Sometimes you just have to stop
So, this Monday, we woke up super early, like 5 am, and left our budget hotel in the heart of Surat Thani. Grabbed some sandwiches from 7/11 and, half an hour later, we were inflating our paddleboards by this tiny jungle river. Setting off at dawn? Super emotional and just gorgeous. Yeah, we were a bit scared of crocs and snakes, but that 3-hour journey with coconut trees hanging over the river? Unforgettable.
Everything was cool until we were heading back. My wife's board slipped under the dock, and she banged her knee hard on the concrete. At first, it hurt like hell. After cleaning the wound and icing it, it felt a bit better. But by evening, she was in tears from the pain, so off to the hospital we went. They X-rayed her, said her bones were fine but weren't sure about the ligaments. They wrapped her leg up, gave her painkillers, and told us to watch it for a week. She felt better the next day.
Now, my wife wasn't just upset about the injury. Sure, it hurt, and she didn't want to limp forever. But there was a bigger issue. She'd been training for six months to swim across the Bosphorus, practicing three times a week. She'd improved her 1 km freestyle time from 28 to 22 minutes. I do it in 20, and I trained for 4 years as a kid! We were set to fly to Turkey next Tuesday. Despite the pain, she insisted she'd still swim.
Back in 2014, my company "Buffer Bay" owned several projects besides the well-known "Lifehacker". They started around 2007-2008 and grew slowly. MacRadar even made some profit. At a board meeting, my buddy Ruslan suddenly suggested we drop them. He drew this BCG matrix, placed our projects on it, and it turned out only Lifehacker had potential. We decided to focus solely on it. It was a shock, but I've never regretted it. Sometimes you just gotta stop.
In 2015, a friend invited us to celebrate his birthday sailing in Croatia. To spice things up, he signed up for a half Iron Man in Pula. It was a day before we set sail. Another friend, Dmitry, joined him. It was Dmitry's first half. He'd trained hard. 14 of us cheered them on. Neither finished. There were huge waves, and Dmitry missed the swim cut-off. Our birthday boy had a collision and his bike wheel got messed up. Sometimes, things just don't go your way.
Another buddy, Oleg, spent years on a dating project. I was an advisor and saw how much he invested emotionally. He tried different concepts, changed teams, and spent a lot of money. But two weeks ago, he decided to shut it down. He realized he was doing it for himself, not the users. Now, he's onto an AI project and gave his previous investors shares in it for free.
As for us, we're off to Turkey on Tuesday. We'll cheer for our friends, enjoy some tasty kebabs, and sip wine. Hopefully, my wife can get into a hot air balloon in Cappadocia. As for the Bosphorus swim, maybe next year or in five.
P.S. Oh, and Slava, we've got a starter pack for you if you're up for swimming disguised as a Russian girl ;) Dasha's even ready to pick it up for you.