My surge of creativity in the past two days of writing has persisted beyond finishing touches to the articles. I'm reaching a general level of agitation which I can compare to times of peak productivity when shipping an important feature at Ledger, or writing smart contracts for Factchain. I will dedicate one or two posts to Factchain, but they will come at the right time when I reach a certain level of internal peace during my writing journey. Because words are more personal than code, they continue to have a psychological impact after the computer has been shut. They don't belong to the virtual memory of a machine. They keep dancing in the mind, raising new doubts and questions. This 30-day writing challenge leaves me cogitating everyday, grappling with many thoughts and ideas as I prepare for the days ahead. I couldn’t fall asleep last night, and stayed awake until 4 am. Breathing deeply and slowly with my eyes closed wouldn't shut my ADHD brain down. The more I write, the more stories I have to tell. I already have enough substance to fill half of the challenge. Things need to slow down; it will be a long race, a marathon not a sprint. On today’s menu, therefore: a calmer discussion on the modern digital way of life.

I've always loved anagrams. Rearranging a set's elements and finding another meaning is immensely satisfying. It's easy to write a suboptimal Python one-liner to detect them.

sorted(word1) == sorted(word2)

I even landed my first software engineering job by optimizing anagram detection to a linear complexity: Haa, the good old days with trivial junior interview questions. Nature has played with the same concept since its inception. In fact, It’s commonplace for molecules to be made of the same atoms but arranged differently. These are called isomers and have entirely different physiochemical properties.

So, if humans are to teams what atoms are to molecules and letters are to words, what happens when we rearrange them worldwide? What properties do the teams gain and lose? I can't give a generic answer to this question; the relevant experience under my belt here is building Factchain remotely with two co-founders over six months. I used to work with them at Ledger, in a hybrid configuration. I don't want to dive right now into the nature of our relationships and how they translated into a common project. That would spoil the rest of the series. Still, It is interesting how my perception of them changed with a different setup. Moving from physical to remote is more complex than joining an established remote team, and it is better to be Meteor than Remote when building something from scratch. Building a company surpasses the act of creation itself because the values and motivation must equally infuse in all participants.

Ironically, I just received this automatic email from the YC co-founder's matchmaking platform, to which I recently registered. Welcome to the Tinder of wanna-be entrepreneurs. It's the far west out there, especially if you have a tech background. It's probably a fun enough experience to fit in its own post.

The world isn't governed by data, but its transitional state function is. To build a successful startup, you better live next to your co-founder, say YC data. I didn't set any area restrictions on their platform because I'm at a point in my life where I could relocate anywhere. I'm crossing a monster interchange of opportunities. Where to go? What to build? Who to join? I'm probably writing this series to find answers, but I know I'll flourish in an early-stage environment.

In a more advanced development phase of a startup, remote work is excellent for productivity since all human knowledge is at the fingertips of anyone with an internet connection. Knowledge transmission doesn't require a delimited physical room and scale-up open spaces are more often a source of noise and distraction than a fertile ground for collaboration. However, it can be frightening for juniors, who usually require more emotional support to learn. Emotion doesn't travel well through wifi. We should create a less hostile environment for them (us?). I'm a transitioning junior in that regard, but I now feel confident enough to build from everywhere with anyone.

If my next experience is fully remote, I'd take the opportunity to travel the world. I need nature. I need a break. It's sunny outside. Sorry for the botched conclusion, gtg.