{"id":2402,"date":"2022-01-16T18:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/?p=2402"},"modified":"2024-10-10T10:41:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T14:41:27","slug":"2021-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/2022\/01\/2021-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s a look at how 2021 went for me. Thank you to<\/span> James Clear<\/span><\/a> for the inspiration. <\/span>Read some of my previous Years in Review: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Year in Review<\/span><\/a>
2019 Year in Review<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What went well? <\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I grew Edge, developed the company brand, and co-founded a second startup (Infinity AI)! <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 I founded Edge Analytics<\/a>, an AI consulting company. This past year, we hired five new people on the team, organized a <\/span>summer and winter company retreat<\/span><\/a>, and hosted multiple game nights and continuous learning events. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things we especially wanted to focus on was building Edge\u2019s brand (I wrote in last year\u2019s YiR<\/a>: \u201cWe built an incredible company in 2020\u2026 However, we have not done a good job sharing with the world what we do\u201d). We achieved this goal by publishing <\/span>15 blog posts<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>3 newsletters<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>over 100 social media posts<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to build a company. My passion is creating things and I always saw building a company as the ultimate form of creation. Once I finally \u201cdid it\u201d and built Edge, it was a nice surprise that doing so was even more fulfilling than I had expected. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only missing piece for me at Edge – a consulting company – was the fact that we were not building our own scalable product. I knew that I wanted to build a product company at some point, and it turned out that 2021 was the right time. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I co-founded <\/span>Infinity AI <\/span><\/a>and raised our seed round at the end of 2021. Our <\/span>mission at Infinity AI<\/span><\/a> is to build tools that accelerate progress in machine learning (ML). Building Infinity AI will be my top focus in 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I created good memories.  <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

From attending the F1 Race with a group of friends in Austin, to a last minute (literally booked the day before) vacation to Barcelona, to dinners with dear friends in NYC, to a family sailboat trip in Mexico, I created many more memories in 2021 than in 2020. Although I \u201csaw\u201d a bunch of friends via zoom in 2020, the whole year blurred together in my mind. The additional sense memory from physically doing things with people in 2021 demarcated the year much better in my mind. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to continue to ask myself: how can I use money to create lifelong memories with the people I love? It\u2019s not necessary that making memories costs money, but it\u2019s good to eliminate money as an excuse. 
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent time where I wanted to spend time.<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of my goals last year was to delegate things in order to free up my time. Between hiring a housekeeper, an executive assistant (who spans personal and professional), and a Head of Finance for Edge, I succeeded in spending time on what I want and on what I am best at. I did very little administratively for Edge and barely any chores at home, which was a big win for me. Stay cozy with expert cincinnati furnace repair<\/a> for long-lasting comfort.\u00a0\u00a0
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I exercised for more days and more total hours. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was pleasantly surprised by how much exercise I did in 2021! I was focused on doing more days of exercise (even if only 10 min) and, in the process, ended up doing 40% more hours than in 2020 (61 versus 44 hours; 163 versus 96 days). Exercising daily definitely makes me more effective at my work.
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. What didn\u2019t go well? <\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I should have avoided some bad decisions. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Although there might not be a \u201cright answer\u201d in every situation, I believe that there is always a better and a worse decision. Making good decisions matters, especially when you’re running a company. <\/span>I made a few bad decisions this year and certainly paid for them dearly and painfully. I\u2019m not ready to share the details publicly but the key learning lesson was: <\/span>Always put the right <\/span>P<\/b>eople in the right <\/span>R<\/b>ole at the right <\/span>T<\/b>ime. Remember the <\/span>PRT<\/b>. 

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should have gotten out of the house more. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I have spent the vast majority of the past year in my small, gloomy home office at my suburban house.  This is not the life I want to be living and it needs to change. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always extremely motivating to stay with friends in different cities and work remotely, but I only did this 2.5 months of the year. The other 9.5 months I was working from home because I never put enough energy into finding a good office space in SF. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022 I want to share a physical office space with other incredible people. I be surrounded by smart, motivated people building cool companies. I want to meet amazing people in the hallways. I want an inspiring and motivating physical HQ for Infinity AI. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having an office versus working from home is analogous to the “door open” versus “door closed” observation that Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman made about his colleagues:    <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI noticed the following facts about people who work with the door open or the door closed. I notice that if you have the door to your office closed, you get more work done today and tomorrow, and you are more productive than most. But 10 years later somehow you don’t know quite know what problems are worth working on\u2026 <\/span>He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important\u2026 <\/span>There is a pretty good correlation between those who work with the doors open and those who ultimately do important things<\/b>, although people who work with doors closed often work harder. Somehow they seem to work on slightly the wrong thing – not much, but enough that they miss fame.\u201d <\/span>
<\/span>– Prof. Richard Feynman, <\/span>\u201cYou and Your Research\u201d essay<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I want to work on important things. I want to build an indispensable company for the world. In 2022, I\u2019ll work on creating an environment that invites the serendipity and connection that Feynman talks about. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS – In the spirit of inviting more \u201cserendipity and connection,\u201d please reach out if anything in this blog or my website as a whole has sparked your interest!<\/span> I love meeting new people and spend a lot of my time doing so (lina@toinfinity.ai). Definitely reach out if you’re in the ML space or interested in making the leap from academia to startups.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What am I working towards? <\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Building Infinity AI. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is my top priority. Everything I do this year will be centered around building traction and momentum for Infinity AI<\/a> (my new startup). We enable engineers to build better ML models faster using synthetic training data. Our synthetic data product sits at a really cool intersection of ML, graphics, and distributed systems (PS – We\u2019re hiring!). 

