“Greedy” with a purpose

Even though I had extensive experience developing software, it wasn’t until I committed to landing a job in Silicon Valley that I first read about greedy algorithms.

Greedy algorithms operate based on local decisions, taking the step that is best for the immediate future. They usually don’t lead to the best solution, but they are efficient, elegant, and easy to reason about. I got profoundly inspired by them right away.

Soon I started identifying real-world applications for greedy algorithms — beyond spanning graphs and stuffing knapsacks. I realized that a greedy approach is deeply present in nature, maybe as a result of evolution. Both in our social behavior as individuals and internally, in the way we developed to satisfy our immediate needs. This led me to think:

If, as social beings, we were able to hack that natural algorithm, introducing rules that go against our desire for the common good, could I also hack my natural greedy behavior for a better personal outcome?

And that’s how I got determined to hack myself in a sustainable way. Close to our natural preferences but with a purpose, a way that is effortless, long-lasting, and fulfilling. My goal was to keep becoming a better version of myself without having to think too much about it.

So I started following this simple framework:

• Identify a long term goal.
• Extract a series of simple yet actionable rules that point to it and that are also enjoyable.
• Then just focus on applying such rules when possible.
• Let time do the rest. It should get to the point that my head internalizes the rules and they become part of me.

This method aims at getting me closer to the goal rather than achieving it but with the advantage of me only focusing on the process.

For me, forgetting about the goal is important for multiple reasons. First, I can only focus on one goal at a time. This method helps me unconsciously pursue many goals at once. Second, focusing on a goal puts your current and future happiness at risk, as Adam Smith warned in his famous “Turgid Truth”. Third, I just want to enjoy the path, especially on long journeys.

Now, let me get into specifics and tell you how some of those self-imposed rules, in particular, caring about others, giving more than expected, thinking from first principles, following my instincts, embracing risks, speaking through my actions, and surrounding myself with honest and trustworthy people, played a decisive role in how I became an entrepreneur and started the most exciting chapter of my life:

David

On March 12, 2019, I read something surprising on LinkedIn. My former employer was introducing a new CSO, and he was not David, the guy I thought deserved that position.

Let me add some context here: I was a founding member of that company and fortunate to work with David there. Even though he started as a relatively inexperienced recent biology graduate, he instantly showed his potential. During the 6 year span I have worked with David, my admiration and respect for him had grown many fold. He was methodical and resolutive.

DREAMgenics good early days. David at the bottom left, me at the top center

I saw him achieve his goals one after another. Genetics and NGS proficiency, Java certifications, mastering Linux, English Cambridge certifications, Statistics courses, Bioinformatics MSc… Whatever goal he set, he excelled at it. Beyond specific achievements, what really made him stand out from everyone I knew was that rare combination of reliability, rigor, perseverance, adaptation, and positiveness.

Now that I read the LinkedIn recommendation I wrote 7 years ago, I think it falls short:

David is an excellent teammate and has a keen willingness for learning, a great ability to adapt, and a rigor out of the ordinary. He is one of the most talented professionals I’ve ever worked with.

By the time I left that company, he was the person leading the bioinformatics team, and most importantly, he had earned a solid reputation both inside the company and from multiple customers and external collaborators. This is why two years later that news was so surprising to me.

I was in Santa Clara that day, so I waited until night to let Spain wake up, and phone him. As I suspected he was disappointed and even though he told me how brilliant and good a teammate the person who got the CSO position was, something inside him was burning. I knew that feeling. We talked for a while, and I remember saying these words at the end: “You know what? It’s actually a good thing that this happened to you. After 15 years in the industry and working with so many amazing people, you are still one of the most talented people I’ve worked with. You don’t belong there”. I was committed to helping him.

We polished his CV and I tried to get him onboard at my current employer. But a bioinformatician is not an easy match for a security company, no matter how much I emphasized his skills. I don’t blame them, my request was out of the ordinary.

