Itʼs been a while, and I havenʼt posted anything new on my blog. Life, work, and priorities often got in the way, but the urge to write never really went away. Itʼs time to get back to writing. Not because I have to, but because I miss the process of thinking through words.
I actually want to post more frequently than I do. The title is really spot-on for my blogging, too. We will get back to that very soon.
Moving on, I believe many of us in software development have had opportunities to do projects, activities, training, and events. Some of them slipped away; others faded because of hesitation, timing, or fear. A significant portion of us had good ideas but never had the chance to execute them. Or perhaps we never made that chance ourselves.
Perhaps they didnʼt want it enough to create the chance to execute it. Or, even worse, when they did, they didnʼt execute it well. So they ended up in a mediocre position in that very thing. I believe it takes a good amount of dedication to succeed with any opportunity.
In this post, I want to go through some of my personal missed opportunities. Not as regrets but really as good reminders.
Missed Opportunities
1. The First Missed Post
I started my blog in 2008. Back then, the internet still felt smaller. More personal, more curious. There wasnʼt a gazillion of material we have now on every topic. Following some good blogs has been a good source of information and ideas. Each post felt like a conversation, not content.
I obviously didnʼt have as much experience as I do now. But that shouldn’t have mattered. I was learning new ideas every week. If I blogged about each idea I learned, I would have so many more posts.
If I posted weekly, I would end up with 52 * 13 = 676 posts as opposed to ~100 posts. That’s a staggering difference. The other interesting aspect is that the more you write, the better you get at it.
At first, the posts might not have been catchy but they might get better in time. I missed two opportunities. One, I might have become a recognized blogger in tech. Two, I could have improved my writing skills. Both required the same thing I lacked back then discipline. The latter is very important for day-to-day jobs. The ability to write clearly often translates into the ability to think clearly.
The dedication was the key. And still is.
2. When Belief Was Missing
When I was in college, it wasnʼt as easy to find internships or companies to find interns. There was a list of suggested companies to apply for internships. It was rather a manual process. Spreadsheets, paper forms, word of mouth. Everything moved slowly.
Thus, we had an idea to establish a website to find interns for companies. Interns would create profiles and companies would find interns from the website. Basically, an early version of what LinkedIn or AngelList later became.
We implemented this idea, presented it to a couple of companies. We actually got some positive feedback. We even had a pretty cool domain name. We just didn’t walk through the door.
We literally stopped there. We didnʼt push the idea since we didnʼt believe in it so much. We assumed someone else would do it better, or that it wasn’t “good enough.” Believing was the key.
3. When Luck Ran Out
We worked with a local businessman to create a platform where wholesales would take place. Think of it as an early digital marketplace. The platform didnʼt get traction initially but then it got attention. It was solving a unique problem and potential transactions were huge.
If we somehow get a small percentage of it, we would still make a great profit. And, people started using it; though, we needed investment. Growth was possible, but we were undercapitalized. We presented the idea to some investors. They were very interested.
Nevertheless, our boss at the time didnʼt want to sell some portion of his shares. We tried to convince him but it didnʼt work out. It stopped there. We stopped working on it. End of the story.
We werenʼt lucky. Luck was the key.
4. Lessons From the Missed
Missed opportunities have different causes. Some stem from fear, some from fatigue, and others simply from timing. Itʼs really hard to foresee potential outcomes. Even the best ideas can fade if the moment passes before we act.
More importantly, things have changed. Nowadays, even if I have an idea, it takes so much effort to do so. Iʼve many other responsibilities. The older we get, the heavier the trade-offs become. Time, family, stability, mortgage. Earlier it was much easier to start and execute. Now, Iʼve to think about how to pay the mortgage, etc.
It's also comfortable to work for a bigger company. Nevertheless, I think smaller initiatives are still possible. They just require intentional energy. Some opportunities donʼt need so much effort like blogging. When it comes to big pushes, I still believe itʼs doable but it requires sacrifices.
Closing Thoughts
We like to think opportunities disappear because of timing, circumstances, or someone else’s decision. Sometimes they do. But sometimes the real cost comes from hesitation, repeated long enough that it starts to look like fate.