The story of TianPan.co mirrors the evolution of web publishing itself - from simple HTML pages to today's AI-augmented content platforms. As we launch version 3, I want to share how we're reimagining what a modern publishing platform can be in the age of AI.

The Journey: From WordPress to AI-Native​

Like many technical blogs, TianPan.co started humbly in 2009 as a WordPress site on a free VPS. The early days were simple: write, publish, repeat. But as technology evolved, so did our needs. Version 1 moved to Octopress and GitHub, embracing the developer-friendly approach of treating content as code. Version 2 brought modern web technologies with GraphQL, server-side rendering, and a React Native mobile app.

But the landscape has changed dramatically. AI isn't just a buzzword - it's transforming how we create, organize, and share knowledge. This realization led to Version 3, built around a radical idea: what if we designed a publishing system with AI at its core, not just as an add-on?

The Architecture of an AI-Native Platform​

Version 3 breaks from traditional blogging platforms in several fundamental ways:

1. Content as Data: Every piece of content is stored as markdown, making it instantly processable by AI systems. This isn't just about machine readability - it's about enabling AI to become an active participant in the content lifecycle.

2. Distributed Publishing, Centralized Management: Content flows automatically from our central repository to multiple channels - Telegram, Discord, Twitter, and more. But unlike traditional multi-channel publishing, AI helps maintain consistency and optimize for each platform.

3. Infrastructure Evolution: We moved from a basic 1 CPU/1GB RAM setup to a more robust infrastructure, not just for reliability but to support AI-powered features like real-time content analysis and automated editing.

The technical architecture reflects this AI-first approach:

.
├── _inbox            # AI-monitored draft space
├── notes             # published English notes
├── notes-zh          # published Chinese notes
├── crm               # personal CRM
├── ledger            # my beancount.io ledger
├── packages
│   ├── chat-tianpan  # LlamaIndex-powered content interface
│   ├── website       # tianpan.co source code
│   ├── prompts       # AI system prompts
│   └── scripts       # AI processing pipeline

Beyond Publishing: An Integrated Knowledge System​

What makes Version 3 unique is how it integrates multiple knowledge streams:

• Personal CRM: Relationship management through AI-enhanced note-taking
• Financial Tracking: Integrated ledger system via beancount.io
• Multilingual Support: Automated translation and localization
• Interactive Learning: AI-powered chat interface for deep diving into content

The workflow is equally transformative:

1. Content creation starts in markdown
2. CI/CD pipelines trigger AI processing
3. Zapier integrations distribute across platforms
4. AI editors continuously suggest improvements through GitHub issues

Looking Forward: The Future of Technical Publishing​

This isn't just about building a better blog - it's about reimagining how we share technical knowledge in an AI-augmented world. The system is designed to evolve, with each component serving as a playground for experimenting with new AI capabilities.

What excites me most isn't just the technical architecture, but the possibilities it opens up. Could AI help surface connections between seemingly unrelated technical concepts? Could it help make complex technical content more accessible to broader audiences? Will it be possible to easily produce multimedia content in the future?

These are the questions we're exploring with TianPan.co v3. It's an experiment in using AI not just as a tool, but as a collaborative partner in creating and sharing knowledge.

Your time and energy are your most valuable, self-renewing assets. Protect them to sustain an energetic and fulfilling life.

15.1 Make Personal Well-Being a Checklist Priority​

Self-care often gets overlooked amid external demands. Combat this by incorporating health habits into a daily or weekly checklist. A checklist offers:

• Continuous improvement: Track and adapt as your mental and physical state evolves.
• Proactive health management: Catch minor issues early to prevent chronic conditions.
• Cognitive ease: Reduce decision fatigue by automating routine care.

For example, treating a daily walk as a checklist item ensures you move regularly, easing your mind into or out of “work mode.”

15.2 Exercise Intentionally Across Five Key Areas​

Not all exercise is created equal. Each type serves specific needs for your body. Below is a breakdown of the five primary categories and their benefits:

Craft a routine that integrates these elements for comprehensive fitness.

15.3 Prioritize Sleep and Nutrition​

Sleep

Quality sleep underpins productivity and health. Protect your circadian rhythm with these strategies:

• Morning light exposure: Spend 20–30 minutes outdoors or use a light therapy box (10,000 Lux) on cloudy days.
• Limit blue light at night: Reduce screen time and establish a calming bedtime routine.
• Stick to a schedule: Align wake-up and sleep times for optimal recovery. A person can maintain about 14–16 hours of “relatively efficient wakefulness,” so if you plan to go to bed at midnight, it’s best to get up before 8 a.m.

Nutrition

Adopt a balanced diet aligned with dietary guidelines, emphasizing:

1. Diverse vegetables (dark greens, red/orange, starchy, legumes).
2. Whole fruits.
3. Whole grains over refined grains.
4. Lean proteins (poultry, seafood, nuts, legumes).
5. Healthy fats (e.g., Omega-3s).

Avoid high-glycemic foods and consider supplements for critical vitamins and minerals, which are critical to energy level and moods. For timing, practices like 16:8 intermittent fasting can enhance energy and focus.

