news reader optimized for language learning with built-in dictionary, flashcards, etc.

![](lingq.webp)

**Music**

Find musics in your target language. There’re loads of public playlists on Spotify for any style and language. And you can pull up the lyrics to help undertanding.

![](spotify.webp)

Rap songs are good to learn slang.

**On the web**

- Get curious: Install DeepL on your laptop, and every time you wonder what a word means, hit 2x “cmd+c” and you’ll get the translation instantly.

- Install Toucan, it translates random words on webpages you visits in your target language.

![](toucan.webp)

**Watch videos & movies**

Install the [Reactor](https://www.languagereactor.com) chrome extension so you can watch Netflix movies/shows and YouTube videos with double subtitles.

It’s a super useful extension.

Gives you the translation directly by clicking on words and has a “auto-pause” mode.

![](reactoryt.webp)

**Podcasts**

At the beginning, podcasts are tough because you don’t understand shit. It’s really frustrating to listen to a conversation without understanding the context.

Still, your brain will slowly get used to the language and you’ll be able to discern words with time. You will also subconsciously absorb better pronunciation.

Bonus: As a light sleeper, I found listening to podcasts in another language is a great way to fall asleep quickly.

When you drive find an online radio with good mix of music + talking.

---

That’s it folks! Let me know what your language learning tips are 🙂

🙉 Learning languages

> This my first public writing in a more "novel" style. Names changed for confidentiality.

I arrived on Maui on a hot day of May 2019.

Coming from Oahu, where after a couple days I couldn’t feel the vibe I was looking for. I got almost stabbed in Honolulu (story for another time).

I had booked a cheap flight from Japan, thinking I’d stay in Airbnb’s like I did in SEA. When I finally looked at it, my god it was expensive. It didn’t help that I was of course doing everything last minute.

![](photo_2022-12-03%2013.09.29.webp)
The cheapest I found for 2 nights. Nah.

As a still relatively poor student, that seemed ridiculous to me. I tried to contact hosts on Couchsurfing. Good luck in Hawaii, with not-dodgy looking hosts and last minute.

So I arrived on the island with no idea where I’d sleep.

![](IMG_20190511_151127.webp)

After remotely brainstorming scenarios with my brother (asking strangers for a roof, too risky; renting a car to sleep in, too young to rent; sleeping on benches, rip my back and don’t wanna get arrested) he threw the idea of getting a hammock at Walmart.

I checked and yeah they had some in stock.

![](photo_2022-12-03%2013.08.45.webp)

So after walking a good stroll from the Airport to the nearest Walmart, I got a thin hammock for 30$, two survival blankets, a bunch of rope, a flashlight and some low-volume/high-calorie food and water.

There was less than an hour before sunset. I hurried to the busiest road I could find and hitched a ride to the coast, direction west.

A friendly old guy picked me up. He was the host of a local alternative music radio station. Before dropping me off in Wailea, he gave me his business card and told me to give him a call if I ever needed anything.

![](IMG_20190511_184621.webp)

After watching the sunset go down, reality hit. Where do I sleep?

Wailea didn’t look very hammock-friendly so I decided to go south, put a random pin on the map and started hitchhiking.

A mom and her daughter picked me up. When I told them where I wanted to go she said no way.

<Quote>
 It’s not safe for a foreigner alone. Plenty of crackheads there sleeping in
 the woods. I can’t drop you there.
</Quote>

I lied and said I was meeting a friend there and wouldn’t be alone. Hmm, ok, she reluctantly agreed to drop me there. She waited for my friend to pick me up, so I faked a phone call and said that he was a bit further but would just walk over there.

By now it was dark. Man, finding a sleep spot in total darkness just after someone told you its super dodgy is a trip. I walked to the beach, went to the closest woods nearby and found a nice tree to sleep. Mission accomplished.

In the morning a beach cleaning guy came with his truck nearby. I was most likely in an illegal spot. The motor noise instantly woke me up and I jumped out of the hammock, took it down super quickly and waited 15 mins crouched, still half asleep while he did his thing and left. (He probably wouldn’t have cared.)

