
My wife and I have always wanted to spend more time living in a ski town. To make the dream come true, after reading The Cult of We, we started a [coworking space in Breckenridge](https://breckworks.com/). It was not planned, but the right opportunity came, and we jumped on it.

We did not have a lot of experience with small business, and so to maximize our chances of success, we focused on speed and kept ourselves on a very tight budget.

We managed to start Breckworks by quickly prototyping a product that people loved, without spending a lot of money. Now I want to share how it went down, in case you would find it useful.

![Breckworks Coworking in Breckenridge](https://breckworks.com/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fexecutive-office.0d8947c7.jpeg&w=3840&q=100)

Startups are lean by design and you never have enough of either money, time, resources, or most likely all the above. Nobody knows anything for certain, and early on all your time is spent trying to find a product-market fit. An early small business isn't much different.

When we took over this office space, we needed to figure two things:

1. Was there a demand for coworking space in the way we've envisioned?
2. Could it be run autonomously, without any employees?

The former was obviously really important to know because without any users there is no business, and we had to know it quickly, or pivot to something else. The latter was necessary because we could not guarantee our presence, nor did we have the budget to hire someone full time to manage the space. It was a bit of a stretch, but it had to be done.

In the world of tech startups, you can build a quick prototype, send a survey, call some people and ask them questions, and pretty soon you could get a pulse on whether anyone even cares. But how do you do that when you have an office space? You prototype just the same!

We picked one of the rooms in the office, and dedicated it to be the new coworking space. My wife outfitted one of the rooms with IKEA furniture, while I made a quick website and made sure we were [easy to find on Google](https://goo.gl/maps/NYCyCYS3VNPUh2Wm9). The website had no features, and no options, just a way to buy one day at the space. The room wasn't fancy either, but it was clean, useful, and friendly. Just like that, with a grand total of a few thousands dollars invested in furniture we were in business!

Considering that our only closest competitor spent millions of dollars to remodel their space, the results were shocking!

In just the first week of operation we made more money per square foot than we did for the whole month. Turns out tourists that came to Breckenridge to ski and ride have always been looking for a space like Breckworks, but it just wasn't there. This was enough of a signal to double-down.

We rolled up our sleeves and put in 2-3 weeks of 20 hour days. We painted, cleaned, and knocked down some walls. It wasn't amazing, and we sure weren't "professional", but the space was no longer an eye sore. It's truly fascinating how much can be done with white paint, and a few vanity decorative pieces. The space started to look really nice!

![Kirill & Jenn setting up the conference room at Breckworks](https://kirillzubovsky.com/assets/blog/images/reworking-breckworks.jpeg)

To make it truly a coworking space though, we needed private spaces, but nobody wanted to build any walls. We looked at a million possible options, and ordered Popping Pods and Rooms. They came in quickly, and most importantly, we could put the whole order on a credit card. This was a huge plus because we didn't have the $100k required for these upgrades, but as long as our monthly payments were covered by the visitors, it was plausible.

Just like that an old space became new, and what was previously bringing in just a few people a month was now capable of bringing in almost 40 people a day. We now had space for private meetings, phone calls, focused work and even an event space. It felt unreal.

To me the lesson here was simple. If you want to do something, you have to just do it and look for the minimal viable solution to each of your problems. People are looking for a solution to their need, and when the need is big enough, even the most minimal solution would do.

When you look at the tech startup, it's easy to assume that yet another feature is what will turn the product to a success, but in practice, it's probably all the same in small business as it is in tech - it's the few little things that can make all the difference, as long as you make something that people really want.

Next time I will discuss how user acquisition for a small business is actually a much simpler process than one for an internet startup because when you have a physical product it becomes very clear who it is for, and who it is not a good fit for. Follow me on Twitter [@kirillzubovsky](https://twitter.com/kirillzubovsky) if you want to get notified.

How we started a coworking space by following lean startups.


Asking questions is a life skill that can be learned and improved at any point in life, whether you are 5 or 55 years old. Very often, starting as early as in preschool, we are taught to ask questions wrong! How so, and what is the better way to ask questions then?

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<i>TLDR: If you don't have time to read, Kirill explains the process in this [Sudden Schools](http://suddenschools.org/) video.</i><br><br>


When you have a question, the goal should not be to get an immediate dopamine injection by getting the answer, but to learn enough about your question to derive the answer yourself.

You know how they say -- "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime," -- this is no different.