15.4 Practice Mindfulness or Meditation to Manage Stress​

Mindfulness is about being fully present in the moment, observing without judgment. It:

• Heightens awareness of emotions and thoughts.
• Reduces stress by focusing attention on the now.
• Sharpens clarity and concentration.
• Improves overall well-being.

Mindfulness can extend beyond meditation into daily activities—whether walking, eating, or working—by fostering deliberate attention.

15.5 Take Breaks to Recharge​

Recovery is not optional—you either plan it deliberately or face burnout. Regular breaks restore energy, improve focus, and sustain high performance.

Recovery Principles:

• Schedule recovery like work: Plan breaks as intentionally as you plan tasks.
• Match recovery to stress type: Different stresses require different breaks—physical, emotional, or creative.
• Use varied recovery methods: Combine short breaks (like a walk or quick stretch) with longer recovery periods.

Implementation:

• Adopt the 52/17 rhythm: Work for 52 minutes, then rest for 17.
• Protect weekends: Use weekends to disconnect and rejuvenate.
• Plan quarterly resets: Schedule deep recovery periods to recharge and reflect.

15.6 Create Spaces People Love​

Your environment has a profound impact on your behavior, often outweighing willpower. Optimizing your spaces can make good habits easier and bad habits harder.

Implementation:

• Optimize workspaces for focus: Ensure good lighting, ergonomic furniture, and minimal distractions.
• Designate areas for different activities: Create separate zones for focused work, relaxation, and creative thinking.
• Reduce friction for positive habits: Keep tools for productive tasks accessible (e.g., a journal or fitness gear).
• Increase friction for negative habits: Add barriers to distractions, like keeping your phone in another room.

15.7 Navigate Brain States Intentionally​

Your brain operates in three primary states, each suited for specific tasks. Success depends on recognizing these states and transitioning between them effectively.

The Three States:

1. Relaxed: Ideal for creativity, reflection, and strategic thinking.
2. Working: Best for focused execution and problem-solving.
3. Overheated: A counterproductive state where stress reduces effectiveness.

Implementation:

• Learn your state indicators: Recognize when you’re entering each state (e.g., mental clarity vs. fatigue).
• Match tasks to states: Reserve deep focus tasks for the working state and creative tasks for the relaxed state.
• Develop transition rituals: Use activities like a short walk or a breathing exercise to move between states.
• Avoid overheating: Take breaks when stress builds to prevent burnout.

In 2024, Notion reached a $10B valuation. Their success offers a fresh lens on McCarthy's classic 4 Ps of marketing in the AI age. The 4 Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—remain as relevant as ever. Originally introduced by E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s, this framework distills marketing down to its essentials. But in the fast-paced world of startups, where innovation reigns and traditional playbooks are constantly rewritten, how do these pillars apply? Let’s dive into the 4 Ps and explore their modern applications for founders navigating the frontier of tech.

1. Product: Build Obsession, Not Just Utility​

In the 1960s, the product was king: make something people need, and you’ll sell. Today, “need” isn’t enough. The most successful tech products create obsession.

Notion didn’t become a $10B company because people needed another productivity tool. They succeeded because they became the default thought space for millions. Their product blends functionality (databases, templates) with delight (customization, aesthetics). In the AI era, personalization becomes the frontier for innovation.

Founders should ask:

• Does your product evolve with the user’s behavior?
• How does your product surprise and delight your audience in ways competitors can’t?

Great products today don’t just solve problems—they build ecosystems that users can’t imagine leaving.

2. Price: The Psychology of Free​

Price was once about cost-plus margin. Now, it’s a dance of psychology and scalability. While freemium is common in 2C SaaS, Notion perfected the model. By making their core product free, they turned users into evangelists, then charged enterprises for features they couldn’t refuse.

The lesson? Pricing isn’t about dollars; it’s about entry points. Your users need to feel they’re getting immense value before they even think of paying. AI products amplify this dynamic because the amortized cost of adding new users is nearly zero, while perceived value skyrockets with network effects.

Founders should ask:

• Are you lowering the barrier to entry while raising long-term value?
• Does your pricing strategy encourage viral growth?

3. Place: Everywhere and Nowhere​

In McCarthy’s day, “place” was about physical distribution—getting products into stores. In 2023, place is digital. It’s about being omnipresent without being intrusive.

Notion didn’t rely much on ads. Instead, they mastered organic discovery. Templates and websites created by power users spread like wildfire across social media. The product itself became its own distribution engine.

AI accelerates this trend. With APIs and integrations, place now includes where your product can live in someone else’s ecosystem. Think Slack bots, Shopify plugins, or Zapier automations.

Founders should ask:

• Are you meeting users where they are, or forcing them to come to you?
• How does your product seamlessly integrate into other platforms?

4. Promotion: Community Is the New Advertising​

Promotion used to mean ad buys and aggressive marketing campaigns. Today, it means community. Notion built a cult following by empowering creators—YouTubers, educators, and small businesses—to showcase the product in their own ways.

In the AI world, promotion shifts from shouting to listening. Community-building means enabling users to shape the narrative. OpenAI’s success with ChatGPT wasn’t just about building a great product—it was about letting users discover use cases the creators hadn’t even imagined.

