Running a bootstrapped business isn’t going to be easy. To make Perfalytics succeed, I’m going to need to lean on my strengths and, at the same time, compensate for my weaknesses.

I have some weaknesses which are going to make Perfalytics a real struggle:

I procrastinate a bit too much. It’s all too common that I have some tasks I want to get done at the start of the day, but wind up pushing them off to the next day. To avoid this problem with Perfaltyics, I’m going to set aside one hour each day to work on it. Each day after I finish dinner, I’m going to work on Perfalytics. By setting aside dedicated time to work on Perfalytics it’s way harder for me to procrastinate.

I have a poor sense of design. Web design is a muscle I’ve never really exercised. Whenever I try to make a UI pretty, it always seems “off”. Although I recognize something is wrong, I’m never able to place my finger on how to make it better. While building Perfalytics, I’m going to continuously work on improving my design skills. I’m going to produce a ton of designs, seek feedback on them from my coworkers, and reflect on how I can do better.

I have a hard time talking to strangers. A large part of getting a business off the ground is talking to people. You need to pitch your product to people you barely know. You also need to get feedback from your users to understand how you can make your product better.

Like web design, talking to strangers is not something I’m used to doing. In order for Perfalytics to succeed, I’m going to have to face my fear of talking to strangers. I plan on fighting my fear by being rigorous in my approach. As a concrete example, I’m going to set specific daily targets around the number of people I talk to. By setting small and specific goals I’m sure I’ll be able to conquer my fear.

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At the same time I have a number of skills that are going to be helpful. I want to take as much advantage of these skills as I can. I also plan on using these skills to help cover for my weaknesses.

I aggressively seek to improve. I really like improving my skills. I always seek feedback on my work from those around me. In my opinion constantly focusing on improving is a “cheat code” for life. This mindset is definitely going to be useful for Perfalytics. The first few months of Perfalytics are almost entirely going to be on iterating and improving the business.

I am methodical. To keep my life organized, I’ve become methodical. I have a specific list of habits that I do at the start of the day and at the end of the day. For one example, I’ve meditated for 45 minutes a day, everyday for the last six months. I plan on using my methodicalness to help plan out Perfalytics and ensure I’m making progress towards my goals.

I have deep Postgres knowledge. My day job for the past three years has been around optimizing a 1PB Postgres cluster. Along the way, I’ve learned a ton about Postgres. To give you an idea, I’ve written over 30 blog posts about Postgres. I’m going to leverage my Postgres knowledge to make sure that Perfalytics, a tool for optimizing Postgres performance, is great at what it does. Having a solid understanding of Postgres is what enabled me to see the possibility of a tool like Perfalytics in the first place.