If you asked a question and I gave you an answer, that only satisfies your curiosity in the moment, but it does not teach you how to find the answer. If that's so, then how are you going to find the answer to your next question?

Here is a better method. When you are facing a problem, and you want to ask someone to help you, follow this process:
<br>

1. Write a problem down, and explain what the problem is to yourself, then write it as if you are explaining it to someone else. Furthermore, explain what you think the solution could be. As you do this, you will see yourself describing your problem in a much deeper way than a single question. Not only will you gain a fuller understanding of what you are asking, you just might find the answer in this phase of the process.

2. If the answer has not occurred to you yet, try to find the solution yourself, experiment, try different hypothetical answers, improvise and use your imagination. At this point, you are not trying to be right, you are just trying to find all the possible ways to find your answer. Document the steps that you took to solve the problem. If you looked up information elsewhere, write down what you tried to search for and where you looked. Document if you found what you were looking for, and if not, why not. In this step you will expand your solution space by learning more about the problem, and you will probably find the answer.

3. Lastly, if you are still struggling, now might be a good time to finally ask someone a question. Figure out who is the most knowledgable person that might know the answer, take all your research from step 1 and 2, and ask them. 

<br>

Asking someone a question without doing any prior work is lazy, it just means you want to put the burden of doing the work on the person that you are asking this from. Smart people don't generally like to help lazy people. On the other hand, if you put in the maximum effort in trying to find the answer, you will show that you did what you could, and came to this person for a reason. You would be a lot more likely to get help, leaving the person feeling good about helping you. It would be a win-win.

If you have other suggestions on how to ask good questions, feel free to email me `kirill@suddenschools.org`. Happy to hear from you!

<br>
-Kirill Zubovsky,

Founder of Sudden Schools

Ho to ask questions to learn almost anything in life


A friend and I were discussing school openings in light of Covid19. He was keen on keeping the kids home, while I though it would be better if our kids could go to school and interact in person. To convince me that school should remain online, he sent me an article with the following title - "Scans Reveal Heart Damage in Over Half of COVID-19 Patients!" 
  
Wow, that sounds scary, no parent would want their kids to get heart damage from going to school! If Covid was indeed causing all these issues, then of course it would be wise to keep kids at home. But was it? 

From what I could tell after reading the actual paper cited in the article (<a href='https://academic.oup.com/ehjcimaging/article-pdf/doi/10.1093/ehjci/jeaa178/33402488/jeaa178.pdf' target="_blank" rel='noindex nofollow'>link here</a>), the paper was not very scientific and had no clear evidence that heart issues in the study were somehow the result of Covid. They sampled a handful of old people who had Covid, and found issues with their cardiograms. They used the two unrelated measurements to draw a conclusion that Covid was somehow responsible for the potential heart problems. To be sure that I was not hallucinating, I asked a medical statistician friend for his opinion. His answer? 

"This study reveals no clinically useful information. This is an online retrospective survey, which is generally the lowest possible grade of robustness of clinical data. Definitely not good enough to suggest any causality. Absolutely empty paper."

This is the new reality we live in. Information is free, it's abundant, anyone can publish without much thought, and it is being disseminated with incredible speed. Pick a catchy headline, make the most noise, and your opinion becomes the truth, regardless of how wrong it actually is.

Not only is this bad because false information gets across as facts, it also confuses people and makes us question the facts. No information is safe, no truth is for certain.

The problem with this paper on heart conditions, for example, is that it is not explicitly false. Even though the headline, the data, and the conclusion are all misleading, the very idea that Covid could be related to heart conditions introduces a doubt. The paper does not prove that Covid causes heart conditions, but it also does not prove that it does not. 

A trained scientific mind will see that to prove that Covid does not cause heart problems you would have to design a study in which a group of volunteers would get infected with Covid at random, and then measured to see if they develop any such problems. You would not find many volunteers.

Unfortunately, many people without training would read this paper and interpret the lack of evidence as the evidence in itself. "See, they did not prove that Covid did not cause heart problems, therefore there is a _chance_ that it may have caused heart problems." - they would say.

Nobody wants to get their kids sick, so it's only natural to look for ways to be at least somewhat right, when being right means your kids will be safe. But when it comes to serious issues, being right for the sake of being right is wrong. 