Founders should ask:

• Are your users your best promoters?
• How does your community contribute to your product’s evolution?

Bringing the 4 Ps Together: The AI Playbook​

The 4 Ps aren't obsolete relics, but timeless guideposts: they are both the entirety of marketing and marketing in its entirety. Notion's rise demonstrates that while marketing's fundamental principles endure, they can be reinterpreted and reimagined for the AI-driven age.

As AI continues to reshape technology, the 4 Ps will evolve further:

• Products will self-improve based on usage patterns
• Pricing will become increasingly dynamic and personalized
• Place will expand to include AI-native environments
• Promotion will leverage AI to create personalized community experiences

For startups, the challenge is not just preserving core principles, but evolving them for the modern age. Ultimately, successful marketing isn't merely about attracting users—it's about building an ecosystem that resonates with users and grows sustainably over time. This is the key insight modern tech founders must grasp, and the core message we hope to convey through this piece.

On December 11, 2024, OpenAI experienced a catastrophic outage that took down ChatGPT, their API, and Sora for over four hours. While outages happen to every company, this one is particularly fascinating because it reveals a critical lesson about modern system design: sometimes the tools we add to prevent failures become the source of failures themselves.

The Billion-Dollar Irony​

Here's the fascinating part: The outage wasn't caused by a hack, a failed deployment, or even a bug in their AI models. Instead, it was caused by a tool meant to improve reliability. OpenAI was adding better monitoring to prevent outages when they accidentally created one of their biggest outages ever.

It's like hiring a security guard who accidentally locks everyone out of the building.

The Cascade of Failures​

The incident unfolded like this:

1. OpenAI deployed a new telemetry service to better monitor their systems
2. This service overwhelmed their Kubernetes control plane with API requests
3. When the control plane failed, DNS resolution broke
4. Without DNS, services couldn't find each other
5. Engineers couldn't fix the problem because they needed the control plane to remove the problematic service

But the most interesting part isn't the failure itself – it's how multiple safety systems failed simultaneously:

1. Testing didn't catch the issue because it only appeared at scale
2. DNS caching masked the problem long enough for it to spread everywhere
3. The very systems needed to fix the problem were the ones that broke

Three Critical Lessons​

1. Scale Changes Everything​

The telemetry service worked perfectly in testing. The problem only emerged when deployed to clusters with thousands of nodes. This highlights a fundamental challenge in modern system design: some problems only emerge at scale.

2. Safety Systems Can Become Risk Factors​

OpenAI's DNS caching, meant to improve reliability, actually made the problem worse by masking the issue until it was too late. Their Kubernetes control plane, designed to manage cluster health, became a single point of failure.

3. Recovery Plans Need Recovery Plans​

The most damning part? Engineers couldn't fix the problem because they needed working systems to fix the broken systems. It's like needing a ladder to reach the ladder you need.

The Future of System Design​

OpenAI's response plan reveals where system design is headed:

1. Decoupling Critical Systems: They're separating their data plane from their control plane, reducing interdependencies
2. Improved Testing: They're adding fault injection testing to simulate failures at scale
3. Break-Glass Procedures: They're building emergency access systems that work even when everything else fails

What This Means for Your Company​

Even if you're not operating at OpenAI's scale, the lessons apply:

1. Test at scale, not just functionality
2. Build emergency access systems before you need them
3. Question your safety systems – they might be hiding risks

The future of reliable systems isn't about preventing all failures – it's about ensuring we can recover from them quickly and gracefully.

Remember: The most dangerous problems aren't the ones we can see coming. They're the ones that emerge from the very systems we build to keep us safe.

In 2018, the FDA finally approved fish oil-based nutrition for infants with short bowel syndrome—a treatment that had been saving lives in Europe for decades. The delay wasn’t the result of inept regulators; it was a textbook case of what Eliezer Yudkowsky calls an “inadequate equilibrium”: a stable but suboptimal state where obvious improvements remain unmade. While American infants faced a harrowing 30% mortality rate using soybean-based formulas, European infants, treated with fish oil-based alternatives, saw mortality rates drop to 9%. This stark disparity reveals how even advanced systems can become trapped by inertia.

An inadequate equilibrium arises when no single actor—be it a company, regulator, or individual—has both the incentive and the means to improve the system. Markets, when efficient, tend to eliminate such inefficiencies. But in some domains, systemic constraints entrench failure, creating opportunities for those willing to challenge the status quo.

The Hidden Cost of Systemic Inertia​

Take the U.S. healthcare system, where medical errors remain the third leading cause of death, contributing to over 250,000 fatalities annually. Unlike aviation, which reduced accidents by 65% through rigorous error tracking, hospitals rarely track error rates or publish performance metrics. This failure isn’t due to incompetence among healthcare professionals; it’s the product of structural barriers. Hospitals fear litigation, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage, creating a culture of concealment rather than transparency. Inadequate equilibrium: preserved.

