Just do more - Atomic Idea

People think science leads to technology, and technology leads to business.

It's exactly the opposite: business leads to technology, and technology leads to science.

All through trial and error.

Let me give you a thought experiment. We want to make the best manti (traditional meal).

Two approaches:

#1 group randomly adds small ingredients, tests if it's better, keeps trying.

#2 group goes to university and studies chemical equations of what's in manti.

Who improves faster? The first group, through trial and error.

This represents how technology actually develops.

Everything's done by engineers and risk-takers with more upside than downside. Trial and error isn't really trial and error—it's trial with small error and big potential upside.

What academics hate to admit is business leads to technology, which leads to science — far, far, far more often than the reverse.

The jet engine wasn't developed by physicists - it was developed by engineers who had no idea how it worked. We still don't know how a bicycle works today.

The steam engine wasn't invented by thermodynamics professors; thermodynamics was developed to understand steam engines.

The internet wasn't created by network theorists; network theory emerged to understand the internet.

European cathedrals were built beautifully without Euclidean geometry because before Arabic numerals, nobody could do division in Europe. It was all trial and error, developing rules that worked.

Tinkering.

Overthinking is the biggest waste of human energy.

Trust yourself, make a decision, and gain more experience. There is no such thing as perfect. You cannot think your way into perfection, just take action.

100x principle:

Write 100 essays.

Cook 100 meals.

Build 100 websites.

Pitch 100 investors.

Each one "good enough."

Each one better.

Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) made 100+ low-view videos for 8 years—filming in his mom's basement—before his breakout hit. He tested thumbnails, titles, and formats relentlessly. Now: 400M+ subscribers.

"The first 100 videos are practice"

Before fame, The Beatles played 8-hour nightly sets in Hamburg's grimy clubs for two years. They performed covers 1,200 times.

Lennon later said, "We got better and more confident. That's where we really learned to play."

Before creating Minecraft (a $2.5B franchise), Persson built dozens of small, flawed games. He released them publicly, and learned from feedback.

"I didn't overthink—I just shipped."

Steven King's first story was rejected 30 times. He kept writing, and pinned rejection slips to his wall. While working as a janitor, he wrote daily, later publishing Carrie (his fourth novel). He's since written 65+ novels.

"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work."

Dyson spent 15 years creating 5,126 versions of a vacuum cleaner before his bagless design succeeded.

Edison tested over 6,000 materials for his light bulb filament, famously saying, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." His team worked 18-hour days for years. They prioritized speed of experimentation over flawless theories.

Van Gogh painted daily, even when mocked as a "madman." He created over 900 paintings and 1,100 sketches, yet sold just one. In his letters he wrote: "If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

Seth Godin says: "The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing."

Asimov, one of history's most prolific authors, wrote over 500 books across science fiction, history, and biochemistry. He followed a strict daily writing routine, often publishing 10+ books a year. "I write for the same reason I breathe—because if I didn't, I'd die," he said. (volume-first approach)

At 65, Sanders pitched his fried chicken recipe door-to-door, facing 1,009 rejections before a Utah diner said yes. He cooked batches daily, tweaking spices and pressure-frying techniques. Today: 25,000+ KFC outlets worldwide.

Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) uploaded moody, raw tracks to YouTube under a pseudonym for years. He ignored industry norms, releasing three free mixtapes in 2011. Drake discovered him, and House of Balloons became a cult classic.

Agatha Christie, the "Queen of Mystery," wrote her first novel on a dare while working as a nurse. She published 66 novels, famously saying, "Write even when you think you can't."

Just do more. "It isn't 10,000 hours. 10,000 iterations."