If we continue down this path, where instead of having intellectual conversations we instead try to win arguments at all costs, we are going to fail. We will have true information presented as disinformation and visa-versa, and so long as it seems legitimate and appeals to one's believes, it would be interpreted as true information.

There is no quick solution to this problem. Facebook won't fix it for us. While Facebook, through human scanning and algorithms can identify that a shark walking across the desert is probably a piece of fake news, only inquisitive dissection of data can uncover fake news like the one above. No, the solution to this problem is us, the collective wisdom of humans.

To be able to identify this type of high quality fake, we need to debate, to discuss, to be willing to lose and to be willing to be wrong. We need to have the freedom to doubt, and the desire to uncover the truth, regardless of what we find. We need to share, openly, willingly, without being afraid that such thoughts would get us in trouble. Asking questions, reasoning, those are the basics we should hold dear.

It is on me, and on on you, and on all of us to be curious, to question the status quo, to question the authority, to question the media and the truth as it appears. But question it not blindly, at the expense of all reason, but question it with the naiveté and the intellectual curiosity of a child. 

Assume you don't know, look for answers, don't stop until there are no more questions.

Intellectual Curiosity


When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone, it made a lot of sense. He put a camera into everyones’ pocket at the time when it was not possible. Back then when you were looking at a $500 iPhone, you were comparing it to either a $200 flip phone or a $2000 DSLR. While it was clearly more expensive than a regular phone, iPhone could make calls, took instantly sharable pictures, had games, basic apps, and of course it also stored all your music and thus replaced an iPod. iPhone was not just magic, it was also a good financial decision.

Fast forward to today, iPhone 12 Pro Max with 500GB of memory costs $1800[^1], has a camera, and can do about the same things that an equivalently priced iPad or even a Laptop can do.
Does it make sense to buy one?

After ten days of testing it, for me it was a resounding No.

The new camera is a bit faster, and it is definitely a lot brighter, but at the end of the day, that is it. It is still a tiny lens, and anything that isn’t close and steady gets pixelated, and blurry. 

Apple’s promoted photography is mostly portraits, people sitting still, posing. I have two kids though, and they love to run. There is no way I can take their pictures on this phone without having them to pause, just like I do with my 3 year old iPhone X. I can always turn on the video, but the quality is no different from my 5-year old Sony RX 100 iv, in fact, I think the old Sony actually does better video.


iPhone Pro Max feels great in my hands, and I love the quality of the big screen, but that is it.

Back a few years ago when everyone went massive in phone sizes, the logic was that big phones were great for those who had it as their primary and only device. That’s reasonable logic, but in today’s world, I think it makes so much more sense to buy a tiny small phone, for rare calls and text messages, and then to splurge on a proper laptop, or a large iPad, for everything else. 

For between $1100 and $1500 one can buy an iPad Pro with 12.9 inch display, and a cellular connection. That’s a whole computer that you can touch, and a screen big enough to serve as a home TV. Now that’s a good deal!

There are probably decent use cases for the new iPhone, although I can currently only think of one. If you are a narcissistic Instagram celebrity who loves to post selfies from a nightclub, this phone is for you. For everyone else, iPhone 12 Pro Max is not a smart financial decision.

Personally, I am going to save up the money and put them towards a really nice camera, with a real photo sensor, and a real lens. I am hoping for a Leica Q (Matte Black Special Edition), but that is rather expensive. Perhaps a Nikon or a Sony would do. Either way, for anything photo related, I would rather get a great camera with outrageously better photo quality. For everything phone, an old iPhone would do.
<br>

[^1]: At the time of publication, I thought the new iphone cost me $1300, but as I was filing my return, I realized that after Apple Care, trade in value of my original phone ($250), and taxes, the actual full price of this phone (with Apple Care) is $1,757.80. This is 2/3 of how much I paid for top of the line MBP that I use for all my work. This is insane. What is more insane is that you hide this behind $55/months for 24 months payments. It seems affortable, but in practice is just a ridiculous amount for what is otherwise just a phone.

iPhone 12 Pro Max. Is it worth it?


My friend is a successful professional, having done startups and big co's, he's making a living with his work and is doing well above the norm. Yet, when he was in high school, growing in a small town in the middle of the country, he was told that he would not account to anything. According to his teachers, he was "a little slow." If you or someone you know is in the same situation, I just want to tell you how it's a load of baloney!

We live in a society that has got it all backwards. Schools are designed to babysit kids, to work as predictable nine-to-five shelters that occupied kids, while parents go to work. What most schools aren't designed for is to enable the creative and intellectual freedom that many kids yearn, but don't get.