Then I packed my stuff, went for a dip in the ocean and hitchhiked back to the city.

With the days I refined my spot. Deeper up the hill and into the forest. Once or twice people passed by, but the experience was magical.

![](IMG_20190513_190821.webp)

50$ sleep setup

There are two things that will kill the hammock vibe: cold and rain.

> Meet the Cold Butt Syndrome: with no sleeping bag, as you go into the night and the air gets fresher, the slight breeze that wasn't disturbing you before will slowly freeze your ass.
> ![](Untitled.webp)

I half remedied to this by putting one of the survival blanket under the hammock to reflect the heat back to my ass.

What about the rain? Luckily I didn't have a lot of it, but the few I got was enough.

Once again, a survival blanket to the rescue, as a DIY roof.

Until the wind gets under it and blows it away (it literally doesn't weight anything).

It took me a couple tries to get it more-or-less stable, by attaching rocks every 40 cm to add weight around it.

![](IMG_20190513_225649.webp)

How I tried to block the rain, spaceship mode

Still the blanket was barely long enough, and some water was getting in. Hrrrrr.

### Riding with Patrick

<Quote>I hope you don't mind I smoke weed for my conditions.</Quote>

There was a strong smell inside the car. This was a couple hammock nights later.

Patrick was a 80 yo retired doctor.

I explained I was just cruising around and thinking about exploring the east side. He proposed:

<Quote>
 Do you know Haleakalā? You have to see it, its's Maui's volcano. There's cool
 hikes up there and a crazy view; It's one thing you have to see on Maui. You
 know what, I'll even take you there if you want. I don't have anything to do
 today.
</Quote>

Sounds like a plan to me. On the way, we talked a lot. Patrick gave me a rich history lesson of Maui and its sugar plantations. Told me about his life, his late wife and all.

![](<IMG_20190512_131533%20(1).webp>)

The ride up was longer than expected, but as you pass the cloud-line and arrive up there, woah.

<Large>![](IMG_20190512_112759%201.webp)</Large>

The volcanic park is a bit of an alien planet. Plant species that evolved in isolation from everything else don't resemble anything we are used to. Protected from the bottom.

<Large>![](IMG_20190512_115541.webp)</Large>

Patrick was kind enough to host me this night.

We smoked weed while watching a basketball game at his place. I had the best sleep in a long time.

He told me that he enjoyed having some company for a change.

Another time, as I was hitchhiking a bit randomly on the highway through the island, a guy in a pickup truck picked me up. He was super amazed by my travel stories. At some point he said:

> “What’s your plan tomorrow?" - “I don’t have any yet." - "Alright, here's what you're gonna do. Tomorrow at 6, walk down the hill where you usually sleep, on the other side. You'll see a white Catamaran, go there and say that you are the guy that Nick sent. I own a company doing cool boat tour, you’ll see.”

I winced at the 6am time, but no way to refuse that.

So the next morning I went and it was awesome.

We went to swim and snorkel around the island of Nihoa (“birds island”). Then we had an extravagant seafood lunch (my first real meal in weeks) and ended the day swimming with rays and turtles.

![](Untitled%201.webp)

The boat captain was kind enough to drop me back to the city at the end.

### Road to Hana

![](IMG_20190516_171609.webp)

I was hitchhiking to my usual spot. This time was hard, waited almost an hour.

A girl named Clara picked me up. She came here to escape LA for a couple weeks.

> "I don't usually do that but you looked friendly."

On the way, we stopped at a beach to enjoy the sunset.

<YoutubeVideo id="miIQbYUhduo" loop />

There was turtles on the black-sanded beach, it felt magical.

She took me to my sleeping beach where we met Jude, a Malaysian-American that was also traveling alone.

We smoked a joint from a big stash Patrick gave me ("It's Maui Wauwi haha, take it, it's a gift man and I get it for free from my neighbour." ) and agreed to go on an adventure together the next day.

![](maui/Untitled%202.webp)

She picked me up the next day. We went to her appartement and Mike, a friend-of-friend of her (native Maui-an who never left the archipelago) joined.

