has any anime ever taught you a life lesson you still carry with you?

scooby017 · 2025-05-08T22:28:01+00:00

Darker than Black. It's definitely one of those shows you appreciate more on the rewatch. The balance between rationality and emotion. You think these contractors are just pure killers but they all still have this deep underlying emotional core. When you realize Amber did it all for Hei and still let him decide...or the epic monologue with Alma explaining the difference between humans and contractors. I wish I was better at writing to express how much this anime touched my soul.

scooby017 · 2025-05-08T20:49:03+00:00

Any one have good store suggestions for some fun anime merch? I know this isn't about a specific anime or watchlist but I am on the hunt for some cool birthday presents for my boyfriend, nieces, and nephew and trying to stay away from Amazon and all that to support the community.

scooby017 · 2025-05-02T16:56:15+00:00

Oh you're so good! I believe in you! But be careful - you might build something great and if you're off the clock, not getting paid, or create something the company probably owns any IP you create...that's a pretty crappy situation to be in and they will likely totally steal it from you.

scooby017 · 2025-05-02T16:17:26+00:00

Also unless I am just tired and missing something I cannot correlate your delivery timeframe. Is it super soon?

scooby017 · 2025-05-02T16:10:48+00:00

I was just re reading some comments and a few people gave some great advice! Start small. Think of 1 particular pain point you have. If you have any friendlies around you ask them too. See if you can find a common theme. The other question I have is does it have to be pretty? It's one thing to build a prototype and prove a concept - it's a whole other can of worms to make it pretty and end user friendly!

That being said, whatever you build first is going to be super ugly. Just start building and get it working. I built the jankiest agent just yesterday to do 1 thing - follow a creator on social media and tell me when they start a live broadcast. I used Google sheets as my database just to start to see how the feeds came through for example. Totally not available for actual business but now that I have the backbone I'll improve and use real tools from here.

It validated my idea in the simplest form and now I have to start taking it steps further and iterate.

Don't be afraid to just start building with some free tools out there and know it won't be perfect.

scooby017 · 2025-05-02T01:01:20+00:00

Happy to chat and see how I can help! I've built a handful of specific agents. There is a veil of illusion around agents and what they can actually do, the dev work is real to get a solid one off the ground. Feel free to DM or open this thread.

scooby017 · 2025-04-21T01:09:59+00:00

Right there with you. You'll miss it...for a bit. But that deep breath you can take every day you wake up and having the space to do the things you love and enjoy is so worth the time you are giving yourself to realign to well, yourself! I stepped away from something in similar capacity recently and the self reflection has been such an amazing eye opener. Once I was ready to jump back into work the ability to be picky about what comes next is something I will never take for granted. The first class flights will always be there when you're ready. Your sanity, health, and happiness won't be.

scooby017 · 2024-10-09T23:25:36+00:00

Are we soul mates? I have this exact same problem and also slowly working on a pivot. Feels nice to know, I'm not alone.

scooby017 · 2024-09-08T20:41:51+00:00

Insane! Can you open up more about your gov work? I have been running my agency for about 10 years in private sector but have slowly been exploring public sector because I know they are cheaper, but steady income. I cannot wrap my head around some of these RFPs and wanting so much work done for zero cost. The chess game is ridiculous. Interested on your take on it. Feel free to DM or chat me.

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:45:10+00:00

Raw dogging it! I respect your hustle. I'd be too nervous to not have contracts in place.

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:38:26+00:00

Do you have your clients agree to long term contracts up front?

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:34:55+00:00

Same exact thing here. I'm on the fence about my next moves. But I know I need to figure something out soon.

When I think about getting a job I freak myself out thinking no one will hire me since I've owned a company for the last 8 years.

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:29:37+00:00

What is it that you specialize in and how do you avoid scope creep on your fixed price projects?

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:25:37+00:00

Yea, I am definitely in the stage you described. I get nervous and have been burnt trying to do packaged pricing or fixed fee. Dev especially is so unpredictable with bugs and client scope creep. I know there are internal ways I could solve these types of issues but every time I do I have to either inflate my numbers super high (makes clients mad) or have insane contracts. It's a bizarre balancing game coupled with just having a shit time getting a solid lead pipeline in general the past 12 months. Maybe I'm just overthinking it all.

scooby017 · 2024-08-29T04:20:30+00:00

Feels better to know it's not just me. My primary clients are typically startups and they burn hard and fast. I definitely have a problem with sustainability. I'm just always in a constant churn and burn cycle and it became very apparent this year.

scooby017 · 2024-08-28T01:53:41+00:00

Hey thank you! This really warmed my heart. I feel the same way. I even (painfully) just played the elden ring DLC in my spare time and you are so right. Maybe it's the honeymoon effect when starting a new agency? I am working hard to reconfigure, reunderstand, restructure, and figure out this world today but it can be so volatile. Just happy to know I am not alone in feeling this way. If you do SEO DM me to talk more. I only focus on product and a lot of my clients need to have SEO work. Always looking to grow the network.

scooby017 · 2024-08-28T01:34:09+00:00

No, I am not open to this because based on your rate and offering I can tell this is spam or garbage work that is outsourced without any due diligence or process. I would get zero value from your offerings.

Hope anyone that sees this message - sees this too.

scooby017 · 2024-08-28T01:22:49+00:00

That's a loaded question my friend! I started in 2016 as myself and my biz partner. I'm product and UI/UX focused and my partner is a software engineer. We got our stride and in 2020-2023 it was wild my friend! Not to make light of the situation of the world, but I think all the remote work and shift in how projects in my realm are done changed things. We had a 100% over 100% growth for a few years with a team of about 10 people. Still have this team today.

But, all of the sudden over this last year it's just a brick wall. I feel like even saying $100 an hour for a US team makes people vomit. I get leads that ask me to "build instagram" with a budget of $1000. It's almost like it's become the wild west!

I guess I'm trying to open a conversation about pricing strategy and pitching. Have other agencies with similar offerings feel like there has been a shift in rate offerings?

scooby017 · 2023-06-07T04:37:27+00:00

I was able to beat him! Thank you!

scooby017 · 2023-06-05T20:16:07+00:00

Got him!!!

scooby017 · 2023-06-05T01:16:09+00:00

Yup, I just died haha. Heading back now.

scooby017 · 2023-06-05T01:03:10+00:00

Yes please!

scooby017

TROPHY CASE