Typical schools divide learning in blocks, by age, by grade, by ability, and by subject among other things. It is presented as a way to help children learn, but in practice it is nothing but the tool to fit school content into a repeatable systems that is easy to implement and oversee across the country. There is  absolutely no reason why a 5 year old cannot learn grade 3 math, or why you have to stop drawing your masterpiece half-way, only to go on a break and continue to another class. A typical school is anything but designed to let minds prosper.

"Slow" kids see this early on, and they demand better. They want to learn on their own pace, in their own world, skills and interests that appeal to them at that time. Students that feel the drive in math and physics want to experiment: roll things, launch things, blow things up. Students who want to express their mind make art. Others consume themselves in sports. Some want to participate for 5 minutes, while others are happily self-occupied for 5 hours. Slow kids want things in a way that works for them, not for the school, but instead of rewarding the drive, schools label these kids non-confirming, and proceed to eradicate the disease.

Schools should be encouraging creativity, nurturing it, giving it all the opportunities to explode. Instead, schools peg students into groups. "Smart" kids, those with high marks, willing to follow the process, play by the rules, learn at the pace set of them by the norms, those kids are praised and rewarded. Meanwhile, the kids who want more are labeled and set aside.

Schools are a wild place for learning if you crave better, if you are not satisfied with the status quo, if your passion lie outside of the boring norms. You can operate within them, get through them, but you are probably not going to make the most out of them. 

At the end of the day, "slow" kids are the ones who build companies, compose symphonies, sculpt historical monuments and make a difference. Meanwhile, most of those smart kids end up someplace middle-management. Woopty doo! 

The next time someone says you are slow, ignore the haters, and you do you.

Are you a little slow?


Responding to my wife's worries that our kids need to write better, I asked Chat GPT-4 to write me an eassy that will get me into Stanford. Here is what we got.

Prompt: "Hi Chat, can you write me an essay that will get me into Stanford?" Model: "GPT-4"

---

## Title: Transforming Dreams into Reality: The Journey of an Aspiring Innovator

### Introduction: Visionary Thinking and a Thirst for Knowledge

Ever since I can remember, thinking big and dreaming endlessly have been intrinsic aspects of my persona. I am always eager to learn, innovate, and contribute to making the world a better place. Stanford University, with its rich history of cultivating innovators, presents the ideal environment to foster my aspirations. My intellectual curiosity, passion for technology, unwavering determination, community-driven mindset, and diverse background make me uniquely suited for contributing to and thriving in such an environment. Through this essay, I aim to demonstrate that gaining admission to Stanford is not merely about attending a prestigious university, but about advancing my dreams and establishing life-long academic and professional connections.

![A Student in front of the Stanford Campus, image by Lexica.Art](https://kirillzubovsky.com/assets/blog/images/lets-go-stanford-lexica.jpg)

### Body:

1. Intellectual curiosity and innovative thinking

In my formative years, I found my calling in computer science and engineering after being captivated by the infinite solutions technology presents in addressing global challenges. After teaching myself coding languages, I developed applications that assisted the visually impaired and helped streamline the work of local businesses. Through these experiences, I honed my innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, resulting in an unwavering determination to contribute meaningfully to the world around me.

2. Overcoming personal challenges and building resilience

Growing up in a household that battled financial instability, I experienced firsthand how economic challenges hinder one's opportunities to pursue higher education. Nevertheless, I remained undeterred and relentlessly pursued my passion for learning. Supported by a strong family foundation and a growth mindset, I have overcome obstacles and achieved academic excellence. I firmly believe that Stanford's nurturing atmosphere will amplify my resilience and drive to succeed.

3. Diverse background and worldly perspective

Hailing from a multicultural background, I understand the power of diversity in fostering innovation and personal growth. My experiences living abroad have broadened my perspectives and enabled me to adapt to and flourish in different environments. I am confident that at Stanford, I will contribute my unique viewpoint and simultaneously benefit from the enriching experiences of my peers.

4. Passion for community and social causes

I also believe in giving back to society and, consequently, have actively participated in community service projects, such as volunteering at food banks and tutoring underprivileged students. Stanford's commitment to community service and social impact resonates deeply with my personal values. This further solidifies my conviction that Stanford is the perfect incubator for my ongoing initiatives and future endeavors.