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing more. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Writing is the best way for me to think. I want to write as many days as possible this year. Publishing public blogs like this one is great, but more importantly, I primarily want to write for myself. 

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying to get my jaw issues in a better state. <\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was diagnosed with idiopathic condylar resorption (ICR) last year, which means that my body is eating away at my jaw joint. A lot of the bone in my mandibular condyle (the connection point between the jaw and the skull) has already disappeared and so my jaw has shifted up in the socket and led to a severe open bite (no wonder I\u2019ve had TMJ pain for years\u2026). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to a couple of orthodontic appointments last year and a couple of TMJ specialist appointments, but didn\u2019t really start any treatments. It\u2019s such a time consuming endeavor to be a patient, especially for chronic and\/or rare conditions where doctors don\u2019t know what to do. My goal this year is to invest moderate time and effort into improving my TMJ issues so that I can hopefully avoid jaw surgery down the line. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a radiologist who can help me interpret my medical scans, or a clinician with expertise in this space, let me know!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n




<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 in Numbers:<\/strong> <\/span>Summary of the Things I Track2<\/sup><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
 <\/td>2018<\/strong><\/td>2019<\/strong><\/td>2020<\/strong><\/td>2021<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Parents<\/strong><\/td>25 days in person with my mom

23 days in person with my dad

19 phone conversations (10hrs)

<\/td>		34 days in person with my mom

14 days in person with my dad

26 phone conversations (20 hrs)<\/td>		16 days in person with my mom and dad

53 phone conversations (31 hrs)

Note: Started recording calls <20min<\/td>		64 days in person with mom and dad

27 phone conversations (14 hrs) <\/td><\/tr>
Social<\/strong><\/td>86 days of doing something with friends

~75 different friends

The friend I saw\/talked to the most: 17 days, second most: 7 days

<\/td>		119 days of doing something with friends

~125 different friends

The friend I saw\/talked to the most: 24 days, second most: 19 days<\/td>		120 days of doing something with friends

~ 90 different friends

The friends I saw the most: 23 days. Non-family friend: 15 days<\/td>		\n

142 days of doing something with friends<\/p>\n

~109 different friends

The friends I saw the most: 22 days. Non-family friends: 15<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

Exercise<\/strong><\/td>44 days (top types of exercise were yoga: 21, lifting: 14, cycling: 10)<\/td>56 days (top types of exercise were yoga: 34, running: 8)

Approx. 57 hrs of exercise

<\/td>		96 days (52 yoga workouts, 39 HIIT workouts, 6 ballet classes)

44.5 hrs of exercise<\/td>		163 days of exercise (76 yoga, 63 HIIT, 9 ballet)

61.5 hrs + 2 cycling days (90 miles)<\/td><\/tr>
Books<\/strong><\/td>23<\/td>1<\/td>14

Favorite: Never Split the Difference<\/a><\/td>		10

Favorite: The Beginning of Infinity<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Arts (music, dance, theatre)<\/strong><\/td>Didn\u2019t track, but very few<\/td>8<\/td>\n

3
(1 online show, 2 concerts pre-pandemic)<\/p>\n<\/td>

\n

4<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

Travel<\/strong><\/td>Didn\u2019t track<\/td>\n

64 days

International: 37 days
25 days in Brazil (Breakdown by state: 9 days in S\u00e3o Paulo, 5 days in Bahia, 5 days in Amazonas, 4 days in Rio de Janeiro, 2 days in Minas Gerais)
8 days in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta)
4 days in Switzerland

Within USA:
5 days in Massachusetts
4 days in Texas
3 days in Washington
3 days in North Carolina
2 days in Oregon

Within California:
10 days of overnight in different cities around Northern California<\/p>\n<\/td>

48 days


International: 0 days

Within USA:
14 days in Texas (stay with family)
9 days in Massachusetts (finally moved out)
4 days in Florida
3 days in Nevada

Within California:
18 days in different cities in CA<\/td>		\n

80 days

International: 21 days
14 days Mexico
7 days Spain

Within USA:
49 days in Texas (stay with family)
8 days in NYC

Within California:
3 days<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

Content<\/strong><\/td>5
(The Tomato Method<\/a>, Cycling in the Alps Vlog<\/a>, MIT Image Awards Vlog<\/a>, Bad Idea #134<\/a>, Lack of Feedback Loops in Medicine<\/a>, But People Will Never Forget<\/a>)<\/td>		0<\/td>\n

5<\/p>\n

(Year in Review 2019<\/a>, How I Track My Habits and Achieve My Goals<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>How the US Surgeon General Build Strong Teams<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Predicting Someone’s Movements Before They Move<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 
<\/span>30 Lessons I\u2019ve Learned in 30 Years<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>

\n

1 Personal 
Year in Review 2020<\/a>

5 Professional
(Why the Founder of IDEO was right all along<\/a>, The Beginning of Infinite Data<\/a>, What We’ve Been Up To?<\/a>, Fake it ’til you make it<\/a>, 
Introducing Infinity AI<\/a>) <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2 <\/sup><\/span>I wrote a blog post about my system for tracking habits<\/a> and creating these summary tables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a look at how 2021 went for me. Thank you to James Clear for the inspiration. Read some of my previous Years in Review:  2020 Year in Review2019 Year in Review   1. What went well?  I grew Edge, developed the company brand, and co-founded a second startup (Infinity AI)!  In 2019 I founded Edge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2019_blurred-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2622,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions\/2622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}