"To neglect existential risk might thus be to wrong not only the people of the future, but the people of the past." - Toby Ord
[1]
The growth of human civilization is the result of changes we make to our environment in order to create greater abundance.
We exist as a result of our need for exploitation and the limits of survival.
So the degree to which we can alter our environment is directly limited by the amount of resources we can effectively capture without losing control.
To this, it ensues that there is no greater purpose than working towards preventing the methods by which we might lose control, referred to as Great Filters from here onwards.
On Monday, I'll cover the filters I deem priority and the reasons behind the split from Mentat towards Geome, leaving battlefield intelligence towards a live Google Earth.
In the meantime, here is my answer to the other questions and the structure of the remaining days for reference.
The Standard
After running a $100K ARR events business for two years, I sold my shares to pursue something more technical. Using that money, this January, I set out to record the highest DJ set ever atop the Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas and outside the Himalayas.
On the last push, at 22,000ft, 800ft from the summit, I nearly fainted carrying my decks and custom battery rig. Guides could've turned me back, but I pushed on secretly ingesting three caffeine gels, very dangerous at that altitude, reaching the top, and recorded the set (video here: https://youtu.be/9UtKELjpWCk).
Descending, as a result, I blacked out and had to be injected to prevent freezing. Dragged down on a leash, barely conscious, I learned one thing: I'll do whatever it takes to win, and never hold myself to a lower standard than succeeding towards my goal at all cost.
The Helping Hand
I could talk about feeling bodies in Lake Kivu during a morning swim, bullets tearing through our plane over Virunga, or meeting survivors at Mukwege's hospital in Bukavu; all seeing how our technology helped people stay safer, informed, and connected through constant Wi-Fi and compute in war-torn Congo.
This summer, deep in Salonga's rainforest, my teammate hit a breaking point during a critical field deployment. After days of failed troubleshooting, isolated and exhausted, she was ready to quit.
I stepped back with her, reframed the problem, and focused on support, cooking for her, highlighting why we were there. We rebuilt the node from scratch and brought the live feed online before dusk.
That small victory changed everything. She later set up the entire 100-camera network in under a week. She later said it reminded her why she'd joined, reminding me that true leadership means restoring meaning, not just fixing problems.
The Structure
Monday is what happened.
On Tuesday, I'll cover how I decided to take my next steps.
On Wednesday, I'll cover the product developments that led me.
On Thursday, I'll cover product developments part 2.
On Friday, I'll cover how I orchestrated the mansion
On Saturday, I'll cover how I orchestrated the mansion part 2
On Sunday, I'll cover my ride of the week, my trip to Berkeley and how I closed the deal for the $10,000k
Finally, beyond, I'll zoom out and look at next steps, in the next few days, months, years.