16 year olds have to get over it.

Shakespeare's not as boring as they or anyone think.

What does his work have to do with our tech-saturated world 400 years later?

3 lessons from Shakespeare for anyone working in tech

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Lesson 1: Appearance vs. reality.

Shakespeare explores how things look vs. how they truly are.

• Hamlet: Is it his father's ghost or his paranoia?

• The Winter's Tale: Did his wife really cheat on him with his best friend?

• Every other play: Is that person in a disguise? 🤣

2 points on what appearance/reality has to do with tech:

1) Is there a real source of truth for assessing your product? (Eg, daily active users, profits, time on task)

2) Use appearances well.

• Make beautiful, useable UI

• Make ads appealing

Lesson 2: Take big risks.

In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio hopes to win the love of Portia, a beautiful heiress in Belmont.

To do it he:

• Asks a friend for help

• Gets a loan to travel to Belmont

• Chooses a cheap chest of lead over gold

Then he & Portia fall in love!

So the lessons for working in tech startup:

• Build & support your network

• Use debt well (and tap into that friend who's great with finances to know how)

And the biggest one:

Choose the lead to get the girl.

Take risks beyond quick riches for passion & impact.

In less Shakespearean terms...

Don't just risk it for the biscuit. 🤓😏

Risk it to eat well & feed people.

Think beyond the paycheck.

Keep the greater goal in mind & pursue that.

Lesson 3: Get used to tragedy, but look for comedy.

Later in his career, he wrote The Winter's Tale. A tragicomedy, meaning it started tragic & ended happy.

This is a redemption story.

Sad times are normal, but it's important to look for the hopeful upturn.

Same in tech work, especially contract consulting like me.

It can be tough to hustle for the next opportunities, but it always comes.

Stay hopeful!

There are a few quick lessons from Shakespeare for tech work.

• Appearance vs. reality.

• Take big risks for a greater goal.

• Push through tragic moments for a happy ending.