ABOUT

I founded Positive Constraint thanks to two things I learned from my dad.

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Following your passion is the key to a life worth living

By being true to yourself and following your passion, you get to live a life worth living.

I learned this lesson from my dad. My dad doesn’t let anyone or anything stop him from doing what he loves. He’s always been like that, with his strong character and his unshakeable frame of reality around his choices, his values, and his beliefs. When his parents pushed him to study electronics or tried to stop him from marrying my mom, he always ended up doing what he wanted. Even when it cost him dearly - relationships, time, money, energy, or frustration, he followed his passion. Whatever it costs him, living a life full of passion is worth it.

I always liked solving problems. Growing up, I loved playing LEGO and Civilization. In my 20-year startup career, solving tech problems first, and later on business problems, was exciting. But over time, the sense of achievement faded. Problems were fewer, took longer to solve, and I had to rely on less passionate people. It was no longer fun. I decided to follow my passion, to find new puzzles to solve, even if it meant giving up my good but boring, high-paying job.

 

Reaching Beyond the Obvious

I like to joke and say that my dad sees the world as a big black circle with a small white box in its center. Everything in this white center is true. Everything else is pure nonsense, ridiculous, wrong. His harsh opinions on people I loved, his stubborn worldviews, and his quick judgment of the world - all fueled my inner conflict about how to interpret reality.

As a child—sometimes confused, in a kind of teenage rebellion, or simply because I couldn't see the logic in his perspective—I looked for better explanations for why the world is the way it is. I looked for better explanations to satisfy my curiosity. Explanations that aren’t so confusing and contradicting the way I understand them. When the answers I got from my dad weren’t making sense, I started making my own sense of the world. Thanks to my dad, I learned to reach beyond the obvious. To look for better answers. To see reality anew.

 

Positive Constraint

It took a decade for these paths to cross, and another half a decade or so to form these ideas into a coherent worldview and philosophy. Into Positive Constraint.

After leaving my job, I began mentoring startup founders. Each startup faced its own value puzzle—defining the problem, value proposition, business model, positioning, competition, and more. Startups varied in size, market, technology, and founder backgrounds. By following my passion and solving these diverse problems, I was able to help others follow theirs. I found heaven.

There was one problem. To help founders with their complex issues, I had to improve quickly at solving different problems for different startups. There is no template or methodology one can use. I had to find my own way to figure this out.

And then it hit me, I discovered constraints and their the power of abstraction. Using constraints, I was able to reach beyond the obvious and see reality anew. Using constraints, I was able to abstract away complexity and make problems simple. Using constraints, I was able to see creative solutions and help startups grow.

Ever since I founded Positive Constraint 5 years ago, I’ve been using constraints to help founders of early-stage startups follow their own passion. To make startups resilient to change in a world that changes disturbingly fast. To help builders and creators turn an apparent disadvantage into an unfair advantage. To help craft compelling stories that attract investors, align teams, and resonate with customers.

If you also have an interesting value puzzle for me, or if you find yourself looking for better answers, let’s chat.