He would be our “guide” for the day.

We decided to drive around the Road to Hana.

<Large>![](Untitled%203.webp)</Large>

This day was a crazy wild ride.

Every stop we did was a mix of drinking and fooling around. Mike showed us a couple of his secret spots.

We stopped near Pea’hi to jump from a 15m rock.

We frantically climbed 10 mins through a mix of rocks and mud to jump from a waterfall.

<Large>![](Untitled%204.webp)</Large>

We smoked joints in the back of car while the music was blasting.

The road to Hana is already famously very dangerous (picture a road made of S turns, with no barricade, and the ocean underneath if you fall) but Clara, encouraged by Mike and her LA driving habits was driving recklessly to the point where other drivers were pulling aside to let us pass.

Thought I would die that day.

<Large>![](PANO_20190515_182154.vr.webp) *Jude, high.*</Large>

## Bonzai Mike

Last guy I met on the island was Bonzai Mike.

I had a few hours before my flight and really wanted to go see check out Peʻahi, where the iconic Jaws wave sometimes broke.

Bonzai Mike, had an old, rotten but very stylish pickup.

![](bonzaitruck.jpeg)

He was growing top-grade bonzais in Hawaii and shipping them off to mainland. Very profitable business apparently. Although old, his face was so friendly it was hard not to want to be his friend.

He was using a weed vape. I had never tried that before (and gosh it's powerful.) Tropical rain started falling.

> "I'm only going to Paia to watch a game at the bar, but I'll drop you at Pe'ahi otherwise you won't make it to your flight. If you really can't find anyone else give me a call and I'll come get ya’."

I didn’t see any big wave that day but I did see a group of turtles chilling on the beach.

![](MVIMG_20190516_185432.webp)

Short novel-style writing on my adventure on the island.

🏝 Adventures in Maui

I had the chance to visit and travel around Taiwan on motorbike in March. I stayed about two months and would have gladly stayed more if it wasn’t for the global pandemic.

Here is a list of a few of things that made me fall in love with Taiwan. It’s an awesome country that deserves more international recognition.

# 🛤 Modernity and old-school Asia

Depending on your standards, living in Taiwan can be much more comfortable and sustainable than most other countries in South-East Asia.

In Taïwan, Internet is surprisingly good. I got an unlimited 4G sim-card for 30 bucks at the airport. Truly unlimited, no fair-use.

The connection was excellent in the cities and very good in the countryside. I had no problem doing Facetimes with friends over in France while riding on a mountainous road, all with a crazy low latency.

![](taipei.webp)

Even in this remote Airbnb right in the jungle, I was able to work with tethering.

![](remote.webp)

By the way, there is an awesome coffee-shop chain in Taiwan called Louisa coffee and it’s the best I found worldwide. It’s clean, cheap (like half or a third of Starbucks), there are multiple locations in each city, the drink selection is very good and there are bathrooms, good wifi and power outlet in every location. It became my trusted coworking place.

![](louisa.webp)

Then the transport infrastructure is really good.

For example in France (my home country) when you get off the airport, you’ll have to wait in line for twenty minute and use a ticket vending machine to take a metro ride.

In Taipei, the only thing to do to get a ride from the airport is placing my phone on the metro gate, and with Apple Pay it automatically lets me in seconds. Talk about a first impression. Everything’s more efficient.

The entire network is sparkling clean and there are free, clean bathrooms at every station. So it doesn’t smell like pee every fucking where.

![People politely make the queue to enter the wagons.](queue.webp)

People politely make the queue to enter the wagons.

![People politely make the queue to enter the wagons.](queue2.webp)

Roads are in a very good state. And by the way their east-coast express-way is one of the most beautiful roads I’ve seen in the world.

![](hiway.webp)

High speed train joins most of the large cities.

The Taipei (north) to Kaohsiung (south) high-speed train takes only 2h30 and runs about every 1 or 2 hours for ~40€.

If you are to live there, a lot of the ingredients for a sustainable life are present.

Their healthcare system is [very good](https://www.vox.com/healthcare/2020/1/13/21028702/medicare-for-all-taiwan-health-insurance), some websites even show it as #1. (By the way, it won’t show on anything WHO-related as the CCP owns them).

I was there during the beginning of COVID and the way they handled the pandemic is exemplary. Sure, something similar already happened to them, so they kinda knew what to expect, but still.

One notable exception worth mentioning is dental health. Might be a cultural thing, but they still aren’t quite close to where we are in Europe (Asian teeth can be a bit spooky to us 😁).

Education level is also very good.

I don’t know if this is from the past Japanese influence, because of the drive to prove itself to the world against the CCP, the fact they started building their infra much more recently or some other cultural reason but they just get a lot of things right.

![](teahouse.webp)

Now the awesome thing is you’ll still find the hustle and bustle and authenticity. I like to think the experience of Taiwan as a mix of China and Japan.

# 🏝 Everything is nearby

I’m a lot into surfing and kitesurfing. The Taiwanese shores are perfect for water sports, especially the east coast. Not too crowded.

There are great waves in Taitung, Kenting and occasionally in other places depending on the swell.

![](shore.webp)

If the waves don’t hit right in one spot, you can move a bit along the shores where you’ll probably have more luck.

If I’m in one of the cities and want to take a break at the ocean for the weekend, I can be there very shortly from anywhere.

Same from the mountains, if you’re more into treks. You’re only an hour drive to being lost in magnificent nature.

<Large>![](pano.webp)</Large>

This is great for people like me who can never seem to settle somewhere for more than a few weeks.

This applies to the weather too. As with a lot of islands, the climate is very diversified depending on where you are.

If the weather sucks in Taipei, take a 2h train to Kaohsiung and chances are it’ll be much better.

# 🛕It’s culturally marvellous

Driving in Taiwan, you’ll see modern architectures mixed with ancient temples everywhere. It’s beautiful.

![](temple.webp)

![](charles-postiaux-TnUG2pWraPE-unsplash.webp)

# The food is 💙

When walking the streets, street food and night markets are everywhere for you to buy way too many food for your stomach.

![](adli-wahid-QuVIa0N6VN0-unsplash.webp)

It’s crazy tasty food, available everywhere, for cheap.

Like, quite close from what you’d find in China but with less weird stuff (less risk of accidentally ordering a pig blood soup… 🤭).

![](gio-rey-tabernero-ZD-DQ37hb6c-unsplash.webp)

**And you can buy sweet potatoes everywhere.**

![](potato.webp)

It’s good for your health :)

# So what sucks about Taiwan?

Honestly, not too much.

It’s somewhat more expensive than the rest of SEA but still very affordable coming from the West. It’s totally reasonable given the upsides you get.

The people are incredibly nice and welcoming but if you don’t speak Mandarin, very few Taiwanese speak fluent English outside the big cities. One might say it’s a good occasion to pick up some Chinese and unlock communication with 1B+ people.

Driving in Taïwan might seem a bit scary to westerners. But I actually like it, there is some order and unspoken rules in the chaos.

Lastly, mainland China is creating military tensions. It’s been a while, but the threats are getting worse and worse.

🇹🇼 Taïwan

It’s early 2019. Looking for places to host my apps, I have the idea for a cheaper, faster and easier Heroku alternative.

I found Heroku’s $7 / dyno pricing crazy as for the same price you could have a VPS with 5x the power / RAM if you knew where to look.

Then you add the database, usually that meant using an external service with expensive resources and added latency.

Most database uses aren’t heavy, so having the DB live on the same machine as the app is fine for most use-cases (at least for a couple bucks a month).

My ideal PaaS would have:

- An honest, scalable, prorated pricing
- Free databases with automatic backups (on the same machine)
- No-bullshit dashboard

Hereby, in the start of 2019, I started working on it while visiting my brother in Paris.

After 3 days of hacking, Backery’s MVP was born (I always sucked at naming).

![](backery.webp)

# Tech

The idea was pretty simple.

I made scripts to spin low-cost VPS instances (hosted on Scaleway & Hetzner) and install [dokku](https://github.com/dokku/dokku) over them.

