Jeff Wong

I’m starting my blog again. I don’t know if “blog” is even the right word anymore, but that’s not really the point. I just need a place to think.

For the past few years, most of what I’ve made has had a job behind it. I’d write something for work and post it on LinkedIn, or share things on Instagram, or try YouTube. Even the things that were supposed to feel personal ended up shaped by something else—growth, reach, performance. Over time, I got used to thinking about how something would land before I figured out what I actually thought.

Everything had to do something.

This doesn’t.

Writing has never been easy for me, which is probably why I stopped. What’s changed is that it’s easier to start now. I can dictate what’s on my mind, run it through AI, clean it up, and still have it feel like me. It doesn’t replace the thinking, it just removes enough friction that I don’t avoid it.

A lot of this started because of the commute. I drive to work every day now, usually about an hour each way, sometimes longer. Northern Virginia traffic is just like that. I bought a Tesla Model Y last year and use the self-driving feature most days. It’s not perfect, but it handles enough that I don’t have to be fully locked in the whole time. That gives me space.

At first I filled that space the same way most people do, listening to podcasts or music, taking in more information. After a while it started to feel like I was always consuming and not really processing anything. So I started dictating thoughts while I drive. Nothing structured, just whatever comes up. Most of it isn’t good, some of it repeats, but it’s mine. It’s one of the few places where I’m not shaping a thought for someone else.

Work plays into this too. We’re back in the office at Range and I understand why. I’ve been on both sides, as a founder and as a leader, and being in person makes it easier to build momentum. You can read people, move faster, and work through ideas in a way that’s harder to do remotely. It’s inefficient in some ways, but it creates energy. At the same time, as an individual contributor you don’t always need that to do good work. I think a lot of people probably prefer the flexibility, even if they don’t say it directly. For me right now, being in person helps, so I’m going along with it.

But as the team grows, everything gets heavier. More process, more feedback, more opinions. People want context and want to be involved, which comes from a good place, but it also means there’s less space to just take something and run with it. Not everything needs ten opinions attached to it, especially when the people giving feedback aren’t responsible for delivering it.

I realized most of my energy was going into building things that had a purpose for someone else. Which is part of the job, and I care about it, but it left very little space to build anything that didn’t need to perform.

This blog is me trying to take a small piece of that back.

It doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s still on WordPress, which is old and clunky, but it works and it’s easy. I thought about rebuilding it in Webflow, but that would turn it into another thing to optimize. Another thing with a job. I don’t want that. I just want something simple where I can write and post without friction. I’ll probably remove comments since they’re mostly spam and keep everything minimal.

There are a few other things I’ve been spending time on too. I’ve been experimenting with AI tools outside of work like ComfyUI, which is harder to use than I expected. There’s a lot you can do, but not a lot of clear guidance, and I’m still figuring out what I actually want to make with it. I also picked up a new PC recently so I can experiment more without using my work machine, maybe get back into some 3D work, or just play around. And outside of that, I want to spend more time on things that have nothing to do with work, like getting my garden back in shape. Last year I didn’t touch it and it shows. This year I want to fix it up and grow a few things, nothing ambitious, just enough to enjoy the process.

I’ve been thinking more about time lately. Not in a dramatic way, just more awareness. As I get older, it’s harder to ignore that there are fewer days ahead than behind, and it makes me more conscious of how I’m spending my energy. I still enjoy what I do and I still want to build, but I don’t want all of that energy to go into things that only exist for work or for other people.

I need at least one place where it doesn’t have to.

That’s what this is.

Not something to grow. Not something to optimize. Not something that needs to go anywhere.

Just a place to think, write things down, and leave them as they are.

Shutting down Input has enabled me to look at my career and next steps from a different light. I spent time on Twitter looking for business connections, news and new opinions on products… but I’ve found that it’s just a cesspool of people that are trying to grab attention by any means.

I don’t think it’s completely Twitter’s fault—it’s just a mirror of human behavior. At this point, I’ve moved the app from my phone into a dark corner where I probably won’t be checking it again. I guess Twitter was becoming a negative experience because it became closely tied to the work I did—fund raising, networking, staying at the bleeding edge of opinions and news.

I didn’t realize how much anxiety a product like Twitter could cause. At this point, it’s pretty old (as an app), and I’ve not only lost interest in it, I actually associate it with negativity and a network that I don’t care to keep up with. It’s probably why I’ve moved most of my writing and thoughts back to my blog.

There’s something nice about having a place to publish something without being judged. In fact, I removed all the comments and social features from my blog for a long time, and I prefer it this way. I still wish I could get fresh inspiration, but I’d like to filter out all the garbage.

Nah.

I don’t need to stress myself out with solving that problem either. For now, I’m just subtracting Twitter from the diet. It offers very little nutritional value and it leaves a terrible after taste.

We’re almost done shutting down Input.com. In a conversation with one of the partners at Expa, he gave me some really good insight about how they build things. Many products that he and the other partners have built required timing and luck (in addition to many other things), but emphasized that their studio builds things differently.

As an example, Uber wouldn’t launch well today (with the current way things are with covid, etc)… but several years ago, it was a brilliant idea. The same thing goes with Twitter—the introduction of the iPhone and mobile devices enable twitter to be a mobile/social platform, and it may not have worked if it was launched a couple years earlier.

Expa builds things differently… it’s closer to making music. For some people, it’s frustrating because it’s hard to tie things to a metric or a process. Sometimes things work, and sometimes things fail. But ultimately, Garrett wants to build certain things and will be so persistent that it will come to life somehow. This is a very different approach—so much that it was the original reason why I was attracted to Expa many years ago.

They had a partners meeting recently, and I can tell you that I felt so much creative and positive energy coming from my conversations with one of the partners. As I shut down one thing, I feel so many other doors open. Not just for opportunity in terms of career, but as a person who wants to build and create things that should exist (because we simply believe they should). There is something special about that process, and there’s a gravity to it.

I’m not sure exactly what my next steps are, but I feel more free than I ever have with my work and life. More on this later. For now, I just wanted to remind you that positive energy is something you can’t fake… and it feels good to be around it.

Yep, that’s a photo of Taro’s new favorite spot in the house. You’ll also notice that we installed some nice new curtains as well. It’s a project that has taken me several months to get to, and I’m finally getting it all done.

Even thought I’m not working on Input or any major projects right now, I find myself extremely busy taking some personal time off. Over the last few days, I’ve worked on YouTube videos (for both myself and Annie), worked out, returned a ton of stuff to Amazon, explored new parks, mowing the lawn, cleaning parts of the house, and I even installed some more curtains. It’s wild to think that I still have to use Asana (or a project management tool) to keep everything under control in my life.

I’m not sure how long this will last until I can really settle down and do absolutely nothing. But then again, I don’t think sitting still is really in me.

There are a couple of things I need to keep moving forward this week like power washing the deck and prepping it for winter. Getting caught up with life seems to be a full time gig. At some point, I’ll need to start making some money again to fund all my crazy interests. Until then, I’m going to just enjoy each day.

I even took a nap in the afternoon today, and that was fantastic.