Perspicacity
Within just over a decade in tech, I worked on several tech waves: no-code apps with Appsheet, which got acquired by Google; and later both blockchain (2021) and generative AI (2023) within Google.
That year I got into crypto - with all the hype that surrounded it - changed my trajectory:
I got exposed to opportunities I never would have otherwise;
I grew my network at the multiples of scale I had before;
I spoke at NFT NYC, with my name featured in Times Square;
The best outcome of that year, though, was realizing that picking up an emerging trend to a level of operational understanding is surprisingly simple1. It takes a mix of:
Understanding the fundamentals, with an angle that’s interesting to you;
Experimenting with the popular apps and/or trying to build something;
Hearing from the people in the field via Threads, Substack;
Connecting and interacting with the noise on socials, internally within your company;
Occasionally reading through arxiv.org;
I write hypegeist as a means to an end: to learn more effectively and more deeply and to build a network of people equally excited about emerging tech. If that sounds like your wheelhouse:
Thanks for being here.
Obviously there are people that spend years or decades in these fields; none of what I’d do would come close to their level of expertise. I’m lucky they’re in the field because we get to learn from them. But my point still stands - it only takes a few dedicated weeks to be able to understand the tech, work out your own angle with it, see its opportunities, start experimenting with a new project, or interview for a job.