### Conclusion: A Transformative Experience Awaits

Attending Stanford University would be a transformative experience that elevates my intellectual and personal development, enabling me to become a true change-maker in society. With a steadfast commitment to excellence and an unwavering determination to effect positive change, I am poised to embrace the challenge and privilege of joining the Stanford family. By honing my skills and gaining invaluable insights from the brightest minds, I will walk the path of innovation and continue to manifest the dreams that once seemed unattainable. Together, we will defy the odds and transform my dreams into an inspiring reality.

---


ps. In for a penny, in for a pound. This is a blog post, and I needed a photo, so I said: "Hi Chat, the following is an essay which I wrote for my Stanford application. Could you suggest a good photo to go along with it? " Chat responded:

"For this essay, I suggest a photo of a student standing on the Stanford University campus, looking out into the distance with determination and optimism. The student could be holding a laptop or another piece of technology, symbolizing their passion for computer science and engineering. The background could feature iconic Stanford buildings or scenery to emphasize the connection between the student's dreams and the university environment. This image would represent the theme of transforming dreams into reality and the journey of an aspiring innovator at Stanford."

Well then, so it shall be! I went to DALL-E and gave it the above assignment. The [resulting image](https://kirillzubovsky.com/assets/blog/images/lets-go-stanford.png) is not amazing, as DALL-E 2 isn't yet optimized to create Midjourney like crisp details, but for a blog post it will do. 

Stanford, on the other hand, I was not sure, so I used Lexica.Art to get the details, and the details it got! You see the Lexica-generated image at the top of this post.

Well, fellow humans, what can I say, enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Chat GPT, can you get me into Stanford?


You will not always remember what people said, but you will never forget how they made you feel. This adage proved true for me, as I was sharing a story with a friend, I realized that I still recall a story from sixteen years ago where a business leader had a choice to play nice or to get what he needed, and he chose the latter. In my view, it was not the best option, and if you are a leader, I hope you will read this and consider changing your ways, aiming to create long lasting positive impact, instead of taking short term gains.

Once upon a time, I was an intern at a large company. We were not working on anything groundbreaking, but we reported directly to the CIO and had a substantial budget. It was as good a position as any within the organization. Being young, restless, and eager to work, I convinced my manager that automating a routine, time-consuming process was a great idea. Personally, I just did not want to do it manually, and automation made perfect sense.

It took a few weeks to persuade the higher-ups and a month to design, implement, test, and get all the necessary approvals. Eventually, the new process was adopted. I was delighted because instead of sitting at my desk, I could now spend more time playing foosball with friends, and the automation was saving the company at least a million dollars every year.

As my internship was drawing to a close, feeling satisfied with my contribution, I informed my team that I planned to use my accumulated vacation time to visit Palo Alto and learn more about startups. The team was likely thrilled (since I automated their jobs away, oops!), but the response from our Director was far from what I expected. He suggested that, given our recent product launch and his uncertainty about it running smoothly without me, I should stick around just in case something went wrong. Sensing that I was already halfway out the door, the Director pressed further, implying that if I ever wanted to work with anyone in his circles again, I should really reconsider my decision.
I did not mind that he claimed the project as his idea and that my name never even came up with the CIO, but was it necessary to threaten an intern over a two-week vacation at the end of a year-long stint with no breaks?

Some might argue that he was pragmatic, knowing I might not be a great fit for the organization's pace, there was no point in worrying about my return after graduation. He had everything to lose if the project had a hiccup and nothing to gain if I went on vacation. Perhaps so, but in my view, this was such a short-sighted approach. Business and life is a long game. You may not get what you want immediately, but as long as you put in the effort and help others, it all compounds over time. Eventually, it all comes together.

Instead of resorting to bullying, which I never respond well to, the Director could have simply said "Thank you" and offered a way for me to continue to Palo Alto while keeping an eye on the project remotely. It would have cost him pennies, made me feel elated, and ensured the project continued uninterrupted. Instead, he chose violence.

There are some organizations where fear and control are the norm, but that is not a good fit for me, nor is it a way I would ever work with someone. Maybe you can scare some people some of the time, but if you want to go far, it helps to elevate people, make them feel wanted and appreciated.

I believe in creating environments where people feel valued and empowered. If you share these values, let us connect and build something great together. Let us choose the long game and make a positive impact that resonates for years to come.


Kirill Zubovsky

Startup Founder