Similarly, in cybersecurity, despite rising threats, many organizations continue to rely on outdated practices. Procurement processes, compliance mandates, and sheer organizational inertia create a system where even superior solutions struggle to gain traction. These systemic blind spots—embedded in policy, habit, and culture—lock organizations into suboptimal outcomes.

Lessons from Tech: Breaking Equilibrium​

The tech industry, often lauded for its dynamism, isn’t immune to these traps. For decades, programmers endured clunky version control systems. Tools like CVS and Subversion were incremental improvements at best, leaving fundamental inefficiencies unchallenged. Enter Linus Torvalds, an outsider to the version control tooling space, who created Git—not an incremental improvement but a paradigm shift. Git’s distributed model and performance advantages shattered the inadequate equilibrium, demonstrating how bold, outsider-driven innovation can unstick stagnant systems.

A Framework for Spotting Opportunities​

Yudkowsky’s concept of inadequate equilibrium offers a lens to identify when systems are ripe for disruption. It hinges on three questions:

1. Market Efficiency: Does the domain quickly eliminate inefficiencies?
   • Efficient markets, like high-frequency trading, leave little room for obvious opportunities.
   • Inefficient ones, like healthcare, are plagued by opaque pricing and misaligned incentives.
2. Systemic Constraints: Are there structural barriers preventing improvement?
   • FDA regulations demand costly large-scale studies, deterring solutions like fish oil-based nutrition, even when benefits are already clear.
   • Academic research prioritizes novelty over replication, leaving critical findings unvalidated.
3. Information Asymmetry: Do you possess insights others lack?
   • Patients often out-research general practitioners on niche conditions.
   • Startups, unburdened by bureaucracy, can outpace incumbents.

Opportunity Beckons​

For entrepreneurs and tech leaders, this framework points to actionable strategies:

• Target domains where systemic constraints limit incumbents.
• Focus on “good enough” markets that are far from optimal.
• Seek high-friction problems with low technical barriers.

For example, consider climate tech. Carbon capture is riddled with inadequate equilibria: funding gaps, policy inertia, and entrenched energy interests slow adoption. Yet, those who can bypass these systemic barriers—via modular solutions or unconventional funding models—can transform the landscape.

Breaking the Myth of Impossibility​

“Inadequate equilibria” remind us that the reason no one has solved a problem isn’t always technical impossibility—it’s often systemic misalignment. Asking “Why hasn’t someone done this already?” is the wrong question. The right questions are:

• What incentives sustain the current state?
• Which barriers can I bypass that others cannot?
• How can I deliver value without waiting for the system to change?

Consider OpenAI. While academic AI research languished under the weight of grant cycles and publish-or-perish incentives, OpenAI built a moonshot-focused organization that prioritized deployment over papers. By sidestepping traditional academic constraints, they accelerated progress and captured the frontier.

For the Optimist in You​

For optimists, inadequate equilibria are more than problems—they’re maps to hidden opportunities. History shows that systems don’t fix themselves; they are fixed by those who see what others overlook and act when others won’t. Whether it’s transforming infant care, rewriting the rules of cybersecurity, or pioneering new tech, the greatest breakthroughs come from understanding not just what’s broken, but why—and daring to fix it.

So the next time you encounter a broken system, don’t dismiss it as an unsolvable mess. Look closer. Somewhere in its constraints lies an opportunity waiting to be seized.

Building successful software requires both exceptional product development and strategic distribution. Here's a framework for achieving both.

Strategic Foundation​

Vision & Mission​

• Vision: Define the future state you aim to create
• Mission: Outline core actions driving toward that vision
• Strategic Master Plan: Map key milestones from small wins to major goals

Build Process​

Development Approach​

1. Start with PRFAQ (Press Release/FAQ) for customer alignment
2. Leverage community feedback to identify pain points
3. Set aggressive timeframes:
   • Features: 2 weeks max
   • Projects: 1 quarter max

Product Evaluation Framework​

Track what we build and how they serve customers using a product map:

For example,

Quality Assessment (Insanely Great Product Framework)​

Distribution Assessment (Go-to-Market Framework)​

Distribution Strategy​

Early-Stage Tactics​

• Personalized outreach (cold DMs) - use strategically due to platform risks
• Content-driven SEO (blogs + tools)
• Carefully managed affiliate programs
• Targeted lifecycle emails
• Supplementary paid advertising

Best Practices​

1. Retention and Referral: Prioritize how to make the product sticky and easy to be recommended
2. Continuous Feedback: Actively gather and incorporate user input
3. Platform Selection: Use appropriate tools for each function

Measurement & Iteration​

Continuously evaluate and adjust using tools above:

1. Evaluate and score initiatives in the product master map
2. Identify misalignments with vision/mission and user feedback
3. Prioritize adjustments
4. Update strategic plan as needed

With a centralized map detailing what, where, and how we serve customers—combined with metrics and market feedback—we can navigate iterations more confidently, ensuring every solution is well-managed and improvements are driven by clear, fact-backed insights.

Early career focuses on continuous learning, gaining specialized expertise, and building foundational leadership skills, while late career shifts toward creating strategic impact, mentoring the next generation, and leaving a meaningful legacy that shapes industries, communities, or personal networks.

