Starting in February, I'll be attending Network School for four months. It's a startup city in Malaysia with a few hundred founders building and living together.

Some friends and family find this crazy. Why leave a job that's been good to you, a city you love, friends you enjoy? Why go somewhere you know nobody with no guaranteed income?

Because I want to be around builder energy and I want uncertainty.

Certainty is a mirage. It's the belief that because something happened before, it will continue. It won't. You can get fired. People can die. Places can change. But lizard brain grabs for certainty anyway, limiting downside at severe costs to upside.

Lizard brain says: "What if I fail publicly?" "What if I can't afford rent?" "What if no one likes this product?" It over-indexes on questions that aren't life or death but feel like it.

I have a history of betting on uncertainty. I went from corporate accounting to crypto accounting to startup to working with 1-2 people. Each move brought more uncertainty, at each step, people kept saying I should reconsider. I've failed along the way, yet I keep failing upwards.

I think about future Dylan looking back on 28. What stories would he want to tell? Accomplished people love telling stories of when their back was against the wall, when they had no money, when they bet on themselves. Those are always the "good ole days."

The good ole days don't always feel like it in the moment, they're clouded with uncertainty about the future and the appreciation comes afterwards. I'm willing to take that trade.

As Peter Drucker told Jim Collins when he was scared to leave Stanford: "You'll probably survive. The question is, how to be useful?"

I've survived every leap so far. I'm betting I'll survive this one too.

Starting in February, I'll be attending Network School for four months. It's a startup city in Malaysia with a few hundred founders building and living together.

Some friends and family find this crazy. Why leave a job that's been good to you, a city you love, friends you enjoy? Why go somewhere you know nobody with no guaranteed income?

Because I want to be around builder energy and I want uncertainty.

Certainty is a mirage. It's the belief that because something happened before, it will continue. It won't. You can get fired. People can die. Places can change. But lizard brain grabs for certainty anyway, limiting downside at severe costs to upside.

Lizard brain says: "What if I fail publicly?" "What if I can't afford rent?" "What if no one likes this product?" It over-indexes on questions that aren't life or death but feel like it.

I have a history of betting on uncertainty. I went from corporate accounting to crypto accounting to startup to working with 1-2 people. Each move brought more uncertainty, at each step, people kept saying I should reconsider. I've failed along the way, yet I keep failing upwards.

I think about future Dylan looking back on 28. What stories would he want to tell? Accomplished people love telling stories of when their back was against the wall, when they had no money, when they bet on themselves. Those are always the "good ole days."

The good ole days don't always feel like it in the moment, they're clouded with uncertainty about the future and the appreciation comes afterwards. I'm willing to take that trade.

As Peter Drucker told Jim Collins when he was scared to leave Stanford: "You'll probably survive. The question is, how to be useful?"

I've survived every leap so far. I'm betting I'll survive this one too.