I've read "Tiny Experiments". From now on, I see everything as an experiment. It has an element of surprise and an element of a theory I want to prove or disprove (the unknown). Not because the book told me so, but because this idea aligns with how I think. The beauty of the book is that it allows you to account for your emotions and how you feel about the whole journey instead of blindly following a path that you might hate. Your gut is a companion. Don't ignore it.
It's not a revolutionary idea, yet we all seem to have forgotten most of it: experiment with what makes you happy. Don't just assume the truth because somebody told you so. Work 16 hr days until you're successful? Try with 4 hrs first and see how you feel.
I have to admit, the successes I had in life were mostly random. Some might call it "luck". But when I think about it, it was because of an idea that I tried to make work. Scientifically speaking, I always had a hypothesis I wanted to test out.
Some of my hypotheses:
- JQuery will stay in the frontend
- WordPress websites will be everywhere, and it will become easier to work with
- Joomla will succeed on professional websites & CMSs everywhere
- Node.js will surpass PHP
- Crypto & Ethereum will kick ass
- I have to go all-in JavaScript for Fullstack Dev
- I have to master React to be hired
- TDD is my workflow from now on, all-in
- AI-assisted coding will be everywhere in companies
- Current: AI Agents will be everywhere in products
You might notice that some ideas were correct. Others, just a miss. React is the luckiest bet of mine (I got tons of freelancing work because of it). I doubled down on learning it and taught a whole company how to write in React (massive salary boost) and mostly test-drive their whole implementation, teaching others good test practices along the way.
When I read the book, it clicked. Have I been doing this all along? So I tried another experiment: Can I achieve 5M impressions in 21 days? (Spoiler: I did this in 4, another account in less than 14 days with 50 followers)
I felt happy and annoyed by X at the same time. But it was worth it. This is my modus operandi now, and I've created an 𝕏 community to follow everyone's journeys and hold you all accountable.
Hope you'll share some cool experiments, too.
About Tom Siwik
Tom modernized banking systems and built mobility platforms that actually moved numbers. With years of full-stack experience in freelancing and enterprise development he's giving back, eyeing on AI and supporting fellow passionate indie hackers in the process.