Category: Theory

How to Become a Pussy

Welcome to Noah Kagan's Okdork! I am really glad you found me. Don't go just yet. If you're killing time at work, enjoy marketing, online communities and other business things; then you are at the right place.

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Wow, what an offensive title. I don’t think I can read this OK-Dork thing anymore the new reader says to themselves. He does a redesign and now he is using swear words. Who does this Noah character think he is?

I wonder that question myself. I wonder how I have changed since I started writing 7 years ago. I think my writing has gone downhill for awhile. When this site was just 4 people reading it I did not care what I wrote about and had even more grammatical errors. I know and you think my spelling mistakes and sentence structure are bad now:P

I had this realization lately that I have become a pussy. Many of you have as well. (Insert Sudden realization moment here).

This got me realizing that almost ALL businesses are super aggressive in the beginning and then go right to the defensive. Here is how to become a pussy:

  1. Go and do something wild, crazy, purple-cowish, whatever and make a lot of money.
  2. Realize you have done something great.
  3. Only do safe things from now on to maintain your success.


I had a conversation with a friend recently about Okdork that reminded me of this:

  • noahdovkagan: i use to be more wild, what happened to me
  • noahdovkagan: i guess i care more about my reputation
  • friend: that doesn’t sound like you
  • friend: You shook my hand, found a magazine and took a 3 hour dump the 1st time I met you.
  • friend: you didn’t care
  • noahdovkagan: i mean i am still like that
  • noahdovkagan: and i love my dumps
  • friend: well your writing is still good
  • friend: and interesting
  • friend: and different

We are all so worried about mainitaining success that we fear growing it. Businesses accept that they are now a “company” and not the great “start-up” they were scrapping by to make it a few years back.

So what should you do about it? Here are a few options:

  1. Nothing. You are rich. You got what you wanted and now just maintain it.
  2. Something. You say F it. I am rich enough. I am tired of this boring life and I want change. You do what my friend James Hong of HotorNot is doing.
  3. Sustain. My friend Albert Lai of Bubbleshare told James that when he sold his first company he gave his money to his parents. Awww. How noble. No, he did it so he would not have that comfortable lifestyle and he would “stay hungry.”

This does not just pertain to marketing or start-ups. Think about working at a corporate job. Becoming a pussy is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you recognize it…

Have you given in? Are you happy with your marketing/job/company/etc…?

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15 Responses to “How to Become a Pussy”

  • Brian Balfour
    February 14th, 2007
    4:34 pm

    I’m with you Noah. I admit…I’m a huge pussy right now.

  • Noah Kagan
    February 14th, 2007
    4:43 pm

    Hug for your Brian! Still holding;)

  • Josh
    February 14th, 2007
    4:44 pm

    erm…
    *thinks*

  • Eric A
    February 14th, 2007
    5:52 pm

    Noah, use a different picture, then bask in the glory of being a non-pussy.

  • Marshall Middle
    February 14th, 2007
    9:40 pm

    New site design is nice. Good post. I believe when you are starting out you’re willing to take more risks because you have nothing to lose. Once you create something of value, you become a’fraiddy cat, you get soft.

  • Damon Billian
    February 15th, 2007
    12:34 am

    I think that many people get comfortable because:

    a) they get married
    b) they have kids
    c) they have enough (this doesn’t apply to all folks, obviously)

    Personal: The risk of failure is much greater when you have responsibilities for others.

    A young & scrappy startup, for example, is fighting for survival & sticking it to “the man”. A startup that has an IPO, however, has to make sure that they stay a company that is traded on the stock markets. There’s also the added responsibility to shareholders, regulators, etc.

    I don’t think you’re a pussy;-)

  • Daniel Elmore
    February 15th, 2007
    12:37 am

    Noah, was there anything else, besides the im with your friend, that helped trigger this wake up call? I’d love to feel convicted too. Share more. :)

  • Jason H.
    February 15th, 2007
    1:26 am

    Noah, great topic ď?Š

    I think the main cause of Pussy-ness is probably FEAR. Fear of ruining reputation, Fear of losing clients, Fear of offending people, Fear of humiliation, Fear of bad press, etc… The question is how do you conquer your fear? Many experts will probably say that the best way to conquer fear is by Just do it. However, I think that’s easier to say than do.

    That being said, here are some of my favorite quotes:

    1. “Being safe is risky� ~ Seth Gordin
    2. “The only thing to fear is fear itself�
    3. “If you try to please everyone, you will probably please no one�
    4. “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.� ~ Steve Job

    Btw, I briefly chatted with Albert Lai at the conference—what a Nice, awesome guy :) I Love his “I Love BS� sweater. You should’ve had him on the founder panel.

  • Mohammad
    February 15th, 2007
    2:24 pm

    A great title. It’s hard to keep yourself motivated enough once you reach your goals. The only way not to become a pussy is by getting yourself out of the comfort zone. Each person does that in their own way. “stay hungry”

  • Noah Kagan
    February 15th, 2007
    7:38 pm

    Jason, great quotes! thanks for sharing. Albert is definitely a pimp. Fear is definitely scary…No way around that. I guess I try to look at things as learning and what can I get out of it. I always think to myself about living once and am I using this time wisely….

    It is hard to get out of the comfort zone…Not sure what the best way to do it. Maybe try putting yourself in more uncomfortable places and try new things or roles.

    Daniel, not sure what the wake up call was or that I have more to share. I guess it was getting annoyed seeing company after company just do safe things because they had made it big.

  • Jason H.
    February 16th, 2007
    2:04 am

    “I guess it was getting annoyed seeing company after company just do safe things because they had made it big. ”

    Yep, it was pretty annoyed to see that. However, as Spiderman said the best, ” With great power comes great responsibility”. In this case, when a company becomes bigger, it becomes more reponsible to more customers, shareholders, investors, sponsors, etc.

  • Izzy
    February 19th, 2007
    5:20 pm

    I live by the statement of:

    “I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me!” -Mike Myers.

    That just makes me keep swimming. The minute you find yourself in one good place… the other shoe has a better chance of dropping. Think of cartoons– the minute that Road Runner stopped, the Coyote wasn’t too far above with a nice, heavy anvil just ready for the droppin’

    That’s why it’s so important to do what you love. Then you don’t mind the work it takes to keep moving, growing, conquering. :)

    At least, that’s the route I’m trying to take. Time will tell.

  • Juan Millon (1mil)
    February 20th, 2007
    8:25 pm

    I was hoping this was some reference to “Google gives a licking to pussy.org” that I saw on digg. Alas, I was mistaken. lol.

    You always get people thinking. Where do you come up with this stuff??

  • kareeb
    March 11th, 2007
    9:09 pm

    i was a pussy, but being one scared me even more than the fear of starting a new company. so i quit my job and started a new company :)

  • lukmanf
    January 20th, 2008
    7:26 pm

    The pussy is funny.. I Love it

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