But to me, the situation was frustrating. I would have hired him blindly if the decision were mine, no matter what that company was about. After some days thinking about it, I decided how to get the most of the situation. David was open to change and I was going to help him funneling his disappointment into something constructive. I was going to invest in him.

“Tuna I am a builder, and build I shall.” [1]

The only option under our control was to start building something together in the field of bioinformatics, and so we would do that.

Prathik

The next day I told the story to Prathik. I wanted him to be involved. He was an experienced entrepreneur and investor, but more importantly, a pure human being. I trusted and admired him, and he was my first choice to walk the road with.

I had met Prathik two years ago at ShiftLeft, the company we both were working for then. He was quiet yet communicative with a smile on his face, always. I felt there was something intriguing about him.

I remember our first interaction was unconventional. At that point, we barely interacted with each other, but that day he grabbed my arm and said: “We are having beers at my place, and you are coming.”

I liked him from the beginning probably because his happiness was contagious, and I am certainly biased towards happy people. But then I got to know him better and discovered one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever known.

There was one particular experience with him that I always remember and tell others when I am introducing Prathik:

Being poker enthusiasts (he even considered becoming a professional player) we went to the Bay 101 casino to get into action together. That was my first time at a casino with so many cash poker tables and players under one roof. As I was excitedly waiting for my seat, something caught my attention: Prathik preferred playing “Ultimate Texas Hold’em.” a game in which each player at the table only plays against the casino, not other players. I couldn’t understand why. No human strategy, no bluffs, no face reading… honestly, it just seemed boring. But after watching him for some time I understood –

He was there for human relationships!

The environment he created at the table was just amazing! Helping other players and celebrating their wins, sharing his profits with the dealers, ordering drinks for everyone around when we got a really good hand. People started to stand around the table, to be part of the club. Everybody around was loving him, and wishing him luck. Even the dealer was celebrating as if Prathik was his best friend! And then this magical moment came: Prathik got quads on the river. This is a big deal in that game, especially if you are playing for the bonus as he was.

I remember that moment as a goal in a soccer match. Everyone around the table exploded, jumped, and celebrated in a way difficult to describe. They were genuinely happy!

Enjoying a Friday poker party at ShiftLeft’s HQ. Prathik and I in the middle right. I had position over him, but lost my pants anyway!

Over the course of those years, our relationship became stronger and I discovered how he masters human relationships. I saw people come to him for advice, for help, or just to have fun. He always gave priority to them even if it meant putting his own work on hold. I saw people blindly following him. But for him it was easy, he just wanted people around him to be happy. And with me, I can tell you, it totally worked.

I know he is not going to be comfortable with me sharing this with you, but who else receives a “tribute video” as a birthday present from their former employees? And 300-word recommendations on LinkedIn?

He definitely was a friend worth keeping.

So the day after talking to David I took him downstairs and made my first pitch. At that point, the pitch only showed enthusiasm, how much I admired David, and some ideas around Batch processing, bioinformatics, and reproducibility.

After closing with a “this is going to be huge, and I want you to be involved” his reply was:

“Nacho, you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard this before. Let’s talk again when you have a pitch deck.”

That was unexpected. Disappointing at first, but after some thought it made sense. We were talking here about serious stuff. A partnership beyond friendship. So I needed more than some improvised words. I wanted him to jump in only because he believed in it, so the response was indeed promising.

So I decided to do what I do best, that is let my actions do the talking. David and I started working on an MVP putting all our free time into it. We would come back to Prathik when we definitely had something to show.

A couple of months passed, and I was back in Spain when he pinged me over Slack: “Hey Nacho how is your batch project going?”

That day BatchX was born, as an equal partnership among the three of us.

Closing

Looking back now it’s still difficult to understand how I was able to make this happen. How I turned a simple opportunity into a real company. How I resigned from a good job at a Silicon Valley startup. And how I was able to make the two people I admired the most also quit their jobs and jump in with me (David even before me!).

They just look like a succession of easy decisions that weren’t planned out in advance.

Some people would say it is luck. I know it is my greedy-with-a-purpose hack giving results instead.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltdmNfXMljY