indiantinker's blog
"Check out this thing, I have been working on!" I am sure we are all hearing this more often than usual. Or as my friend Lisa says, No More, Not Yet times.
The liberation provided by Agentic coding tools has allowed many to create the ideas that lay buried in their psyche's for decades. It is something to see, my friends build things with little technical knowledge or assistance. I foresee an 'explosion' of what Fabien calls, Personal Software. I would say, its a personal software revolution.
Now, many are able to mould out a personal software. They are joyfully pleased with it. It is their thing. IKEA Effect. They think it can help others. They can make money out of it. They want to make personal software into a people software.
How can we help our friends in this endeavour?
A few days ago, joking around with some friends, the question came up: why do some communities excel at business while others do not. The ones who excel play a "positive sum game". In Yiddish, they have a beautiful word for it, Fargin. It means to celebrate someone's success.
In many communities, this used to be the case, and I think we should bring it back!
Here is a list of things we can do/do not from the place of "Fargin" in our hearts for our friends.
- Appreciate what they have achieved : Before anything else, acknowledge that they built something. Most people never get past the idea stage. "You actually built this. That is so cool. How did you do that?"
- Help ground their idea : Ask questions about real people, not hypotheticals. Use Mom's Test to guide your discussion with them. Not "do you think this could work?" but "who have you shown this to outside your circle?" "Has anyone you don't know personally used it yet? What did they say?". They will have a strong IKEA effect and we need to be warm.
- Talk about it with our other friends : Mention their work in conversations where they're not present. This is quiet Fargin. They'll never know you did it, but it matters. "Actually, a friend of mine built something for exactly this. Let me send you her link." Try to do more than "commenting for better reach 🔥"
- Suggest people they can work with : Don't just say "you should talk to X as he can help you get a better price." Make the introduction. Write the message. Do it that week. "I know someone can wholesale that to you. Want me to connect you?"
- Do not make promises you cannot keep : Saying "I'll share this with everyone I know" and then doing nothing is worse than saying nothing. It creates false confidence. If you're not going to do it, just say: "I'm not well connected in that space, but here's what I can actually do..."
- Repeat their idea back to them : Summarise what you understood in your own words. This is more useful than any advice. It shows them how their idea lands with a real person. "So if I understood right, you're solving X for people who Y, is that the core of it?"
- Do not compete-compare : Resist the reflex to say "oh this reminds me of something I saw or read about." Let their moment be its own thing. The thing to avoid saying: "Have you seen what [other person] is doing? It's kind of similar..."
- Be mindful of their goals : Not everyone wants to build a company. Some want a side income. Some want to solve a personal problem. Fargin means helping them toward their goal, not the goal you'd have in their position. "Are you trying to turn this into a business, or is it more of a tool for now? That changes what I'd suggest."
- Advice less, listen more : The urge to fix and improve is strong, especially among builders. But sometimes people need to think out loud, not receive a roadmap. Just ask: "What's the part you're most unsure about right now?"
So, next time when a friend comes up with something, you can do more than watching the demo. Entrepreneurship is very hard. The society punishes entrepreneurs with rejection, apathy, and demoralising feedback. But as a society, it is these free thinkers, builders, and makers that bring out new ways to do things and make it all beautiful. Lets try to make sure they are happy.
Cheers, Rohit