What's strange to me is why they thought that email address would work -- after all it's not their address. I've got years of emails from France for the same reason.

You can set up a filter for the incorrect version of your email address (any email to namenodot@gmail.com) and get those out of your inbox.

Lots of people don't understand how the Internet really works, or realize that there might be another person with the name of the person they're trying to contact.

A good sign is when people are trying to do something using a complex workaround because they need it that badly, and you can implement a change to make it easier.

If they haven't even attempted to do it now, chances are they won't after you implement a new feature.

We have to remember that beach volleyball is clearly an essential part of the training for fighter pilots!

Simple idea that can't be repeated enough times: you don't convince customers to want your product. You show them how it solves a problem that they care about.

The simplest form of validation is to sell something to a few people. If you can do that you have some proof of a problem to be solved, and you usually get questions along the way that can help you develop the idea further.

I used to struggle with this. It seemed like the first few steps of anything I could do would never measure up to these accomplishments that I saw from others.

Then I realized that even being willing to take those steps is extraordinary -- because it's not that common. Being willing to try and fail is extraordinary. Doing hard work without a guaranteed outcome is extraordinary. Realizing that you've been doing something ineffective and you need to change is extraordinary.

And if you consistently do at least some of those, then one day you may hit those extraordinary results when you least expect it. Even if you don't, you have had extraordinary experiences along the way. That's worth something.

There may not be a test of writing abilities in a job interview itself, but applying for the job is a test of writing abilities.

I think that's his point?

If he drew like that but had no interesting content, no one would read the comics.

If he wrote jokes but couldn't illustrate them at even a basic level, they wouldn't reach many people.

And to be fair he could draw the absurd out of a semi-realistic situation, but he wasn't producing a treatise on modern management and how to run a business. You could find a lot of the same observations in water cooler chats at many workplaces.

He just made that really easy to consume and then got it in front of a lot of people. Which is probably a sign that he has a half decent understanding of distribution and promotion too. Once again he may not be a genius there but he knows enough to not screw up something good.

When I was first starting out, one of my goals was to manage a team. I thought no one would hire me for that role since I didn't have the background for it.

Instead I started freelancing, got a few clients, and eventually hired others to help me.

Looking back, when I impressed clients with my work I was regularly offered various forms of management responsibilities. I probably could have found other opportunities like that if I had pursued it.

If you demonstrate good results in one of the main skills required for a job and explain how you would build up the others, you might be surprised at who would hire you.

People who can do well in several areas and effectively manage projects or other people are always in short supply.

Spending a lot of time building something is a great way to put off the painful realization that people don't want to pay for it.

Asking for sales up front means you have to face that right away. It's better for the business but harder for the founder.

Not only that -- a lot of people pursue "innovative" technologies and try to build something all new, when existing ideas have only reached 1% of the market that need them because it takes a lot of work to actually get people on board.