The Designer Who 'Liked' Everything | Soleio

Welcome to Minus One, where host Aditya Agarwal interviews the most interesting people in the world about the set of decisions they've made to pursue their life's work. Today's guest is Soleio, Facebook's second designer, a dear friend and frequent collaborator who will share his remarkable journey from music composition to shaping the emotional layer of the internet.

The conversation promises to explore those pivotal "mile one" moments where crucial life decisions were made, particularly around navigating career transitions and finding one's true calling in the rapidly evolving world of technology and design.

Timestamp: [1:02-1:42]

Soleio's journey began at Duke University with a music composition degree, not design. This wasn't a random choice - it was a strategic decision to explore writing music for video games, which felt like the most natural way to creatively express and participate in what he saw as one of the most inspiring fields: generating novel experiences that kids were playing all around the world.

Growing up on Sega Genesis titles like Sonic Hedgehog 2, Soleio was deeply inspired by video game music. The idea that there were people out there in the world writing music for games fascinated him, and he wanted to be one of those creators. During the dotcom boom and crash while at Duke, surrounded by computer science students, he wisely decided to "zag" and explore music as a career path.

"I wisely decided to zag and explore music as a career path because it felt at that time the easiest way for me to explore a potential career in writing music for video games."

Timestamp: [1:43-3:49]

While studying music composition, Soleio's path to design began through practical necessity. His experience with desktop publishing tools during summer jobs, combined with being the de facto marketing department for his undergraduate band, naturally led him into design work. He spent summers doing desktop publishing back home, working with design tools like Cork Express and Adobe InDesign.

As a music composition major playing in bands, he quickly became the person making posters and putting up flyers. His band, Mojo Train, where he played electric violin and saxophone, felt they needed to be progressive and have a website. This led him to discover Dreamweaver, a tool that helped people familiar with desktop publishing transition into web design.

"We felt like we needed to go beyond just having cool posters in the cafeterias. We felt like we needed to have a website."

What started as nights and weekends making websites for his band, his buddy's band, and other bands he heard about, eventually caught the attention of a Duke professor whose department needed a new website. Instead of paying a Raleigh firm $80,000, they hired Soleio for a fraction of the price, providing great money for a student and launching his web development business.

Timestamp: [3:49-5:43]

The pivotal moment that changed everything came in spring 2004 when Google launched Gmail on April Fools' Day. Once it became clear this wasn't an elaborate April Fool's gag, Soleio felt it was his siren call. He was passionate about this next stage of consumer technology and believed the future would take the form of web apps - applications that could deliver desktop software-like experiences through web browsers.

This vision meant being able to skip traditional app development and ship software directly through internet browsers to people. However, living in Durham, North Carolina, Soleio felt the future was being written in San Francisco, not North Carolina. This realization prompted his decision to move west.

"I felt like it was my siren call. I felt like I was really passionate about this next stage of consumer technology."

In what felt like a Hollywood moment, on his very first day in San Francisco, he met someone who worked at Google on maps. This serendipitous encounter validated his decision to make the cross-country move and pursue his vision of the future of technology.

Timestamp: [5:43-6:49]

Moving to San Francisco revealed something crucial that had been missing in Durham, North Carolina - a community of like-minded creators. Soleio had never met anyone who did what he did back in North Carolina. The only person who came close was Blaze of Persia, a dear friend who shared a similar mix of creative prowess and technical bent, along with the desire to make things and put them on the internet.

This partnership in North Carolina involved working on client projects together, but the isolation from the broader industry was challenging. When Soleio moved to San Francisco and discovered there were "other nerds like us out here in the Bay Area making internet," it was a revelation that would prove instrumental in his career development.

The importance of finding your tribe - people who understand your unique combination of skills and passions - became a defining element of Soleio's journey from music composition to becoming one of the most influential designers in tech.

"The only person came close to it was a dear friend of ours Blaze of Persia... we had this mix of creative prowess but also like a technical bent, a desire to make stuff and put it on the internet."

Timestamp: [6:49-7:31]

• Strategic career "zagging" can lead to unexpected opportunities when everyone else is following the obvious path
• Side passions that solve real problems often become the foundation for career pivots
• Geographic location matters significantly in tech - being where the future is being written provides access to opportunities and community
• The transition from creative fields to tech often happens through practical necessity rather than formal education
• Finding your tribe of like-minded creators is crucial for both personal and professional development
• Pivotal moments in technology history (like Gmail's launch) can serve as catalysts for major life decisions
• Combining creative prowess with technical skills creates unique value in the intersection of art and technology

Timestamp: [1:02-7:31]

Video Games:

• Sonic Hedgehog 2 - Sega Genesis title that inspired Soleio's early interest in video game music
• Sega Genesis - Gaming platform that shaped his creative aspirations

Tools & Technologies:

• Cork Express - Desktop publishing tool used during early design work
• Adobe InDesign - Professional design software for desktop publishing
• Dreamweaver - Web design tool that bridged desktop publishing and web development
• Gmail - Google's email service launched April 1, 2004, which served as Soleio's "siren call"
• Google Maps - Product his first San Francisco contact was working on at Google

People:

• Blaze of Persia - Close friend and collaborator in North Carolina who shared similar creative and technical interests
• Rick Rubin - Referenced as an influence on Soleio's creative approach

Educational Institution:

• Duke University - Where Soleio studied music composition during the dotcom boom and crash

Band:

• Mojo Train - Undergraduate band where Soleio played electric violin and saxophone

Timestamp: [1:02-7:31]

After a year of working as an independent developer and designer with different startups in San Francisco, serendipity struck. One of Soleio's projects came across the plate of an early Facebook hire who reached out with an invitation to come down to Palo Alto to meet the team.

What's remarkable is that Soleio initially responded casually, saying it sounded "kind of cool" and that he'd never been to Palo Alto. The Facebook team's persistence proved crucial - they circled back a month later, and that follow-up became the reason Soleio took a Caltrain down to Palo Alto to meet the team that would change his career trajectory.

"I'm really grateful that he circled back with me a month later cuz I just sort of said 'Yeah that sounds kind of cool I'd never been to Palo Alto.' Their persistence ended up being the reason why I took a Caltrain down to PA and meeting you guys."

This moment highlights how career-defining opportunities often hinge on persistence - both from organizations recognizing talent and individuals being open to unexpected possibilities.

Timestamp: [7:37-8:09]

Aditya shares his visceral memory of using Gmail for the first time in July or August 2004 - one of those transformative moments where you immediately know everything else is obsolete. Within 30 seconds of using Gmail, he made a hard shift and never looked back. This wasn't an isolated experience; he felt the same way about Firefox and Google Search when he first encountered them in high school around 1998-99.

These moments represent something profound about exceptional products - they don't just compete with existing solutions, they render them incomparable. There's an immediate recognition that "this is obviously the way software should be built." The shift happens abruptly and completely, creating what can only be described as a seismic change in user behavior and expectations.

"When you use Gmail even in the early days... oh yeah I'm never going to use any like everything else is it's not even close right you make like a hard shift within 30 seconds."

This phenomenon reveals how truly revolutionary products don't win through incremental improvements - they create entirely new paradigms that make previous solutions feel antiquated instantly.

Timestamp: [8:09-9:10]

Soleio introduces a powerful metaphor for witnessing paradigm shifts in technology - "Jurassic Park moments." He references the iconic scene where characters abandon their amusement park ride to witness a dinosaur hatching, with John Hammond explaining that he built the entire park to have front row seats to these miraculous births.

This resonates deeply with Soleio's career philosophy: working with exceptional founders building new products and paradigms provides firsthand access to these transformative moments. The first versions are often "squirly" and "prototypy," but you immediately recognize the future taking shape before your eyes. The world shifts "on a dime," even though the final form will look different.

"If you get to work with exceptional founders building new things... you get firsthand look of the first version of that. It's very squirly. It's very prototypy but you're like 'Yeah that's the future. It's right there.'"

A perfect example: witnessing Evan Wallace demo multiplayer functionality for Figma for the first time. Despite knowing significant work remained before market readiness, it was unambiguously clear this was how people would be designing in the future.

Timestamp: [9:10-10:43]

Aditya reflects on three distinct categories of moments that have shaped his career journey, each carrying profound meaning and emotional significance.

The first category represents "Promethean" moments - discovering fire for the first time. These can be personal experiences or witnessing teams encounter breakthrough technology. Using ChatGPT for the first time and recognizing its transformative potential. The iPhone creating a "religious experience" where you know the world will never be the same. Experiencing Waymo and immediately understanding that future generations won't drive cars.

"I think those moments are filled with wonder and joy and like just you know a sense of gratitude for like oh my god like I got to see something like... I saw the future you know and it'll take a while. It'll be messy to get out there but I know that that is the future."

These moments transcend mere product appreciation - they represent profound recognition of humanity's technological evolution, filled with wonder, joy, and gratitude for witnessing the future unfold.

Timestamp: [10:43-11:49]

The second category centers on launch days - those unique moments in a product's journey that hold special significance despite their apparent limitations. Aditya observes that 24-48 hours before launch, there's little left to change: the product is essentially set, messaging is mostly finalized, and only minor live adjustments remain possible.

Yet launch days possess a distinct beauty: they represent a collective pause in a long journey where everyone stops to celebrate together. It's not really about the launch itself, but about the shared acknowledgment of the journey that brought the team to this moment. These celebrations are brief - typically 30-40 minutes - before everyone returns to the endless cycle of fixing, launching, and iterating.

"There is a beauty in kind of having one moment of like a long journey that everybody collectively pauses to celebrate... it's not about the launch as such as much as it is about the collective celebration of the journey right."

Aditya looks back fondly on experiences like F8 conferences, Facebook announcements, and Dropbox launches - moments that transcend their immediate purpose to become treasured memories of shared achievement and collective momentum.

Timestamp: [12:17-13:22]

The third category reveals why South Park Commons (SPC) holds such special meaning: witnessing founders meet and recognizing the spark of potential greatness. This represents something beyond individual achievement - it's about facilitating the pairing of exceptional minds that creates the substrate from which transformational companies and products can emerge.

There's a unique privilege in being able to create environments where these connections happen naturally. It's not just about networking or introductions, but about recognizing when two visionary founders meet and sensing that their combination could lead to something extraordinary. The ability to facilitate these moments represents a meta-level contribution to innovation - not just building great products, but enabling the conditions for others to build them.

"When you see founders meet and you know that like they have now... the pairing of great minds that results in like the substrate from which greatness can come about that is a great privilege to kind of be able to kind of like facilitate that."

This perspective elevates the role of community builders and connectors in the innovation ecosystem, highlighting how enabling others' success can be as fulfilling as direct contribution.

Timestamp: [13:22-13:41]

• Career-defining opportunities often depend on persistence from both sides - organizations following up and individuals staying open to unexpected possibilities
• Revolutionary products don't compete incrementally; they create immediate paradigm shifts that render alternatives incomparable
• Witnessing "Jurassic Park moments" - early glimpses of transformative technology - requires positioning yourself around exceptional founders and breakthrough innovations
• The most cherished career moments fall into three categories: Promethean discoveries, collective celebrations of shared journeys, and facilitating connections between great minds
• True innovation recognition happens instantly, even when the technology is rough and unfinished - you immediately know you're seeing the future
• Launch days derive their value not from the product release itself, but from providing rare moments of collective pause and celebration in otherwise relentless development cycles
• Being present for paradigm shifts feels like a "religious experience" filled with wonder, joy, and profound gratitude
• The highest form of contribution may be creating conditions for others' greatness rather than just personal achievement

Timestamp: [7:37-13:41]

Companies & Products:

• Facebook - Company where Soleio became the second designer after being recruited by an early hire
• Gmail - Google's email service that created an instant paradigm shift in July/August 2004
• Firefox - Web browser that represented a dramatic improvement in software quality
• Google Search - Search engine that demonstrated obvious superiority when first used around 1998-99
• Figma - Design tool where Evan Wallace's multiplayer demo represented a clear future vision
• ChatGPT - AI tool representing a "Promethean moment" of discovering transformative technology
• iPhone - Device that created a "religious experience" and fundamental shift in mobile technology
• Waymo - Autonomous vehicle technology that immediately demonstrated the obsolescence of human driving
• Dropbox - Company mentioned for memorable launch moments and announcements
• South Park Commons (SPC) - Organization described as special for facilitating founder connections

People:

• Evan Wallace - Person who demonstrated Figma's multiplayer functionality in a paradigm-shifting moment
• John Hammond - Jurassic Park character used as metaphor for witnessing technological breakthroughs

Events & Concepts:

• F8 - Facebook's developer conference mentioned as a memorable launch experience
• Caltrain - Transportation method Soleio used to travel from San Francisco to Palo Alto
• Jurassic Park moments - Soleio's metaphor for witnessing the birth of transformative technology
• Paradigm shift - Term describing dramatic, abrupt changes in technological landscape

Locations:

• Palo Alto - Location of Facebook headquarters where Soleio was recruited
• San Francisco - Where Soleio worked as an independent developer before joining Facebook

Timestamp: [7:37-13:41]

There's an incredible throughline across all generations of technology that runs straight through South Park Commons - the hackathon culture of spontaneous, emergent teams that arise from simply being in one space with a common set of assumptions about technology and an itch to make something impressive for peers. These primordial ingredients are often all you need to create something much longer-lasting than anyone could imagine.

Soleio shares a perfect example from his first Facebook hackathon, where he simply made a t-shirt. Years later, that same t-shirt ended up being worn by Justin Timberlake in a movie reenactment of Facebook - something nobody could have predicted. This moment became formative for Facebook culture because it gave people license to build outside their purview and creatively express themselves in an encouraging environment.

"My first hackathon experience at Facebook I ended up just making a t-shirt. But it was weird that like it ended up being on like Justin Timberlake in a movie reenactment of Facebook years later. There's no way anybody would have predicted that happening."

The beauty lies in how teams assembled weren't ones you would have predicted or assigned in a spreadsheet as "natural collaborators." This spontaneity is difficult to orchestrate top-down or achieve organically in the wild, making hackathon culture deserving of its time under the sun worldwide.

Timestamp: [13:47-15:50]

Aditya identifies what makes Silicon Valley special for entrepreneurship: undirected expression and exploration. Rather than starting with a finely honed sense of exactly what to build for whom, it's about a primordial mix of just starting to build something with a vague idea that comes into focus through the act of building itself. The building process provides clarity about what to build next.

This iterative approach is hard to explain to people who view coding or designing as structured processes. While there's some structure, much of it involves building a little bit to figure out what to build next - you don't know where the tunnel leads. The more you try to articulate the entire tunnel upfront, the more likely you'll build something uninspired.

"You don't know where this tunnel leads. And in some ways the more you try to articulate the entire tunnel the more you'll end up building something that is not that inspired."

This philosophy embraces uncertainty and discovery as essential elements of the creative process, recognizing that premature clarity can actually limit innovative potential.

Timestamp: [15:50-17:16]

Aditya draws a compelling analogy between this undirected approach and musical creation, observing that musicians create songs through jamming - strumming, experimenting, then iterating on discoveries. This resonates with the technology building process where you start with loose ideas and refine through experimentation.

Soleio confirms this varies by musician but identifies two crucial lessons music taught him that became obvious only through his life lens. The iterative, exploratory nature of musical composition mirrors the technological development process, where both involve starting with raw materials and discovering what emerges through the act of creation itself.

"When I see musicians I see the act of creating a song as being just like jamming. Like they're just kind of like they just you know they're strumming they're jamming and then they kind of do something then they iterate on it."

This connection reveals how creative processes across different mediums share fundamental similarities in their relationship between structure, experimentation, and discovery.

Timestamp: [17:16-17:41]

Soleio shares a profound lesson from his violin training that he now appreciates as a father of two boys: the necessity of playing scales. Initially, scales can be a soul-sucking exercise, but they can also become a "wax on, wax off" path to flow state. Through scales, you develop an ear for being in tune and the ability to hit notes reliably without conscious thought - like having excellent first touch in soccer.

This discipline frees your brain to operate on a different plane. Instead of thinking about what your body is doing, you can focus on what you want to do next or what's happening around you. Playing scales was essential for violin proficiency and taking pleasure in the instrument, providing a mental engine that "the work will pay off" with discipline and finding joy in the challenging parts.