1. Start with the customer​

• 1.1 Surface yourself to internal and external buyers and sellers through online and offline platforms
• 1.2 Resonate with people, conduct customer interviews, and gather feedback regularly
• 1.3 Empathize with customer pain points and act as a proxy for customers
• 1.4 Predicting and producing what the customer loves is hard, but we can always invent and simplify our product to a better state
• 1.5 Prioritize features and initiatives that provide the most customer value
• 1.6 Measure success with customer satisfaction metrics (e.g., NPS, CSAT)

2. Sharpen your communication skills​

• 2.1 Be genuinely interested in people and actively wonder what they are doing/needing/feeling
• 2.2 Practice and rehearse clear, concise writing and speaking until you're fully prepared for interviews
• 2.3 Adapt your communication style to suit your audience
• 2.4 Continuously seek feedback to refine your communication skills
• 2.5 Leverage storytelling to make complex ideas more relatable and engaging
• 2.6 Use examples, metaphors, and narratives to simplify and humanize technical or abstract concepts
• 2.7 Apply communication frameworks like Thank/Reflect/Wish, PREP (Point/Reason/Example/Point), AIDA (Attention/Interest/Desire/Action), and STAR (Situation/Task/Action/Result)

3. Focus on high-leverage, prioritized activities​

• 3.1 Score and identify tasks with the most significant impact on key objectives
• 3.2 Use frameworks like Eisenhower Matrix or OKRs to prioritize tasks
• 3.3 Automate or delegate low-impact tasks
• 3.4 Review priorities regularly to ensure alignment with goals
• 3.5 Build flexibility into your schedule by leaving space for unplanned activities, and compensate for intense periods with planned downtime

4. Accelerate learning through high-value channels, execution, and accumulation​

• 4.1 Learn by doing, sharing, and documenting: Take on new projects, challenges, and record key lessons
• 4.2 Seek feedback from peers and mentors after each task, and incorporate it into a personal knowledge base
• 4.3 Engage in inter-person communication to uncover hidden, tacit knowledge that is often only discovered through direct interaction
• 4.4 Embrace failure as part of the learning process, fail fast, and capture insights to avoid repeating mistakes
• 4.5 Iterate and adapt: Build on past successes and failures while questioning assumptions, as what worked before may not hold true today

5. Ask high-value questions​

• 5.1 Challenge assumptions and conventional wisdom with first principles
• 5.2 Guide strategic decisions by focusing on questions that reveal hidden insights and drive long-term impact
• 5.3 Search for who is asking what questions globally to identify the most important questions
• 5.4 Answers are cheap in the age of LLMs. Prioritize asking the right questions

6. Strategic thinking: from small wins to big wins​

• 6.1 Understand the history, status quo, and predict the future with long-term vision
• 6.2 Break down large goals into smaller, actionable tasks
• 6.3 Do not shoot for a moving target – maintain focus on clear, stable goals
• 6.4 Collect data and establish benchmarks to evaluate success
• 6.5 Identify areas where short-term wins can unlock long-term success
• 6.6 Celebrate quick wins while keeping an eye on long-term goals
• 6.7 Regularly review progress and adjust strategies as needed
• 6.8 Avoid analysis paralysis with a deadline

7. Build allies​

• 7.1 Network widely to broaden your influence
• 7.2 Help others succeed to build trust and reciprocity
• 7.3 Collaborate across teams to expand your impact
• 7.4 Stay in touch and offer support consistently
• 7.5 Build trust through personal, in-person connections
• 7.6 Exchange value in every interaction
• 7.7 Stay active in key professional circles
• 7.8 Nurture relationships for long-term mutual benefit

8. Stay resilient, optimistic, and pragmatic​

• 8.1 Focus on identifying the right problem and finding effective solutions when challenges arise
• 8.2 Maintain a positive mindset, especially during setbacks (Reframing, expressing gratitude, etc.)
• 8.3 Balance optimism with a realistic view of the situation by synthesizing

9. Influence without authority​

• 9.1 Build credibility by demonstrating expertise and delivering results
• 9.2 Persuade through data and clear reasoning
• 9.3 Leverage relationships to gain support for your ideas
• 9.4 Be collaborative, listen to others, and align their goals with yours

10. Be assertive and open-minded​

• 10.1 Speak up confidently in meetings and discussions
• 10.2 Seek feedback and adjust your approach if needed
• 10.3 Advocate for your ideas but be willing to change if presented with better information
• 10.4 Actively listen to others by mirroring, mentalizing, and showing genuine care
• 10.5 Recognize the role of emotions in interactions and continuously improve your emotional intelligence (EQ)

11. Compete with focus and advantages​

• 11.1 Build a strategy based on specific market needs or niches you can dominate
• 11.2 Identify and leverage your unique advantages (skills, location, resources)
• 11.3 Focus on areas where you can outperform others with specialized knowledge or capabilities
• 11.4 Anticipate future trends and invest in building advantages ahead of time
• 11.5 Stay focused on your strengths and avoid unnecessary distractions
• 11.6 Realize people can be both allies and competitors at the same time