A small Python server was used to control the instances from Backery’s side.Then, I built a simple dashboard that communicated with dokku via the Python server.

It basically abstracted over dokku + a few of its plugins, and made it easy to add databases, deploy zip archives and a few others nice-to-have like generate HTTPs certificates.

![](dash.webp)

My masterplan was to first validate the demand with solo developers, then move to targeting agencies with a referral program to incentive them to use Backery for hosting their client’s projects with a revenue sharing.

I launched on [Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19590382), expecting to get roasted the fuck out, but to my surprise it went good.

![](bali.webp)

_Ready to answer HN comments after a surf session in Bali_

It brought a few thousand visits, about 200 signups, ~20% of which actually went past the credit card step.

<Large width={300}>![](ga.webp)</Large>

_Google Analytics during the HN launch_

After that, I shared the projects online on a few places (Quora posts worked great).

Growth kinda died although there was constant stream of new users from the online content.

I started working on a new project shortly after, thinking that I’d keep improving this one incrementally but my interest in the project dipped after I started understanding the issues.

# Problems

1. **Margins**

Small margins means high volume. With an average $5 / app / month margin, that means I had to host 1000 apps just to make $5000 monthly.

As the pricing was the biggest selling point, I couldn’t just increase it 5x overnight.

I removed the lowest $3 / app / month plan, which helped a bit, but it was obviously the one that attracted most people. Big spenders are usually savy enough to go with cloud providers directly.

That, plus the fact that it’s a **highly** crowded market means it would have required a full-time marketing effort (a lot of content marketing) to make it work.

1. **Too much support**

_high volume = more support_

I had to do a lot of support to help people prepare their apps for hosting, accounting for their weird use-cases, using languages I wasn’t very familiar with.

I spent a lot of time on this, to win people that ended up bringing at most 5 bucks a month. Not worth it.

Having a good documentation helps, but it’s really hard to cover all those specific use cases and environments that developers use.

On a note, the positive side for support is users were developers: they understand tech.

1. **Abuse**

The straw that broke the camel's back and led me to abruptly close signups was abuse.

A good fine morning, I woke up with a billing alert from Hetzner (it was just the 5th of the month).

A handful of accounts, with shady emails, were signing up and creating apps in the highest *Performance* plan (8 cores dedicated, 32gb RAM , 250gb SSD) .

Problem was, billing was done at the end of the month, after metering the usage. So I tried adding mandatory payments if the monthly usage went over $13

They probably used virtual cards with tight limits, because of course the payments failed.

![](stripe.webp)

I even received a couple copyright notices along with a threat to disable my Hetzner account (which hosts all my other stuff).

![](notice.webp)

_Running seed-boxes on my servers. At least do something useful…_

Of course I couldn’t *just* delete the app after a payment failure because we don’t want true users to lose data if payments fail.

That gave them a few days runway (which was costing me a lot), and they kept re-creating accounts after their apps got deleted.

I could have probably beaten those bots with a tighter Stripe Radar integration, a system of upfront billing and reputation for big-resources apps, but didn’t want to invest more time on this at this point.

I once was on the other side of this (made bots for creating Google Cloud and AWS accounts - that’s a story for another time) and I know the witch-hunt can go *deep* down the rabbit hole if these guys are motivated enough.

---

Overall it was a good learning experience and something fun to experiment with, without sinking too much time into it either.

In hindsight it’s pretty obvious that the business model couldn’t work to satisfying scale without raising $ but I’m glad I gave it a shot anyway.

I never see those failures as a waste of time but as coins added to a chest of experience.

Now to the next one :)

Why I stopped my Heroku-like hosting platform.

🛣️ 12 million € per km

[draft] 🥽 Coding on the Vision Pro

[draft] 🥦 The Curse of Healthiness

😴 Improving sleep

📱 Broken dream of the iPad Pro

[draft] 🗝️ Digital identity backup for worst-case scenario

🛰️ Liu Cixin's technologies of the future

🙉 Learning languages

🏝 Adventures in Maui

🇹🇼 Taïwan

📙 Discontinuing Backery.io