Math and the Merchent
As I wrote not too long ago, I liked college. I especially liked mathematics. Mathematics may very well be the birthplace of something I like to call “intellectual elegance.” In this case, I use elegance as hackers and computer gurus use it, to describe a kind of superlative simplicity—to describe a balance and concision expressing vast depth behind a few simple lines, be they lines of code, lines of mathematic symbols, or anything else.
In math, no matter how wide ranging or ramified an equation is, no matter how many lines a proof as to run, it all returns to a few elegant axioms and assertions, the two sides of the equals sign are always in balance.
This far-reaching simplicity, this gnarled cleanliness held vast attraction for me. It made me happy to learn about, explore, and dwell upon it.
Then I went into business.
One of the hardest-learned lessons about starting up a company is: nothing is clean. There are no total successes. Nothing is ever completely solved, proved, and put away. One customer is happy, but may not be tomorrow. One supplier is cheap, the other reliable. This advertising venue is affordable and brings in customers, but not every week; that one brings in so many customers that you cannot serve them appropriately and may gain a reputation for disorganization.
There is never a right answer. Your day is never truly done. You just leave things as “good enough” for a few hours so you can sleep, or eat, or see your family before returning again to the unsolvable equation.
Please do not misunderstand, there is room for great happiness in this lifestyle. The ever-ramifying, open-ended challenge of owning a business can be fantastic. It can be rewarding, exalting, profitable, and exciting. Just know, it will never be clean.
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