"Playing scales can be a way in which you can just essentially almost like wax on wax off. Get to a place of flow and get to a place of like developing an ear for being in tune knowing that you can hit a note reliably to such an extent that you don't have to think about it."

Once you've earned that proficiency, new capabilities are unlocked. Soleio wishes he could install this "mental engine" in every child's brain, recognizing it as something that must be experienced rather than just read about or discussed abstractly.

Timestamp: [17:41-19:21]

The second crucial lesson from music composition involves understanding structure and systems to gain insight into creators' minds. By studying the masters' music and understanding its mechanics, you appreciate genius not merely for aesthetic qualities but for intellectual qualities - the decisions behind specific notes, how pieces are constructed, and artistic intentions beyond emotional impact.

Music becomes a window into another person's mind, especially those long past, allowing you to understand their reasoning and how they created specific creative effects. This dual appreciation - both aesthetic and intellectual - reveals the intentionality behind artistic choices and the methodical approach to achieving visceral responses.

"If you study the music of the masters and you understand the mechanics of it you sort of appreciate its genius not merely for its aesthetic qualities but for its intellectual qualities for the decisions that are behind the specific notes."

This analytical approach to creativity provides a deeper understanding of how masters achieved their effects, combining emotional impact with intellectual rigor in ways that inform future creative work.

Timestamp: [19:21-20:33]

These musical lessons revealed Soleio's creative expression style: spontaneity and improvisation. While not naturally gifted at songwriting, he excelled at helping others songwrite by being "almost punitive" in wanting work to reach its best form - racing ideas from interesting concepts to something that "really sears and sings."

This role consistently emerges in his creative endeavors throughout his technology career. He's often the impatient person in the room wanting to push something forward, especially when it crosses the threshold of promise - recognizing "that's the thing, that's what the future looks like" and urgently wanting to get it out there.

"I love improvisation. I feel very comfortable improvising. I felt like I was very good not at songwriting but helping other people songwrite because I can be almost like punitive and wanting it to be its best form trying to get it race it from like interesting idea to like something that really sears and sings."

Every creative person finds their way of contributing collaboratively through different mediums, discovering who they're most like-minded with and who they work best with. Soleio's strength lies in recognizing potential and relentlessly pushing it toward excellence.

Timestamp: [20:33-21:38]

• Hackathon culture creates spontaneous collaborations that can't be orchestrated top-down, often producing unexpectedly lasting results from seemingly simple projects
• The most innovative work emerges from undirected expression and exploration rather than overly structured planning
• Building provides clarity about what to build next - the act of creation itself guides the creative process
• Trying to articulate the entire vision upfront often leads to uninspired results; embracing uncertainty enables innovation
• Musical training teaches fundamental lessons about discipline and flow that apply across all creative endeavors
• Mastering basics (like scales) frees mental capacity for higher-level creative thinking and spontaneous expression
• Understanding the structure and systems behind masterworks reveals both aesthetic and intellectual genius
• Creative proficiency must be experienced and earned through practice rather than learned through theory alone
• Different creative personalities emerge through various mediums - some excel at origination, others at refinement and pushing ideas to excellence
• The most valuable creative contributors often excel at recognizing potential and urgently pushing promising ideas toward their best form
• Spontaneity and improvisation can be more valuable than traditional songwriting or creation skills
• Every creative person must discover their unique collaborative style and find like-minded collaborators

Timestamp: [13:47-21:38]

People:

• Justin Timberlake - Actor who wore Soleio's hackathon t-shirt in a Facebook movie reenactment

Companies & Organizations:

• Facebook - Company where Soleio participated in his first hackathon and created the famous t-shirt
• South Park Commons - Organization exemplifying hackathon culture and spontaneous team formation

Cultural Concepts:

• Hackathon culture - Environment fostering spontaneous, emergent teams and creative expression
• Silicon Valley - Region known for entrepreneurship and undirected expression/exploration
• "Wax on, wax off" - Reference to disciplinary training that builds unconscious competence

Musical Elements:

• Violin - Instrument Soleio played, teaching him discipline through scale practice
• Scales - Fundamental exercises that build musical proficiency and flow states
• Music composition - Field that taught Soleio about structure, systems, and understanding creators' minds
• Jamming - Musical improvisation process analogous to technological experimentation
• Songwriting - Creative process Soleio helped others with rather than doing himself

Sports Reference:

• Soccer - Sport referenced for analogy about "first touch" and unconscious competence

Creative Concepts:

• Improvisation - Soleio's preferred method of creative expression
• Undirected expression and exploration - Philosophy of starting with vague ideas that clarify through building
• Primordial ingredients - Basic elements that can lead to lasting creative results

Timestamp: [13:47-21:38]

Aditya explores a fundamental paradox in building products and fostering innovation at South Park Commons: how do you enable the combination of patience and impatience? You need impatience because velocity and clock speed are essential - the best creative people across software, music, and videography are incredibly prolific, with an almost universal desire to produce output.

But you also need patience for greatness. You must maintain a high bar, either individually or through a critic/producer model. This creates an interesting juxtaposition: greatness won't emerge until you start producing, but simply producing isn't sufficient for greatness. You need both output and standards held simultaneously.

"Greatness will not come about until you start producing but just by the act of producing is not sufficient for greatness. You also need to have a high bar and I think you need to almost hold those things in concept."

Some of Aditya's most enjoyable meetings at South Park Commons involve founders grappling with this exact question: "Is this good or is this great?" - honestly confronting that fine line as the ultimate arbiters of what they're creating.

Timestamp: [21:45-23:17]

Those conversations about good versus great can be infuriating yet essential. Often you walk away thinking "this is pretty good, but I don't think this is great yet." Then comes the challenging part - letting it stew, returning to the drawing board repeatedly, maintaining the discipline to push beyond "good enough."

This process requires honest self-assessment and the willingness to be uncomfortable with current progress. The most transformative work emerges from this tension between satisfaction with progress and dissatisfaction with settling for anything less than excellence.

"A lot of the times you walk away being like ah this is pretty good I don't think this is like great yet you know and then you kind of let it stew over you kind of have to like you know keep on going back to the drawing board."

The iterative cycle of evaluation, rejection of mediocrity, and returning to refinement becomes the engine that drives breakthrough innovation.

Timestamp: [23:17-23:35]

Soleio identifies a crucial element across the pantheon of incredible endeavors: conflict, urgency, and near-death experiences. Sometimes having people push against or even be adversarial with an idea helps it feel its own urgency and "claw itself into existence." These pressure cooker moments often produce the most transformative ideas because they must fight for survival and become their best version immediately.

This dynamic requires delicate balance - you don't want to stifle innovation or discourage ideas prematurely. However, Soleio observes that more often, ideas get stuck in cycles or stew in mediocrity, remaining "pretty good" without breaking out to their full potential. They might have achieved greatness had they faced some existential threat.

"It's sometimes those pressure cooker moments where the most transformative ideas come out because it has to fight for its own survival. And so it has to be its best version of itself immediately."

The existential threat acts as a forcing function that prevents ideas from settling into comfortable mediocrity.

Timestamp: [23:35-24:56]

Soleio shares a powerful example from Facebook's lockdown periods - arbitrary moments of intense focus that produced his best work. The urgency of shipping under existential threat acted as a clarifying mechanism. Like having five minutes to score the winning goal, everything suddenly becomes focused and clear.

The revelation was profound: "If I just played the whole soccer game this way, I'd probably win every single game." The lockdown constraints forced a level of clarity and focus that was difficult to maintain during normal operations, revealing the power of artificial urgency in driving exceptional performance.

"I honestly felt like my best work at Facebook were in these like arbitrary lockdown moments where the urgency of shipping, the existential threat, the existential nature of it acted as a clarifying mechanism."

This experience highlights how constraints and pressure can paradoxically create freedom by eliminating distractions and forcing prioritization of what truly matters.

Timestamp: [24:56-25:24]

Aditya acknowledges the powerful clarity that emerges during wartime conditions - when the penalties for lacking clarity are exceptionally high. Crisis situations force decisiveness and focus by raising the stakes dramatically. The urgency creates a natural filtering mechanism that separates essential from non-essential activities.