12. Mentor and grow others​

• 12.1 Share your knowledge and expertise to help others succeed
• 12.2 Offer guidance and feedback to team members regularly
• 12.3 Create opportunities for others to take on new challenges
• 12.4 Foster a culture of learning and development in your teams
• 12.5 Leverage media and public platforms to inspire and educate others at scale

13. Stay approachable and flexible​

• 13.1 Remain accessible and responsive to buyers and customers at all times
• 13.2 Be open to feedback and discussions with colleagues, buyers, and customers at all levels
• 13.3 Maintain a friendly, open demeanor that encourages collaboration
• 13.4 Adapt to changing situations without becoming rigid in your approach
• 13.5 Stay calm and open-minded when unexpected challenges arise
• 13.6 Be proactive so that the schedule is more favorable to the initiator

14. Lean in but avoid burnout​

• 14.1 Take initiative, but know your limits and learn to manage expectations
• 14.2 Set boundaries to protect your personal time
• 14.3 Regularly evaluate your workload, delegate where possible, and schedule regular downtime

15. Physical and mental well-being fuel everything else​

• 15.1 Make a checklist to monitor personal status regularly
• 15.2 Maintain a regular exercise routine for MIIT, HIIT, Strength, and Flexibility exercises
• 15.3 Prioritize sleep and proper nutrition
• 15.4 Practice mindfulness or meditation to manage stress
• 15.5 Take regular breaks to recharge, both mentally and physically
• 15.6 Create Spaces People Love
• 15.7 Learn to navigate your brain willfully through Relaxed, Focused, and Overheated states, and avoid Overheated states

16. Be creative and stand out​

• 16.1 Seek inspiration from different fields and industries
• 16.2 Challenge assumptions and ask "what if" questions
• 16.3 Experiment with different methods and technologies
• 16.4 Cultivate taste and curiosity in arts, science, and engineering
• 16.5 Develop a spirit of entertainment to engage, delight, and inspire creativity in yourself and others.

Node operation made easy with a reliable infrastructure

BlockEden.xyz introduces an advanced blockchain node infrastructure, enhancing the reliability and performance of blockchain operations. This development empowers customers to manage blockchain nodes easily and efficiently, ensuring the high availability and robustness of their blockchain applications.

Blockchain node operation often encounters issues like network instability, uptime monitoring, complex setup processes, and high maintenance costs. These challenges pose significant hurdles for businesses and individuals seeking to leverage blockchain technology.

BlockEden.xyz's delegated staking infrastructure offers a state-of-the-art solution to these challenges. This high-availability blockchain node infrastructure simplifies node setup, reduces operational costs, and ensures stable and consistent network performance. This makes blockchain technology more accessible and practical for a broader range of users.

BlockEden.xyz has an impressive track record, starting with Aptos and maintaining 99.9% uptime since its mainnet launch. Our services have expanded to include Sui, Solana, and 12 EVM blockchains, demonstrating our adaptability and commitment to staying at the forefront of the industry. With over $45 million worth of tokens staked with us, our clients trust us to provide reliable and secure solutions for their web3 and blockchain needs.

What is BlockEden.xyz’s Offering of the Delegated Staking Infra?​

1. Integrating with new networks.
2. Managed/delegated services to run blockchain nodes, including maintaining a service-level agreement, status monitoring, active on-call, and failover.
3. Develop tools to improve efficiency, e.g., distributing rewards.

Internal FAQs

What are the OKRs for Delegated Staking Infra Trying to Achieve?​

Goals:

• Build a reliable, safe, extensible, and cost-efficient delegated staking infrastructure to sustainably generate revenue streams for BlockEden.xyz.
  • Reliable: the delegate node should have high availability.
  • Safe: the funds delegated to us should be safe.
  • Extensible: the infra should be reusable to expand to another blockchain network.
  • Cost-efficient: the infra machine cost should be covered by the delegate revenue.

Why is Delegated Staking Infra Important to BlockEden.xyz?​

• It’s the revenue-generating program, bringing resources to do more strategic infra work.
• It’s an essential infra component to serve chain RPCs, particularly for latency-sensitive use cases.

How Can Delegated Staking Infra Fail? Would it Cause Customer Dislikes?​

• Failures in delegated staking infrastructure primarily occur due to service disruptions and server downtime. These issues can prevent customers from staking tokens or lead to reduced rewards due to slashing penalties. Such disruptions often result in customer dissatisfaction due to unmet expectations of consistent earnings and reliable service.

What are the Dependencies?​

• Network Selection: The chosen blockchain network plays a critical role. Different networks may have varying protocols, reward structures, and security requirements.
• Initial Funding: To participate as a validator in the staking process, an initial investment or fund is required. This amount varies depending on the network's criteria and serves as your stake in the network.

What are the Risks?​

• Fund Safety: Ideally, we should make a product that doesn’t bear the liability for the customer's fund. However, it largely depends on the blockchain's features, e.g., isolation of token owner and node operator permission.
• Crypto Market Volatility: In a sudden crypto price crash or bearish market, the token rewards might be short to cover the machine cost. A liquidation plan should be in place to ensure funds are secured to operate the infra.

