[edmondlau]

In many ways, it was similar to building a startup product.

I quit my full-time job at Quora and spent ten months full-time on the book (with bits of traveling). Like any other project, I drastically estimated how long it would take. I estimated one year; it ended up taking almost two. I finished the book while working full-time at Quip.

At times, it was an amazing adventure. I loved going around Silicon Valley and interviewing people like Mike Krieger or Sam Schillace to get their stories and their most valuable lessons.

Other times, there were also intense periods of self-doubt. The first person I shared a chapter draft with was my wife. She's also an engineer and by default can give quite critical feedback. And, wow, did I feel shut down after my first round of feedback. It's confusing! I don't understand the point of this! etc.

I ended up spending two months iterating by myself on my next drafts to build up more confidence before sharing with more engineering friends -- they then really gave me the support I needed to feel confident about writing the book. The experience was a great lesson in how new ideas need to be nurtured, and you need to either find supporters who will nurture that for you, or ask for the type of feedback you want (which is what I now do with my wife). It was also a valuable lesson in getting feedback sooner on your project before you are too emotionally attached to feel comfortable about asking for feedback.

All in all, it's one of my proudest accomplishments in my career.