Looking To Unwind After A Hard Day of App’ing? Try A Concert.
Getting a new app ready to launch involves a lot of late nights, long hours, etc, etc. All the things you’ve heard before. You get it — there’s not a lot of free time. It’s a little bit of a myth, though. The folk I know in this “industry” all take time out of their schedule to unwind. Work and life balance are very important. Plus, throwing raw time at something doesn’t matter if you aren’t being productive.
Everybody’s got their thing they do to unwind. Jogging, laying on the beach, basketball, movies, drinking at the bar, whatever. Lately, mine is concerts. Concerts combine all the aspects I need in a “between work activity” into one tidy package.
1. They’re loud enough to drown out a yammering brain
If I need to clear my head, the last thing I need is to be able to hear myself think. Stand as close to the stage as possible and let the music erase any ability for coherent thought.
2. You have to commit if you want to get super hammered
Getting smashed can lead to a non-productive night after the show, or worse, a down day when you’re too hungover to get out of bed. But you can’t just turn up and get smashed at a typical show. There’s bar lines. There’s worming your way through the crowd both ways, potentially losing your spot in the process. There’s the fact that one beer at the Wiltern is $12. By the time you’re half way through the set, you’re probably just going to say “meh” rather than risk another trip.
3. Nobody there gives a shit about technology
This one’s probably more of an LA thing. (Maybe New York too, but I’m guessing not San Francisco.) More than likely, the crew of people I’m with at a show aren’t going to want to hear me going on about some app thing, or the latest TechCrunch coverage of whatever, or Pinterest for Cereal. For me, the best way to get through a tough problem is to go hard trying to solve it, then let go of it for a while. In this environment it’s pretty much forced, because nobody there will want to hear it.
4. They’re filled with real consumers
Related to number three. Sometimes it’s just a little too incestuous in the tech community. It’s easy to lose touch with the kind of folk who actually might use the consumer product you’re trying to build. Want some unbiased, useful, critical feedback on a consumer product idea? Trot it out to some drunken concertgoers.
5. Your face could use melting
Rock bands are professionals at this. Let them do their jobs.