How to Use this Staking Infra?​

• BlockEden.xyz offers comprehensive documentation for getting started with our staking infrastructure, including step-by-step guides for both manual staking processes

Why does staking infra matter to me?​

• Ease of Access: You can easily participate in staking and enjoy its benefits without needing deep technical knowledge or extensive resources.
• Flexibility for Future Growth: We provide the capability for future technical integrations with your needs, ensuring that as your staking needs evolve, our infrastructure can accommodate them.

How to use this staking infra?​

• To get started with our staking infrastructure, BlockEden.xyz offers comprehensive documentation. This includes step-by-step guides for both manual staking processes and technical integrations.
• We're committed to supporting your journey, addressing concerns and fulfilling requirements as they arise, ensuring a smooth and effective staking experience.

How do I know if this staking infra is the right solution to my problem?​

• To assess if our staking infrastructure suits your requirements, we recommend a phased approach. Start by trialing our service with selected networks. Monitor performance and stability over a set period. Based on this experience and the proven results obtained, you can then evaluate the effectiveness of our solution. This data-driven approach allows for informed decision-making and helps forecast potential future revenues, ensuring alignment with your business objectives.

CES 2024 was bustling with excitement, drawing a massive crowd and featuring a wide range of exhibitors covering everything from consumer electronics products and services that cater to both the general public and professionals, permeating all aspects of work and life.

For those hoping to discover groundbreaking new products, you might be left wanting. The real buzz in recent years seems to center around Open AI's announcements, with their innovations having the potential to disrupt entire industries. The multitude of products on display here leverage less glamorous technology in new combinations to address existing or potential problems more efficiently, more powerfully, lighter, and sleeker. If you have something new that can help consumers, this is the place to showcase it.

I'm not an avid electronics enthusiast, but rather an early majority pragmatist on the Technology Adopt Lifecycle who cares about solutions that genuinely solve problems. I casually observed categories like cars, TVs/monitors, speakers and headphones, fitness bands, and medical devices, enjoying the fair-like atmosphere—your car can fly and dig, your robotic arm can make latte art, but what does that have to do with me? However, appreciating the design of electronic products, the sheer excitement and fun of sound and light, and understanding what electronic machinery can achieve at certain costs and price points is enlightening.

I found the startup and AI areas most intriguing and paid them the most attention. Software, FinTech, Web & Mobile Apps, and productivity tools for personal and corporate use were interspersed among the various hardware solutions.

AI​

Rabbit R1 appears to be the only notable portable LLM hardware, lacking a booth but generating significant interest. It's puzzling why one would need a dedicated hardware for AI apps when a smartphone can perform the same functions, and possibly even better. Insights from experts are welcome.

booth.ai employs generative AI to assist e-commerce in photo editing: upload product photos and input text descriptions to generate images, such as adding backgrounds, changing people, or altering poses.

AiD / Cream creates detailed comic images and colors based on artists' sketches. A demo I tried showed impressive results, although the comics weren't overly complex.

Plaud Note, a card attached to the back of a phone for real-time recording, addresses the iPhone's inability to record and uses AI to quickly generate summaries. The product is well-made but not cheap.

vcat.ai generates marketing videos from the details of your product webpage. Although it sounds fancy, the URL merely imports materials from the web page, requiring manual template selection and adjustments in their system afterward.

Keeneat.com offers background music generation for creative professionals, along with a marketplace. This seems marketable, given the increasing number of video creators and the limited, expensive stock music available.

Blovo ChatGPT for animals allows you to inquire about anything pet-related.

FinTech & Enterprise​

FinTech's visibility at CES was surprisingly low, with only five companies present, one of which was absent. The largest booth belonged to South Korea's Shinhan Bank, proud of their many years at CES. Their interest in CES stems from showcasing cashier machines as human teller replacements, aligning with the trend towards banking digitization and automation. The biggest challenge mentioned was adapting the UI/UX for older users, as high-net-worth VIP customers are not their primary target.

Woongjin is Korea's leading rental and subscription management system, integrating finance, payment, and insurance solutions, serving many large Korean conglomerates.

Blockchain​

veintree (press release) offers identity verification through vein patterns on hands, claiming advantages over iris recognition in terms of anonymity and not requiring specialized equipment. It's being explored as a factor in multi-factor authentication, similar to Windows Hello and Face ID, and is seeking blockchain partnerships, like with Solana, to create a hand-based Worldcoin.

Fog Hashing sells Bitcoin mining machines for home use and professional data center solutions. Due to high electricity costs in California, they recommend mining in other states.

Flux token, an L1 PoW blockchain, supports distributed data centers running data storage, CMS, docker droplets, etc., serving as a platform for censorship-resistant DApps.

Pay.cool is an open-source decentralized crypto payment network from China, enabling consumers to pay merchants with cryptocurrencies. The app's design and their unclear offerings were noted during a conversation, though they are seeking mining partners.

DeluPay from France offers crypto payment solutions. Only their business card was seen, with their website in French, indicating incomplete internationalization.

