The how to solving a problem is context-dependent. I don't think in functional buckets like product, GTM, or operations. I think of each as a distinct system with its own logic. Product applies technology to make something possible that wasn't before. Marketing figures out what words, experiences, or incentives persuades people at scale. Operations maps complexity into action. Each of these are different approaches to solve usually the same underlying problem, only with different constraints.

As for the problem itself, its nature matters as much as its scale. This is why I like and have engaged with 0-1 problems.

I enjoy learning new domains. 

Since I was young, I loved grasping new and distinct information. At 9, I tried to make sense of the news by diligently maintaining a current affairs notebook. I continued making sense of the world by reading distinct genres through my school and university years: historical nonfiction, popular physics, contemporary literature, science fiction - all in an attempt to interpret the world through a prism of perspectives. Legal education underscored this. I’d analyse concept of responsibility by reading cases about injured stevedores in 20th century British shores, whether certain words could be monopolised by Singaporean jewellers, and evaluate the boundaries of freedom of expression when a single song could be interpreted as protected political criticism or prohibited hate speech. 

It's fun to distill the essence of different disciplines: solved problems, unsolved problems and inherent limitations of the domain.

Studying different disciplines demands discipline. But equally important is knowing what I don’t know, which demands its own type of restraint, reflection, and honesty. I remain a student of both.

Law manages uncertainty by looking backward: we reason from precedents to make sense of the present and model the future. It’s a rigorous system and an excellent training of the mind. But it’s constraining.  

Tech manages uncertainty by looking forward: taking action to create information. When faced with uncertainty, startups tend to take action to resolve it. The truly groundbreaking startups have a vision for the future and execute towards it. Instead of predicting, they build the future. I think that’s cool.  

Working in startups made me unlearn my instinct to think my way out of dealing with unknowns and act on it instead.