This wartime mentality strips away ambiguity and forces teams to confront fundamental questions about priorities, resources, and objectives. While not sustainable long-term, these moments of heightened stakes can reveal organizational and individual capabilities that remain hidden during peacetime operations.

"There's a lot of clarity when there's like a sense of frankly wartime you know like it kind of like forces clarity. Because the penalties for not having clarity are pretty high."

The challenge becomes learning to harness this clarity-inducing pressure without requiring actual crisis situations.

Timestamp: [25:24-25:42]

• Excellence requires balancing patience for greatness with impatience for velocity - both high output and high standards are essential
• The most creative people across all disciplines share a universal desire to be incredibly prolific
• Simply producing output isn't sufficient for greatness; maintaining a high bar through self-criticism or external feedback is crucial
• The most meaningful conversations often center on distinguishing between "good" and "great" work
• Ideas that face adversarial pressure or existential threats often become their best versions by fighting for survival
• More ideas fail by settling into comfortable mediocrity than by being prematurely discouraged
• Pressure cooker moments and artificial constraints can produce transformative breakthroughs
• Crisis situations create clarity by raising the penalties for indecision and forcing focus on essentials
• The best work often emerges when teams operate with the urgency and focus typically reserved for crisis situations
• Lockdown periods or arbitrary constraints can act as clarifying mechanisms that eliminate distractions
• Wartime conditions strip away ambiguity and force confrontation of fundamental priorities
• Learning to harness crisis-level clarity without requiring actual crises becomes a key organizational capability

Timestamp: [21:45-25:42]

Organizations:

• South Park Commons - Innovation hub where Aditya facilitates founder meetings about distinguishing good from great work
• Facebook - Company where Soleio experienced lockdown periods that produced his best work

Creative Fields:

• Software - Field mentioned as having prolific creative people
• Music - Creative discipline noted for prolific output among top practitioners
• Videography - Visual medium cited as having prolific creative professionals

Concepts & Models:

• Critic model - Feedback mechanism for maintaining high standards in creative work
• Producer model - Alternative approach to maintaining quality standards
• Lockdowns - Facebook's intensive work periods that created artificial urgency and focus
• Wartime - Metaphor for high-stakes situations that force clarity and decisiveness
• Pressure cooker moments - Intense situations that drive transformative innovation

Sports Analogy:

• Soccer - Game referenced for analogy about scoring winning goals under time pressure and maintaining game-long focus

Philosophical Concepts:

• Existential threat - Survival pressure that forces ideas to become their best versions
• Mediocrity - Comfortable middle ground where ideas can get stuck without breakthrough potential
• Clarifying mechanism - Process that strips away distractions and forces focus on essentials

Timestamp: [21:45-25:42]

Aditya highlights Soleio's phrase describing the like button as "a visual language for human emotion" - a concept that reveals something profound about pre-digital communication. Before the like button and the explosion of emojis, there was no real visual language for expressing human emotion online. While emoticons existed, they were crude, hacky versions that barely scratched the surface of human emotional expression.

This observation leads to a fascinating question about the future: What will be the AI version of this visual emotional language? As we enter an era where artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into human communication, will we need new forms of expression specifically designed for human-AI emotional interaction?

"It's kind of wild to me that prior to the like button and now obviously all the emojis all of the way there was no visual language for actual like expressing human emotion. I guess we had like emoticon like I guess we had some like hacky versions of it but they were so crude right."

The evolution from crude emoticons to sophisticated emoji systems demonstrates humanity's deep need for visual emotional expression in digital spaces.

Timestamp: [25:48-26:29]

Soleio identifies something remarkable about current AI technology: people feel understood, and this is not the default human condition. We often take for granted having parents, peers, or people in our environment who understand us. Now, through these technologies, every person with a phone can be understood in a new way.

These devices possess infinite patience, take questions seriously, and can tease out intent from malformed queries or prompts. This represents a fundamental shift in accessibility to understanding - something previously limited by human availability and patience now becomes universally accessible.

"People feel understood and that is not the de facto human condition... now through these technologies like every person with the phone can be understood in a new way that these devices have like infinite patience."

The profound impact lies not just in the technology's capability, but in how it makes understanding universally available rather than dependent on human relationships and circumstances.

Timestamp: [26:29-27:21]

Soleio's brain immediately went to a crucial question: How might we help people see the value of being understood and give them a clear sense of what it means to understand others? The goal is for people to project that understanding they receive from machines back to other humans - to become for others what the machine made them feel.

Working with Claude on creative projects feels like collaborating with a great creative partner. When a malformed idea gets teased out, understood, and reflected back in ways you hadn't considered, it magnifies and brightens the idea. This experience makes Soleio want to embody that quality in his work with founders and designers, and with his children.

"The thing that the machine made you feel which is you feel understood. How can you in turn be that for other people right... it makes me want to be that in the flesh. It makes me want to be that for my kids."

The technology serves as a model for human interaction, teaching by example what deep understanding feels like and inspiring people to provide that same quality of attention to others.

Timestamp: [27:21-28:30]

While the future may not take the form of a like button, Soleio envisions a whole space of visual language to communicate conviction, understanding, and "a bright spark of joy when one is understood." This could include ways to reflect back understanding of what's said, creating software that primes people with visual communication tools.

The vision involves giving people a visual language so they can reflect understanding back to friends when they feel seen, empathized with, or when their malformed ideas are suddenly sharpened and enhanced by their best friend. This represents an evolution beyond simple emotion expression toward more sophisticated communication of intellectual and emotional resonance.

"I do think that there is a whole space of visual language to communicate conviction understanding and like a bright spark of like joy when one is understood... so that they can reflect it back to their friends when they feel like they're seen right."

The concept extends beyond expressing emotions to expressing the meta-experience of being understood and understanding others.

Timestamp: [28:30-29:10]

Sam Altman recently made a throwaway comment about people "wasting billions of GPU seconds by saying good morning and thank you to their AIs." But Aditya questions whether this is actually waste. When talking to AIs about personal or creative matters, there's a natural desire to say good morning: "Hey good morning Claude, let's jam on something." After awesome interactions, wanting to say thank you feels natural and appropriate.

This politeness reflects something deeper about human nature and our relationship with technology. The instinct to extend courtesy to AI reveals our fundamental social wiring and suggests these interactions are becoming genuinely relational rather than purely transactional.

"Is that a waste? Like if I'm going to be talking to my AIs about stuff that is like personal or creative I kind of want to like... I want to say good morning... if there's an awesome kind of like interaction I kind of want to say thank you right."

The desire for polite interaction with AI may represent healthy relationship-building rather than inefficiency.

Timestamp: [29:10-29:49]

Both speakers agree that our relationship with these technologies is evolving in unprecedented ways. Referencing Marshall McLuhan's "the medium is the message," they recognize that AI systems are not computers in the conventional sense, nor clearly humans, but something with emergent properties that feels human-like yet different.

This represents uncharted territory for humanity as a species. These technologies are clearly very powerful and, in some ways, draw out the best in people. The challenge lies in developing appropriate terminology and frameworks for understanding this new category of relationship and interaction.

"These are not computers in the conventional sense right. They're also clearly not humans in the convention but there is something that is an emergent property of them that feels human-like but also something different."

The emergence of this new category of interaction will require new social norms, etiquette, and understanding.

Timestamp: [29:49-30:24]

Aditya shares a personal example: getting out of a Waymo and saying "thank you" over his shoulder, then wanting to write to a friend at Waymo suggesting the car should respond "You're welcome, have a great day." This acknowledgment represents good practice, good hygiene, and good manners.

He suggests Facebook could make the world better at scale if one of its emojis wasn't just care or love, but a simple "thank you" for gratitude. While it might sound trite and silly, encountering that affordance serves as a reminder that gratitude is a core expression, probably as fundamental as anger.

"That acknowledgment is is is it's just good practice. It's good hygiene. It's good manners. And I feel like Facebook could make the world that much better at scale if one of its emojis wasn't just a care or love. It was just like a simple thank you gratitude."

Simple expressions of gratitude could have profound cumulative effects when scaled across billions of interactions.

Timestamp: [30:24-31:18]

Aditya observes that computing technology initially compressed the range of emotions expressible over the internet, which then bled into the range of emotions expressible in real life. Now, through AI, as people become able to express more emotions to computing interfaces, this expansion may also bleed back into the range of emotions expressible to other people.

This creates a fascinating feedback loop where our digital emotional vocabulary influences our real-world emotional expression. The practice of gratitude with AI becomes like "practicing scales" - a way to realize different methods of tapping into emotions around not just friends and computing devices, but every interaction encountered.

"Computing technology compressed down the range of emotions that we were able to express over the internet but then bled over to the range of emotions that we could express in real life... through AI as we kind of are able to express more emotions to our computing interfaces that also actually bleeds into the range of emotions that we can express to people."

Our emotional relationship with technology serves as training ground for richer human emotional expression.

Timestamp: [31:18-32:13]

• The like button represented humanity's first true visual language for expressing emotions digitally, revealing how crude previous methods were
• AI technology's most remarkable currency is making people feel understood - something not universally available in human relationships
• AI devices possess infinite patience and can extract intent from malformed queries, democratizing access to understanding
• The goal should be helping people project the understanding they receive from machines back to other humans
• Working with AI can serve as a model for better human collaboration and communication
• Visual languages for expressing understanding, conviction, and joy could evolve beyond simple emotion expression
• Politeness toward AI may represent healthy relationship-building rather than inefficient resource usage
• AI systems represent an emergent category - neither traditional computers nor humans, requiring new frameworks for understanding
• Simple expressions of gratitude could have profound cumulative effects when scaled across billions of interactions
• Computing technology initially compressed emotional expression but AI may expand it both digitally and in real life
• Practicing emotional expression with AI serves as training for richer human emotional communication
• The feedback loop between digital and real-world emotional vocabulary influences how we connect with others

Timestamp: [25:48-32:13]

People:

• Sam Altman - Referenced for his comment about people "wasting billions of GPU seconds" saying good morning and thank you to AIs
• Marshall McLuhan - Media theorist cited for "the medium is the message" concept

Companies & Products:

• Facebook - Social media platform referenced for potential gratitude emoji and emotional expression capabilities
• Claude - AI system mentioned as a creative collaborator for jamming on ideas
• Waymo - Autonomous vehicle service where Aditya experienced polite interaction

Technology Concepts:

• Like button - Described as "visual language for human emotion"
• Emojis - Evolution of digital emotional expression beyond crude emoticons
• Emoticons - Early, crude attempts at visual emotional expression online
• GPU seconds - Computing resources referenced in context of AI politeness
• Computing interfaces - Digital interaction points for emotional expression

Communication Concepts:

• Visual language - System for expressing emotions, understanding, and conviction through digital interfaces
• Malformed queries - Imperfect requests that AI can interpret and clarify
• Affordance - Design feature that suggests and enables specific interactions

Emotional Concepts:

• Gratitude - Core expression identified as fundamental as anger
• Understanding - Central currency of AI interaction that democratizes feeling heard
• Conviction - Emotional state that could be expressed through visual language
• Infinite patience - AI characteristic that differs from human limitations

Timestamp: [25:48-32:13]

Aditya sets the stage by acknowledging Soleio's insanely successful career at Facebook, where he launched many products people use today, along with others that didn't make it - which is perfectly normal. The honest assessment is that if you have a 20% hit rate in product development, you're doing well.

This recognition of failure as part of the course provides important context for understanding career transitions. Success isn't measured by never failing, but by the overall impact of the hits relative to the misses. This perspective reframes leaving successful positions not as abandoning success, but as seeking new challenges and opportunities for impact.

"You launched many products that we use today. Launch a bunch of that we don't use today. That's okay. That's part for the course. You know I think if you have a 20% hit rate you're doing well."

The 20% hit rate serves as a realistic benchmark for innovation work, helping normalize the experimental nature of breakthrough product development.

Timestamp: [32:19-32:37]

Aditya draws a parallel between Soleio's post-Dropbox journey and Ruchi's founding of South Park Commons in 2016. After achieving significant success and earning her stripes - where she could start a company, become an executive, or become a venture capitalist - Ruchi's motivation for starting SPC was simple: returning to the pure joy of tinkering, exploring, and building, allowing the answers to emerge organically.

This represents a fundamental shift in motivation from achievement-driven goals to curiosity-driven exploration. When you've proven yourself capable of traditional success metrics, the freedom to pursue intrinsic motivation becomes both possible and appealing.

"She talks about how her motivation to start SPC was just like I wanted to go back to the pure joy of tinkering exploring and building right. And in some ways that the answer be emergent from it and this is actually what has led to SPC today."

The choice to return to foundational exploration rather than leveraging proven success patterns often leads to the most innovative outcomes.

Timestamp: [32:37-33:50]

Soleio describes his post-Dropbox transition as "a little bit of soul-searching." After starting work with one company one day a week that spiraled into a full-time job building teams alongside Aditya, Drew, and Arash, then toggling back down to one day a week, he made a crucial discovery: he was having comparable impact with much less direct force.

This realization challenged traditional assumptions about how meaningful work gets done. The transition revealed that leverage and impact aren't necessarily correlated with time investment or direct involvement. Sometimes stepping back allows for more strategic, higher-impact contributions.

"What that transition showed to me was that like I was I felt like I was having a comparable bond of impact with a lot less like direct force."

The insight that impact can be achieved through different models of engagement opened up new possibilities for how to structure meaningful work.

Timestamp: [33:50-34:28]

Simultaneously, Soleio felt frustrated with the state of design education and design tools - problems that weren't Dropbox-sized but industry-sized. This frustration revealed an opportunity to return to his origins: working with startups in their formative stages, not full-time but in a leveraged way, helping them bring new products to market and build unique design teams at their core.

The recognition that some problems transcend individual companies and require systemic solutions became a catalyst for exploring new models of impact. Rather than trying to solve industry problems from within one company, the approach shifted to working across multiple early-stage companies.

"I felt like I was really frustrated with the state of design education and design tools. I felt like I was pushing up against a wall that wasn't like a Dropbox size problem. It was like an industry-sized problem."

Industry-sized problems often require industry-spanning solutions that can't be addressed from within traditional company structures.

Timestamp: [34:28-35:11]

Dropbox became the catalyst for meeting Dylan at Figma, and when Dylan pitched Figma, it directly addressed problems Soleio was experiencing as head of design at Dropbox. Their team was working on two sets of design assets for what was supposedly collaboration software, but the setup was "a dumpster fire." Nobody knew what the latest files were, and there was overhead they felt Dropbox itself should have been addressing.

This situation revealed more about their tools than anything else: the tools were fundamentally single-player tools in a multiplayer discipline. Teams of designers were coming together to work on things, but their tools weren't designed for collaboration, creating fundamental conflict.

"The tools were fundamentally single player tools in a multiplayer discipline in a discipline where like teams of designers were coming together to work on things and that conflict made me realize well I can kind of go back to what I did with Dropbox at the earlier part of the journey but do it at a company that's even earlier stage."

The irony of experiencing collaboration problems while working at a collaboration software company highlighted the deeper systemic issues in design tooling.

Timestamp: [35:11-36:10]

Soleio's minus one journey involved exploring how to work in an applied fashion with founders at the earliest stages and developing an economic model to support that activity. He was interested in building a small design studio that would service new founders - essentially a "design team in a box."

This concept represented a new model for design consulting: rather than traditional agency work, it would be deeply embedded support for early-stage companies that couldn't yet afford full design teams but needed design thinking from the beginning.

"I was really interested in exploring how maybe instead of working just with me I would build a small design studio that would service new founders right. Almost be like a design team in a box right."

The "design team in a box" concept aimed to democratize access to quality design thinking for early-stage startups.

Timestamp: [36:10-36:45]

These explorations happened concurrently with Ruchi's work on her intellectual salon, and coincidentally they ended up simultaneously naming their ventures. They had naming exercises - one in San Francisco and one at Soleio's house with Saki and John Yang. From their brainstormed names, "Combine" emerged, which Soleio loved for its industrial connotations (combine harvester) and decided to take for his design studio.

The naming exercise proved valuable beyond just finding a name - it demonstrated how the minus one journey benefits from workshopping ideas with others rather than working in isolation. Having external perspectives from people at similar stages, potential customers, or design partners provides crucial reality-testing.

"Out of the set of names that we had sort of like isolated combine was one of them I was like that's a great name I think industrial combine combine harvester I think I'm going to take that name for my design studio."

The parallel naming exercises revealed how similar exploration processes can emerge simultaneously across different people pursuing minus one journeys.

Timestamp: [36:45-37:30]

The naming exercise revealed a crucial insight about the minus one journey: it's not simply about workshopping things with yourself or people who have skin in the game. It helps to workshop with other people at similar stages who might be potential customers or design partners with relevant perspectives.

This simple action of "touching reality" - confronting the merit of what you're doing with potential stakeholders - is probably one of the most worthwhile things for any idea to develop urgency and shape. The external validation and challenge process is essential for ideas to mature beyond internal conception.

"I think that that simple action of touching reality of having to kind of confront the merit of what you're doing with people who might be potential stakeholders is probably one of the most worthwhile things to have to go through for any idea to have to take on urgency and shape of its own."

Reality-testing with relevant external perspectives transforms internal ideas into viable concepts with real-world applicability.

Timestamp: [37:30-38:11]

Soleio offers a powerful analogy: "You aren't really writing until you have readers." The essays we admire often credit people at the end for their help, and those people are as much contributors to the artifact as the person in the byline - they're part of the process too.

This perspective reframes individual achievement as collaborative creation. The acknowledgments in essays aren't just polite gestures; they recognize genuine contributors who helped shape the thinking through questions, challenges, and feedback.

"You aren't really writing until you have readers I think. And there's a reason why like the essays we admire often credit people at the end of it for help on those essays because it's those people that are as much contributors to the artifact as the person in the by line."

True creation requires audience engagement and feedback loops that shape the work itself, making it genuinely collaborative rather than solo effort.

Timestamp: [38:11-38:29]

The beauty of South Park Commons lies in creating this collaborative workshopping environment at scale - providing everyone with their version of the people who appear at the bottom of essays. It's an environment where you have access to people who help workshop and push ideas forward, asking questions essential to creating something that can endure and break through.

SPC institutionalizes the informal networks that enable great work, making them accessible to more people rather than limiting them to those with existing connections. It democratizes access to the kind of intellectual community that has historically been available only to select individuals.

"I think the beauty of South Park Commons is creating that at scale creating an environment in which you have your version of those people that appear at the bottom of your essay the people who help workshop and push an idea forward and to ask the questions that ultimately are essential to creating something that can endure that can break through."

Scaling intellectual community and collaborative thinking becomes a meta-innovation that enables many other innovations.

Timestamp: [38:29-38:49]

• A 20% hit rate in product development represents good performance, normalizing failure as part of innovation
• Returning to "pure joy of tinkering" after achieving success often leads to the most innovative outcomes
• Impact can be achieved with less direct force through strategic positioning and leverage rather than time investment
• Industry-sized problems require industry-spanning solutions that transcend individual company boundaries
• Tools misaligned with user behavior (single-player tools for multiplayer disciplines) create systemic dysfunction
• External reality-testing with relevant stakeholders is essential for ideas to develop urgency and viability
• True creation is collaborative - even individual work benefits from reader/audience feedback loops
• The minus one journey benefits from workshopping with peers rather than working in isolation
• Institutionalizing informal intellectual networks democratizes access to collaborative thinking
• Design team support can be systematized and scaled to help early-stage companies from the beginning
• Parallel exploration processes often emerge simultaneously across different people pursuing similar journeys
• Touching reality through stakeholder feedback transforms internal concepts into viable external propositions

Timestamp: [32:19-38:49]

People:

• Ruchi - Founder of South Park Commons who started it in 2016 to return to pure exploration
• Drew - Person Soleio worked alongside building teams (likely Drew Houston from Dropbox)
• Arash - Team member mentioned in Dropbox team building context
• Dylan - Person at Figma who pitched the product to Soleio
• Saki - Participant in the naming exercise at Soleio's house
• John Yang - Participant in the naming exercise at Soleio's house

Companies & Products:

• Facebook - Soleio's previous company where he had an insanely successful career
• Dropbox - Company where Soleio created a well-regarded design team and later transitioned roles
• Figma - Design tool company that addressed collaboration problems Soleio experienced at Dropbox
• South Park Commons (SPC) - Intellectual salon/community founded by Ruchi in 2016

Business Concepts:

• Design team in a box - Soleio's concept for providing design services to early-stage startups
• Combine - Name chosen for Soleio's design studio, inspired by industrial combine harvesters
• Design studio - Small service organization Soleio planned to build for new founders
• Economic model - Framework needed to support applied work with early-stage founders

Key Concepts:

• Minus one journey - Period of starting over and exploring new directions after achieving success
• 20% hit rate - Benchmark for successful product development outcomes
• Industry-sized problems - Issues that transcend individual companies and require systemic solutions
• Single player tools in multiplayer discipline - Design tools misalignment that creates collaboration problems
• Touching reality - Process of testing ideas with potential stakeholders to develop viability
• Soul-searching - Period of reflection and exploration after career transitions

Creative Process:

• Tinkering, exploring, and building - Core activities that bring pure joy in creative work
• Workshopping - Process of refining ideas through collaboration and external input
• Reality-testing - Confronting ideas with potential stakeholders to assess merit

Timestamp: [32:19-38:49]

Aditya asks about the transition from Soleio's incredible tour of duty at Dropbox - seeing the company go through multiple versions of itself - to what he's doing today with South Park Commons. The question explores how SPC served as a vehicle for exploring that minus one journey and what connected these two significant phases of his career.

This sets up a deeply personal reflection on career transitions, the challenges of leaving successful positions, and the search for renewed purpose and direction. The bridge metaphor captures the idea that major career transitions require something to help you cross from one phase to another.

"What was the bridge between those two things? How did South Park Commons in some respects serve as a vehicle for you exploring that minus one journey?"

Understanding the connective tissue between major career phases reveals how transformational journeys actually unfold in practice.

Timestamp: [39:01-39:32]

Soleio describes his exit from Dropbox as "rough" - a combination of being lost, tired, and burnt out. Despite loving the company, product, and people, and being a maximalist who makes work his life alongside family and passions, something fundamental was missing. Around the time of the IPO, he realized he wanted to do something else but had no clue what that might be.

This honest acknowledgment reveals how even successful career transitions can be emotionally difficult and unclear. The absence of a clear next step doesn't diminish the validity of knowing when it's time to move on. Sometimes the exit comes before the vision of what's next.

"I'd say that my exit from Dropbox is rough. I felt as though that... I love the company love the product love the people and I tend to be a maximalist. So if I'm working on something it is my life along with my family and you know my passions but it is my life right... I had that thought of wanting to do something else but not a clue beyond that right. And I think I was pretty lost actually."

The gap between knowing you need change and knowing what that change should be represents a common but rarely discussed aspect of career transitions.

Timestamp: [39:32-40:16]

In the early days, Soleio went to the South Park Commons community one day a week, and the biggest part it played in his journey was providing "a sense of lightness." This lightness came from rediscovering that building can actually be fun and undirected - you don't need to know the answer before you start.

This contrasts sharply with running a company at scale, where decisions are big, repercussions are large, and you're trying to do right by users, customers, colleagues, and potentially public market investors. That level of responsibility is stressful and can drain the joy from the creative process.

"The biggest part it played in my journey was a sense of lightness right. Which a sense of building doesn't like building can actually be fun and it can be undirected. You don't need to know the answer."

The recovery of lightness in creative work becomes essential for rediscovering the fundamental joy that drives innovation and building.

Timestamp: [40:16-40:51]

The process of running a scaled company had caused Soleio to lose "the childlike joy of building" - that sense of "we don't know where this is going but let's just hack a little bit, let's learn this, let's explore, let's hack." While he deeply admires Drew for continuing to play the CEO role, the stress and responsibility can overwhelm the fundamental pleasure of creation.

SPC provided a space to reconnect with experimental, exploratory building without predetermined outcomes or massive stakeholder pressure. This childlike approach to creation - characterized by curiosity, playfulness, and acceptance of uncertainty - represents the core motivation that draws people to technology and innovation.

"In that process in some ways I'd lost like the childlike joy of this like building right like we don't know where this is going but let's just you know hack a little bit let's learn this let's explore let's hack."

Maintaining access to childlike joy in building becomes crucial for sustaining long-term creativity and preventing burnout in high-responsibility roles.

Timestamp: [40:51-41:32]

The through line from Soleio's Dropbox exit to where he is today centers on "a rediscovery of the joy of building" - coming back to that "Promethean act of creating something from nothing." He has an "insane amount of reverence" for this particular act, and now much of his life's work focuses on enabling more of these things to exist in the world.

The Promethean reference - stealing fire from the gods to give to humanity - elevates the act of creation to something sacred and fundamental to human nature. This reverence for creation itself, rather than just successful outcomes, provides a philosophical foundation for his current work.

"If I had to do a through line from you know kind of my final in some ways you know getting out of Dropbox and then after that coming to SPC to where we are today it really is about a rediscovery of the joy of building right. Like coming back to that Promethean act of like creating something from nothing."

Viewing creation as a Promethean act imbues the work with deeper meaning beyond commercial success or career advancement.

Timestamp: [41:32-42:02]

While SPC is a venture capital firm focused on providing world-class returns for investors, at its core it's about serving incredible technologists and founders to build the future. Their philosophy emphasizes taking time to go slow before you have to go fast, distinguishing good from great, and figuring out the mountain you want to climb rather than just trying to scale up any mountain.

This approach represents a counter-narrative to the typical Silicon Valley rush toward scaling. The emphasis on intentional choice of direction and quality over speed challenges conventional wisdom about startup success and venture capital.

"Our job at SPC yes we are a venture capital firm as well and you know if we are doing venture capital I want to provide you know the world's best returns for the people who have entrusted their capital with us but at its core we're actually about serving incredible technologists and founders to go build the future right."

The dual mission of financial returns and enabling transformational building creates a more holistic approach to venture capital that prioritizes long-term impact.

Timestamp: [42:02-42:37]

Soleio reflects that without SPC, knowing his personality, he would have just rushed into the next thing - finding a cool company and going completely all in. SPC allowed him to be much more intentional about what he actually wanted to do, what was fun for him, and what represented his actual through line through life.

This self-awareness about personal patterns and the need for systems to counter potentially destructive impulses demonstrates mature career management. The recognition that his natural inclination toward maximalism needed a counterbalance to enable better decision-making.

"I would have been you know knowing my personality without having SPC I would have just rushed into the next thing I'm like great like let me go find a cool company that I am you know and I'll go completely all in... having SPC allowed me to be a lot more intentional about like what is it that I actually want to do what is fun for me right."

Creating structures that compensate for personality tendencies enables more thoughtful career decisions and sustainable engagement patterns.

Timestamp: [42:37-43:09]

Soleio identifies his through line: "it is ultimately about building new things like this is my through line it is kind of like my note to hit and whenever we hit it I feel joy." SPC allowed him to find that note, and now he wants to "preach from the mountaintop" about this discovery.

The musical metaphor of finding your "note to hit" suggests that everyone has a fundamental frequency that resonates with their core purpose. When you find and play that note, it creates joy and alignment that transcends specific projects or companies.

"It is ultimately about building new things like this is my through line it is kind of like my note to hit and whenever we hit it I feel joy so I think SPC allowed me to find that right and there's a part of me now that's like I want to preach from the mountaintop."

Discovering your fundamental note or through line provides a reliable compass for making career and life decisions.

Timestamp: [43:09-43:27]

Soleio wants to preach the gospel that as people enter their careers - especially pertinent with AI - the biggest thing humans will need to find is what gives them a sense of creative agency and being able to express themselves. AI will make this easier, but you won't get agency and creativity by trying to do so in a stifled, structured way.

Instead, people will need more avenues to slow down, explore, and go broad before going narrow. This philosophy becomes even more important as AI changes the nature of work and human contribution. Finding genuine creative agency becomes a differentiating human skill.

"As we enter our careers and I actually think this is even more pertinent with AI the biggest thing that I think all humans will need to find is like what gives them a sense of creative agency and being able to express themselves... you will not get this agency and creativity by trying to do so in a stifled kind of structured way."

The AI era amplifies the importance of developing genuine creative agency rather than following predetermined paths or structures.

Timestamp: [43:27-43:56]

Soleio believes something like SPC will be super beneficial for a large portion of the world over the next decade, making it nice to be early to this curve. The model of providing space for exploration, intentional career development, and rediscovering the joy of building will become increasingly relevant as traditional career paths evolve.

This prediction suggests that the SPC model addresses fundamental human needs that will become more pressing as technology continues to reshape work and society. Being early to this curve positions them to help scale solutions for widespread career transitions and creative fulfillment.

"I think something like SPC will be super beneficial for a large portion of the world right over the next decade. So it's kind of nice to be able to be early to the curve there."

Anticipating widespread need for creative agency and exploratory career development represents strategic positioning for societal shifts driven by AI and technological change.

Timestamp: [43:56-44:03]

• Even successful career transitions can involve feeling lost, tired, and burnt out without clear direction for what comes next
• High-responsibility roles can drain the childlike joy from building and creating, making recovery of lightness essential
• Maximalist personalities need structural support to make more intentional career decisions rather than rushing into the next opportunity
• Everyone has a fundamental "note to hit" or through line that generates joy when aligned with their work
• Creative agency becomes increasingly important as AI changes the nature of work and human contribution
• The Promethean act of creating something from nothing deserves reverence and intentional cultivation
• Going slow before going fast, and broad before narrow, enables better long-term outcomes than immediate scaling
• Distinguishing good from great and choosing your mountain carefully matters more than just climbing any available mountain
• Structured exploration and community support can prevent burnout and enable more sustainable creative careers
• The ability to rediscover joy in building represents a crucial skill for maintaining long-term innovation capacity
• SPC-style models for career exploration will become increasingly relevant as traditional paths evolve
• Finding what gives you creative agency requires unstructured exploration rather than following predetermined frameworks

Timestamp: [39:01-44:03]

People:

• Drew - CEO of Dropbox whom Soleio deeply admires for continuing to play the leadership role despite its stresses

Companies:

• Dropbox - Company where Soleio had an incredible tour of duty and went through multiple versions before his exit
• South Park Commons (SPC) - Community and venture capital firm that served as Soleio's bridge during his minus one journey

Business Concepts:

• IPO - Initial Public Offering period at Dropbox that coincided with Soleio's realization about wanting change
• Venture capital firm - SPC's formal structure focused on providing world-class returns while serving technologists
• Public market investors - Stakeholder group that adds pressure and responsibility in scaled companies
• Tour of duty - Military metaphor for Soleio's time at Dropbox

Philosophical Concepts:

• Promethean act - Creating something from nothing, referenced as stealing fire from the gods to give to humanity
• Maximalist - Soleio's self-description of his personality type that goes all-in on commitments
• Through line - Core theme or pattern that runs throughout one's life and career
• Note to hit - Musical metaphor for finding one's fundamental purpose or calling
• Creative agency - Ability to express oneself and create, identified as crucial for the AI era

Personal States:

• Burnt out - Condition Soleio experienced despite his success at Dropbox
• Lost - Feeling of uncertainty about direction after leaving Dropbox
• Lightness - Quality that SPC provided to counterbalance the heaviness of scaled company responsibility
• Childlike joy - Fundamental pleasure in building and exploring that can be lost in high-pressure environments

AI Concepts:

• AI era - Period making creative agency even more important for human fulfillment and differentiation

Work Philosophy:

• Go slow before you go fast - SPC philosophy emphasizing intentional preparation over immediate scaling
• Go broad before you go narrow - Exploration approach that enables better eventual focus
• Distinguish good from great - Quality assessment practice essential for breakthrough work

Timestamp: [39:01-44:03]

Aditya firmly believes in being early to the curve of providing spaces for founders and creative exploration. When looking back at their time in tech, the rate of company creation and growth has continued to compound on itself. Even more striking: the number of people required to create enormous enterprise value and enormous impact in the world keeps getting smaller.

This trend speaks to a world that demands more founders, more ideas, and things that are even quirkier, weirder, and farther afield than what came before. The decreasing barrier to creating massive impact means we need exponentially more people willing to explore unconventional possibilities.

"The rate of company creation, company growth everything has continued to compound on itself. Even the number of people required to create enormous enterprise value and enormous impact in the world just keeps getting smaller and that speaks of a world that demands more founders."

The democratization of company creation tools and platforms enables smaller teams to achieve previously impossible scale, requiring new approaches to identifying and supporting potential founders.

Timestamp: [44:12-44:46]

Creating environments where people are given space to look well outside what's possible or expected becomes the only way to create initial conditions for people to start far afield from where everyone else is. This isn't about incremental improvement but about fundamental shifts in approach and thinking.

The emphasis on "far field" exploration suggests that the most transformative ideas come from domains that seem disconnected from current paradigms. Creating these initial conditions requires intentional design of environments that encourage rather than constrain unconventional thinking.

"Creating an environment in which people are given the space to look well outside what's possible or what one might expect I think is the only way in which you can create initial conditions for people even starting far field from where everyone else is."

Systematic support for far-field exploration becomes infrastructure for breakthrough innovation rather than just a nice-to-have creative outlet.

Timestamp: [44:46-45:20]

Having spent four years in London as an investor working with that ecosystem, Aditya identifies the starkest contrast between London and Silicon Valley: the weirdness factor. Silicon Valley seeks out things that are much weirder and less predictable in terms of starting points. The global expectation is that Silicon Valley is where "the weirdos congregate and come up with some version of the future."

This weirdness represents something sacred and unique about the Valley. People choose to live and work there specifically because of this de facto stance toward unconventional thinking and exploration. It's not just tolerance for weirdness but active seeking of it.

"The starkest contrast between that ecosystem and the one in Silicon Valley is that there's a weirdness of Silicon Valley... the things that are sought out here are so much weirder and less predictable in terms of where the starting point is."

Cultural acceptance and active encouragement of weirdness becomes a competitive advantage for innovation ecosystems.

Timestamp: [45:20-46:04]

Aditya acknowledges that 10 out of these weird ideas hold no water or are just actually zany. But every once in a while, that 11th idea becomes transformational - it's the next century, the next way we govern ourselves, the next religion, the next version of the American story.

This ratio provides crucial perspective on the value of supporting seemingly crazy ideas. The hit rate for transformational innovation is extremely low, but the magnitude of impact when it works justifies supporting many "failed" experiments. The key is creating systems that can sustain the 10 failures to find the 1 breakthrough.

"10 of those ideas hold no water or just actually zany. But then every once in a while that 11th idea is the next century. It's the next way in which we govern ourselves. It's the next religion. It's the next version of the American story."

Understanding and accepting the low hit rate for transformational ideas enables proper resource allocation and emotional preparation for innovation work.

Timestamp: [46:04-46:39]

What Aditya finds novel about working in technology, specifically at the intersection of the minus one phase with founders, is the space and permission to ask radical questions. He shares a personal example of the kind of question he's asking himself: "What if in the future people write fables and those fables become worlds that other people occupy?"

This represents the type of thinking that emerges when founders give themselves permission to explore truly transformational possibilities. These aren't business model innovations but fundamental reimaginings of how reality itself might be structured and experienced.

"What I find pretty novel about getting to work in technology and specifically at the intersection of that minus one phase with founders who are asking those questions and giving themselves the space and permission to say like what if in the future people write fables and those fables become worlds that other people occupy. That's the question I'm asking myself these days."

The most transformational innovation happens when founders feel permission to question fundamental assumptions about reality and possibility.

Timestamp: [46:39-47:01]

Soleio suggests they should do another episode focused on articulating the magic of Silicon Valley in a non-judgmental way. Having spent time in Bangalore and London, he believes there are things to learn from those ecosystems, but it also accentuates what's unique about the Silicon Valley ecosystem that isn't yet completely understood.

The key element is "a certain amount of irreverence" - the recognition that you only get out-of-the-box companies if you're willing to think weird, which means everything will look a little zany. If you try to make ideas too legible in the beginning, you'll only achieve incrementality.

"There's a certain amount of irreverence if you will. Like there's a certain amount of the only way you get the out of the box company is if you're willing to think weird and that means everybody everything will look a little zany right. And if you try to make it a little bit too legible in the beginning then you'll only get incrementality."

Irreverence toward conventional wisdom and acceptance of apparent zaniness becomes essential infrastructure for breakthrough innovation rather than incremental improvement.

Timestamp: [47:01-47:54]

The conversation concludes with Aditya acknowledging that he only got through three of his 20 questions, attributing this to Soleio being "such a lateral thinker." This recognition celebrates the value of depth over breadth in conversation and the way lateral thinking naturally expands discussions in unexpected directions.

The acknowledgment that they could continue chatting and should have Soleio back suggests that the most valuable conversations are those that generate more questions than they answer. Lateral thinking creates branching possibilities rather than linear progressions through predetermined topics.

"I only got through three of my 20 questions but that's a beauty of having somebody who is such a lateral thinker."

Lateral thinking in conversation creates exponential rather than linear exploration of ideas, often proving more valuable than systematic coverage of predetermined topics.

Timestamp: [47:55-48:07]

• The compounding rate of company creation and decreasing team size requirements demand exponentially more founders and weird ideas
• Creating initial conditions for far-field exploration requires intentional environmental design that encourages unconventional thinking
• Silicon Valley's competitive advantage lies in actively seeking weirdness rather than just tolerating it
• The 10-to-1 failure ratio for transformational ideas requires systems that can sustain many failures to find breakthrough successes
• True innovation happens when founders feel permission to question fundamental assumptions about reality itself
• Irreverence toward conventional wisdom becomes essential infrastructure for breakthrough rather than incremental innovation
• Making ideas too legible too early constrains them to incremental rather than transformational potential
• The most valuable conversations generate more questions than they answer through lateral exploration
• Cultural ecosystems that congregate "weirdos" create global expectations that enable more radical experimentation
• The minus one phase provides crucial space for founders to ask transformational questions about future possibilities
• Understanding ecosystem differences helps articulate what makes Silicon Valley uniquely effective for certain types of innovation
• Lateral thinking creates exponential rather than linear exploration of ideas and possibilities

Timestamp: [44:12-48:07]

Podcast Information:

• This episode is part of "Minus One" from the team at South Park Commons
• Listeners can subscribe to the show wherever they listen to podcasts
• Social media presence: @South Park Commons

Sponsorship:

• Thanks to Atomic Growth for their support in bringing this episode to production

Future Content:

• Teased follow-up episode focused on articulating the magic of Silicon Valley ecosystem
• Promise of having Soleio back on the podcast due to depth of conversation and lateral thinking

Timestamp: [47:55-48:31]

Geographic Locations:

• Silicon Valley - Innovation ecosystem known for weirdness and radical experimentation
• London - Ecosystem where Aditya spent four years as an investor, providing contrast to Silicon Valley
• Bangalore - Innovation ecosystem mentioned for comparison with Silicon Valley

Philosophical Concepts:

• Far field exploration - Starting points that are distant from conventional approaches
• Initial conditions - Environmental factors that enable unconventional starting points
• Weirdness - Cultural acceptance of unconventional and unpredictable approaches
• Irreverence - Attitude that challenges conventional wisdom and embraces apparent zaniness
• Lateral thinking - Thinking style that creates branching exploration rather than linear progression
• Legibility - Making ideas too understandable too early, which constrains transformational potential

Innovation Concepts:

• 10-to-1 ratio - Statistical reality that 10 weird ideas fail for every 1 transformational success
• Incrementality - Limited improvement that results from overly structured or legible approaches
• Out-of-the-box companies - Organizations that emerge from truly unconventional thinking
• Enterprise value - Significant business impact achievable with smaller teams
• Compounding rate - Accelerating pace of company creation and growth

Cultural Elements:

• The weirdos - People who congregate in Silicon Valley to explore unconventional futures
• Global expectation - Worldwide understanding of Silicon Valley as the place for radical experimentation
• American story - Cultural narrative that innovation can fundamentally reshape

Future Concepts:

• Fables that become worlds - Aditya's example of radical future possibility where stories create inhabitable realities

Podcast Elements:

• Minus One - Podcast name from South Park Commons
• 20 questions - Aditya's planned interview structure, of which only 3 were covered
• Atomic Growth - Sponsor organization supporting the podcast

Timestamp: [44:12-48:31]