In 2011, Merlin Mann talked about being scared about making cool stuff, and doing cool things. And how we shouldn't stop doing harder and cooler things just because we're scared. Everyone is scared, even the successful. Back then I was making things, but they weren't as cool as I liked, and they were locked up behind a corporate wall. Merlin's talk inspired me to be scared of bigger and better things.

Instead of enterprise problems, I'm going to help with problems of actual people. Success won't be a number on a spreadsheet, but a smile on someone's face. That's cool.

Instead of locking up my work inside a corporate owner, I'm going to work on something with a wider audience, out on the open web, where it will stand for itself. That's also cool.

I'm going to use my best judgment, instead of trying to achieve consensus among tens of stakeholders. I'm going to sweat user experience details, even the ones that don't have a measurable ROI. I'm going to use modern technology. I'm going to try and delight my customers.

And I'm not going to have an evil business model. I'm going to make something that people like enough to pay for it. I'm not going to sell anyone up the river.

I expect this to be a hard road. My goal is to work on hard but rewarding problems. At least I know I'll be half right; I'm still only projecting the rewarding part.