Health​

There were numerous Sleep Tech products, such as motionsleep's snore-control pillows, bokuk's temperature-regulating duvets, frenz's brainwave-monitoring and bone-conduction music headbands, and Lumos tech's sleep masks.

eclypia introduced a non-invasive glucose-monitoring watch.

aqara uses AI and spatial technology to improve elderly care.

Maintaining good physical health and sleep habits is an effortless way to save money. Good health is invaluable.

Tips for Exhibitors​

Exhibit location matters: Avoid corners, small meeting rooms, and dead-ends with low foot traffic. Being in the main hall with popular exhibitors is more effective.

Pre-scheduling meetings and using hotel suites for product displays or business discussions can be a cost-effective strategy.

Hardware is easier to exhibit, especially with performance aspects, unlike software, which relies on engaging taglines, flyers, and demos to attract attention. Descriptive scenes and explanations are essential for less obvious hardware.

Exhibitors engrossed in their phones or in private conversations deter visitor engagement.

Sharing a booth among similar businesses, though unofficial, can help manage budgets.

Booking CES space early is crucial; arrangements can usually be made if plans change.

Branding should be visible to assist visitors with note-taking and photos.

If your demo is impressive, include your booth location on materials to attract more visitors through secondary sharing.

Tips for Attendees​

Keep an open mind: Exhibitors are seeking industry connections. Criticism should be reserved as many are there to find or offer solutions within the industry.

The Innovation Awards can help narrow down interests amid the overwhelming variety of products.

Evening events and after-parties offer leisure and networking opportunities distinct from the more formal daytime exhibitions.

Protect your CES badge; replacements are costly.

General Observations​

South Korea's presence was notably strong, driven by their need for international markets. Their broad category representation and the dedication of individual exhibitors, including non-English speakers, were impressive.

Apple's absence makes sense, given their ecosystem could overshadow many smaller exhibits.

SQPV glass presents solar panels as glass, though the appearance is somewhat grey, potentially fitting for skyscrapers with lower light transmission requirements.

ProtoHologram impressively projects holograms into a display box.

Elon Musk's Boring Company has a loop under LVCC, offering a unique but ordinary tunnel ride experience, only made notable upon realization of its significance.

Conclusion​

For consumers, CES 2024 is a haven for electronic enthusiasts to experience and purchase products at discounted rates. It may not cater well to those already familiar with the market and looking for niche advancements.

For businesses, it's an ideal venue for hardware manufacturers and e-commerce to build supply chains and find collaborations, less so for pure software companies.

An Illuminator is someone who has a significant and positive impact on the people around them through their interactions and communication style. Key characteristics of an illuminator include:

1. Persistent Curiosity about Others: Illuminators are genuinely interested in other people. They continuously seek to understand others more deeply.
2. Skilled in Understanding People: They have either innate talent or have developed the skill to understand others. This involves knowing what to look for in conversations and how to ask the right questions at the right time.
3. Making Others Feel Valued and Seen: Illuminators have the ability to shine their attention and care on people, making them feel respected, acknowledged, and important.
4. Bringing Out the Best in Others: Through their interactions, illuminators help people become better versions of themselves. They encourage others to be more honest, sharp, and to realize aspects of themselves they might not have articulated before.
5. Creating a Sense of Empowerment: Islluminators have the ability to make others feel clever and important. This contrasts with diminishers, who make people feel small and unseen.
6. Enhancing Productivity and Creativity: Illuminators can significantly boost the productivity and creativity of those around them, simply by being good listeners and engaging thoughtfully in conversations.

A Diminisher, in contrast to an Illuminator, is a person who negatively impacts those around them through their interactions and behaviors. They tend to make others feel small, unimportant, or unseen, often focusing self-centeredly on their own needs and interests.

How do illuminators have great conversations?​

To be an effective conversationalist or an "illuminator," one must focus on deeply engaging and understanding others. Here are key takeaways:

1. Mutual Engagement
   • Engagement is Key: Deep engagement in understanding others' thoughts and perspectives.
   • The Art of Conversation: Fostering two-way exchanges for mutual exploration and understanding. Being present and actively participating in conversations.
2. Active Listening and Seeking Depth
   • Developing listening skills like full attention and physical engagement (nodding, eye contact).
   • Encouraging free expression and supporting the sharing of stories and experiences.
   • Specificity and Depth: Good conversations involve asking specific questions that encourage others to share detailed stories and personal experiences, helping them articulate their feelings and thoughts more vividly.
3. Empathy and Understanding
   • Handling Pauses: Embracing pauses for thoughtful reflection and deeper understanding.
   • Looping for Clarity: Repeating or paraphrasing for clarity and confirmation of understanding.
   • Finding common ground in disagreements and prioritizing empathy over being right.
   • Keep the gem statement at the center, even though there are disagreements.
   • Don't be a Topper: Avoiding overshadowing others' experiences with your own.
4. Facilitating Self-Discovery and Expression
   • Midwife Model: Assisting in others' process of self-discovery and expression.
   • The Importance of Being Listened To: Ensuring interactions make individuals feel heard, understood, and valued.

Being a good conversationalist is about creating a mutual journey of exploration, understanding, and deep listening, where both parties feel heard and valued.